A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1)(72)

First, Sybil and Jimmy didn’t know each other. Auri spoke to Jimmy often. They hung out. They’d been close for years. The fact that she’d had to keep it a secret from her mom was ludicrous on several levels, but her grandparents knew and supported their friendship. They had a special place in their hearts for Jimmy.

But what they didn’t know was that Jimmy had saved her life when they were kids. Jimmy and one other member of the Ravinder family. No way would she abandon him just because her overprotective mother said the whole lot of them, every single Ravinder, was more trouble than they were worth.

She couldn’t help but wonder if that carpet diagnosis applied to the Ravinder her mom was in love with.

The tardy bell rang, and a few seconds later, a television powered up in class. A weekly student news program popped on.

“Good morning, Lions!” a peppy brunette said from behind an anchor desk. A desk that looked like it had been made from cardboard, but that fact only added to the charm. “Welcome back! This week, we have a special investigative report brought to you by the Journalism Club. Roll it, Aiden!”

The screen went black, then Lynelle Amaia popped into the frame holding a microphone and standing in front of the sheriff’s station.

Auri’s palms slickened instantly, and she fought the urge to reach for her inhaler.

Lynelle wore a million-dollar smile as she took over the spotlight. “Thanks, Callie. We have a special story for all of you Lions out there. If you didn’t already know it, we have a new sheriff.” She gestured to the lettering on the building.

Auri glanced around, becoming a little concerned. What was Lynelle doing? Besides being really, really perky?

“So, we decided to check her out—to dig into her past, so to speak—and see what we had to look forward to for the next four years. After all, we got a brand-new lioness in the deal. Aurora Dawn Vicram? Welcome to Del Sol High!”

Auri froze. This was not happening. Dig into her mother’s past? There was no way they could’ve found out the truth. It was buried along with the Ark of the Covenant, Jimmy Hoffa, and her pent-up emotions.

“Liam?”

The camera cut to Liam Eaton in front of the monument the town put up in Auri’s pretend dad’s honor, and the edges of her vision grew dark.


“Jimmy’s uncle found him!”

Sun practically jerked the radio out of Quincy’s hands, because whomever shouted that Jimmy had been found didn’t seem distressed.

“Did you find Jimmy?” she asked. “Or a body?”

She recognized Deputy Salazar’s feminine voice saying, “Um, both?”

“No,” Sun whispered. Quincy put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

“We found Jimmy, but I guess they found a body, too?”

She slammed her eyes shut and braced herself. “Sybil?”

“Not a girl,” she said.

Sun almost dropped the radio. “Where are you? I need your location.”

“Okay, we are by the command center. Levi Ravinder just brought Jimmy down from the mountain. He’s half-frozen, so the EMTs are taking him now.”

Closing a hand over her mouth, Sun looked heavenward and let the light soak into her.

A male voice came over the radio then. Sun could hear dogs barking in the background. Cadaver dogs. “We have a body about half a mile north of Estrella Pond. Male. Decomposition would suggest it’s been here a long time. Possibly years.”

“What the hell?”

Sun shook out of it and nodded to Quincy. They sprinted back to the ATV, which, in the snow, was so much harder than it sounded. She had no signal, or she would have texted Auri that they’d found Jimmy. Then again, if he didn’t make it . . .

She decided to wait.

“Where to first?” Quincy asked.

“Let’s check on Jimmy first.” She gave orders to cordon off the area where the body was found, and they made it back to base camp in record time.

Sun spotted Levi accepting a blanket around his shoulders as an EMT checked his vitals. Or tried to. He was not being the most cooperative of patients. But he looked tired. His face raw from the elements. His lips cracked and bleeding. He’d been searching nonstop for almost forty-eight hours.

His cousin trudged down the mountain, gasping for air. Apparently, Levi had carried Jimmy down and left his cousin eating his dust. Or his snow flurries.

When Levi spotted her, he frowned, but that could have been because the EMT was trying to put an oxygen mask over his face. He looked like he’d lost ten pounds. In all honestly, he’d probably lost more than that.

Sun took a step toward him, but Quincy tapped her shoulder.

Outside of a second ambulance, Hailey had thrown her body over Jimmy’s as emergency personnel tried to load him into the vehicle. She wailed and kissed and hugged. He smiled back at her and tried to pat her face.

Sun almost cried. She walked over to them, very aware of the need to keep up appearances, but she had to question Jimmy. Time was running out.

She cleared her throat, then asked, “I’m glad you’re okay, Jimmy.”

Hailey looked up at her wearing the face of a banshee ready to attack.

Sun held up her hands. “I just have a couple of questions.”

“He almost died,” she said, her voice a hiss of emotion, and Sun knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was not acting this time. She was a pissed-off mama bear, and Sun was on the verge of taking one step too close to her cub, but she had no choice.