Lovely Girls(66)

Anger coursed through me again, hot and bitter. I had no idea what had prompted Genevieve’s vendetta against Alex, but now she was blaming my daughter for things she obviously didn’t do. And I’d had enough.

“Do not threaten my daughter,” I warned her. “Or I will make you sorry you did.”

“You still don’t get it, do you? You are no one in this town. Your daughter is no one. You don’t get to come in here and ruin other people’s lives. She’s going to have to pay. You both will.”

“At least I’m not the world’s shittiest mother.” The words just popped out of my mouth, but I wasn’t sorry. Genevieve was threatening Alex, confronting me. She deserved whatever I said to her.

“What did you say to me?”

“You wanted your daughter to become a bully. Congratulations. Mission accomplished. She’s a monster. I hope you’re proud.”

Genevieve’s face twisted, her fury reflecting mine. She leaned in even closer.

“You’re calling my daughter a monster? After what your daughter did? I know the police were at your house today. They think she killed Callie. They’re going to lock her up and never let her out!”

I hit the close-window button on my car door. As the window rose up with an electric whir, it forced Genevieve to take a step back. She said something else, but I couldn’t hear through the glass. I ignored her, staring at a fixed point in front of me, until she finally gave up and returned to her Escalade. I wondered what the other parents thought about the commotion. Or maybe they already knew what was going on. If Genevieve had heard the police executed a search warrant at my house today, I had to imagine the story had spread all the way through this poisonous town.

We can’t stay here, I thought. Then I realized that leaving might no longer be our choice. Not if the police arrested Alex.

When I finally reached the pickup spot and pulled in, Alex was standing by the curb, waiting for me. She had her backpack slung over one shoulder and looked coolly detached from the throngs of teenagers around her. She opened the door and climbed into the car.

“Hey,” she said.

I didn’t speak. I was so overwhelmed by the chaos of the day, it was taking all of my concentration to drive the car. I tried to focus on not hitting anything as I steered toward the exit from the school campus.

“Why are you being weird?” Alex asked.

My teeth were clenched so tightly, my jaw hurt. “I’d like to know where you were today. I know it wasn’t at school.”

“Oh.” Alex shifted in her seat. “It’s not a big deal. I’m a senior. It’s not like this year counts.”

“Actually, it is a big deal. The police were back at the house today,” I said.

“So?”

My hands tightened on the steering wheel. Alex didn’t seem to have any concept of how much danger she was in. She was the suspect in a possible homicide. It didn’t get more serious than this.

“They were there to execute a search warrant,” I said. “They spent all day at our house, searching through our things and taking away potential evidence. I’ve had to hire a criminal defense attorney.”

That finally got Alex’s attention. “Wait, what? Why were they searching our house?”

“They were too busy to stop and discuss the details of their case with me. But they clearly think you know something about what happened to Callie on the night she died. They’re probably going to come back tonight and take your phone. And your tablet and school laptop. They were listed on the warrant.”

“There’s no way they’re taking my phone! And how am I supposed to do my homework without my laptop?”

“We have bigger problems than homework to deal with at the moment.”

We drove the rest of the way home in silence. When I turned on to our street, a placid block of stucco homes painted in pastel shades, I could see there was a sheriff’s cruiser parked on the road outside our house. Detective Gavin Reddick was standing beside it, clearly waiting for us to return.

“Shit.” I turned toward Alex. “Don’t say a word to him. Do you understand? You don’t talk to the police about anything without our attorney present.”

Alex nodded. “Okay.”

I pulled into our driveway, and we got out of the car. Detective Reddick was already walking up to us.

“Mrs. Turner. Alex.” He nodded at us, his dark eyes serious. “Alex, I have a warrant for any personal electronic devices you have, such as a cell phone, tablet, or computer. Your mother and her attorney saw the warrant earlier.”

Alex handed him her cell phone and then set down her backpack so she could pull out her tablet and school laptop.

“When will I get those back?” she asked.

“That depends on how cooperative you are. The faster we’re able to close our investigation, the sooner you get them back,” Detective Reddick said. “If you answer our questions truthfully, that will certainly speed things up.”

Truthfully. The word sent a shiver through me. I knew he was doing his job and that it wasn’t personal. But in that moment, I hated Detective Gavin Reddick more than I had ever hated anyone in my life.

“Alex, go inside,” I said. For once, my daughter did as instructed. I turned back to the detective. “You do not have my permission to talk to my daughter when her attorney and I aren’t both present.”