Alone (Bone Secrets, #4)(58)

But the teacher had noticed and privately asked her about lunch. Trinity had tried to laugh it off, saying she wasn’t hungry during the day, when in truth she was starving. Often she’d had fast food leftovers for breakfast. How many times had she eaten cold fries? Or empty-calorie junk food left out on the table from her mother’s late-night binges? She ate whatever she could find. Opened any can.

She stared at the remains of her scone. Baked for her. Baked by someone who was excited to share it with her. The crumbs blurred.

What if Jason was in a similar situation? He didn’t seem hungry, but what if he was abused in other ways?

Her sharp-eyed teacher had made a report. Child welfare had paid a visit. The empty fridge and cupboards didn’t please them. When Trinity couldn’t tell them what she’d eaten in the last twenty-four hours, they were even more unhappy. She was rushed to a doctor who clucked her tongue over her weight and then took her to a house where there was always food. It wasn’t the healthiest food, but it felt like living in a grocery store.

“How old is your friend?”

“He’s a senior.”

“Then he’s old enough to ask the right people for help. It’s not your responsibility to try to save him. Just guide him in the right direction.”

She was right. Trinity thumbed a quick text to Jason with the doctor’s advice then shoved the phone aside. Part of her wanted to run to him and do everything in her power—which wasn’t much—to make him feel better. Her therapist had told her she was a natural nurturer and protector. It would always be inherent in her to help others, even to her own detriment. She had to learn to weigh the consequences and ask if she was hurting herself in order to make someone happy.

“You look miserable,” Dr. Peres said quietly.

Trinity exhaled. “You’re right. It’s not my problem. I’m sure there’s someone better suited to really helping him.”

“Good girl. I wish I’d been that smart at your age.”

“That means I should be heading up NASA by the time I’m your age.”

Dr. Peres laughed, and Trinity was struck by how beautiful she was.





“Johnson Creek flooded again,” Ray Lusco stated as he dropped his bag on his desk. “I didn’t think I was ever going to make it to work.”

“Are you surprised?” Mason asked his partner. He glanced at the time on his computer. Ray was barely five minutes late.

“Of course not. But the sucker is always the biggest headache around. Messes up traffic something awful.”

“I worry more about the people who live by it. I don’t know why they don’t move. Seems like we see the same homes on the news every time.”

“This is going to be a bad storm. When I watched the weather last night, there’s no letup in the coming week. We’re already breaking the rainfall records for this month. They’re lucky that landslide in the West Hills last night didn’t hurt anyone.” Mason frowned. At least they wouldn’t be crying drought next summer like this past hot summer. The snowpack in the Cascade Mountains benefited from the excessive rain.

“The dirt is oversaturated with water. All the slopes are treacherous. I’m stunned at the number of people who build homes on the sides of the hills around here. Who wants to wake up and find your neighbor’s kitchen has slid into your garage? Hate the rain.” Ray scowled.

“Did you ever get ahold of Trinity Viders’s guardian? Does she know we want to talk to the girl again?” Mason was done talking rain.

“I left a message for her last night. Haven’t heard back yet. I told her I had some questions.”

“There’s a teenager angle to these latest deaths that I think we’re missing completely. I feel like there’s something just out of our reach. Something that these kids know about and they’re not sharing with adults yet.” Mason hadn’t realized this fact until he’d said the words out loud. Something was hovering just out of his awareness, something about the deaths and the teenagers that he couldn’t grasp. And he suspected talking to these kids was where they needed to focus.

Ray studied him. “You think some of these teens know what is going on?”

Mason thought for a minute. His stomach was doing an odd tingle that told him he was speculating in the right direction. “I think they’re not telling us everything. I feel like we’re only getting part of the story. Either the kids are covering for each other or they’re scared of something.”

“They’re teenagers. Of course they aren’t telling us everything.”

Mason tapped a pen on his desk. “What about Lorenzo Cavallo’s family? Where are all those sons he was so proud of? Four boys?”

“Five,” corrected Ray. He scowled as he flipped through a small notebook. “I’ve called three of them. I left messages at two homes, and at the third, the wife said she’d have her husband call me back. I haven’t heard a word. I’m still trying to locate the other two. I was hoping to get numbers from the other brothers.”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

“I agree with you there. I’ll check to see if someone has requested the body. Maybe some family has come out of the woodwork. We gave clearance for the release yesterday. Forensics and the medical examiner have everything they need.” Ray picked up his desk phone.