Two Can Keep a Secret(69)
I scan the crowd on-screen, looking for an obvious sign that somebody’s not right. Something twisted lurking among all the sad faces. “They’re the most messed-up person in the room.”
Mia curls deeper into her corner of the couch, pressing the pillow tight against her chest. “That’s the problem, though, isn’t it? They are, but you can’t tell.”
I startle awake so violently that I almost fall out of bed. My pulse is racing and my mouth is cottony dry. I haven’t thought about that day in years—Mia and I sneak-watching news coverage of Lacey’s funeral while I hid at her house because mine was already bubbling over with angry tension. I don’t know why I’d dream about it now, except …
Katrin would either have to be so desperate that she lost all sense of right or wrong, or be a cold-blooded criminal. Even after catching Katrin doing nothing worse than looking for a quiet place to puke, I can’t get Ellery’s words out of my head.
I run a hand through sweat-dampened hair and flip over, trying to sink back into sleep. No good. My eyes keep popping open, so I roll over to check the time on my phone. Just past three a.m., so it’s surprising to see a text from Ellery that’s time-stamped ten minutes ago.
Sorry I didn’t reply sooner. Stuff happened.
It only took her fifteen hours to get back to my I had fun last night text. Which was making me paranoid for a different reason.
I prop myself up on one elbow, feeling a twinge of worry. I don’t like the sound of stuff, or the fact that Ellery’s awake at three a.m. I’m about to message her back when a sound outside my door makes me pause. The light tread of footsteps is almost imperceptible, except for a tiny creak from the loose floorboard in front of my room. But now that my ears are straining, I hear someone going downstairs and opening the front door.
I push my sheets aside, climb out of bed, and make my way to my window. The moon’s just bright enough that I can make out a figure with a backpack walking quickly down our driveway. Not Peter-sized, and the confident stride doesn’t look anything like my mother’s. Which leaves Katrin.
Katrin would either have to be so desperate that she lost all sense of right or wrong, or be a cold-blooded criminal. God. Ellery’s words are like my brain’s very own Fright Farm Demon Rollercoaster, circling in an endless, horrifying loop. And now, watching the figure below me disappear into darkness, all I can think is that it’s pretty reckless to wander around Echo Ridge at three in the morning with Brooke still missing.
Unless you know there’s nothing to be afraid of.
Unless you’re what people should be afraid of.
I root around on my floor for sneakers. Holding them in one hand, I grab my phone with the other and slip out my bedroom door into the darkened hallway. I make my way downstairs as silently as I can, although with Peter’s loud snoring I probably don’t need to bother. When I reach the foyer, I jam my feet into my sneakers and slowly open the front door. I don’t see Katrin anywhere, and all I hear are crickets and rustling leaves.
I look both ways when I reach the end of the driveway. There are no streetlights on our stretch of road, and I can’t see anything except the shadowy shapes of trees. School is toward the left, and downtown is right. School, I think. Where homecoming was last night. I turn left and stay at the edge of the road, walking close to the tall bushes that line our nearest neighbor’s property. Our street feeds into a bigger one that’s more well lit, and when I turn onto it I can make out Katrin a few blocks ahead of me.
I lift my phone and text Ellery. I’m following Katrin.
I don’t expect a response, but she answers within seconds. WHAT???
Why are you up?
Long story. Why are you following Katrin?
Because she left the house at 3am & I want to know why.
Solid reason. Where’s she headed?
Idk. School, maybe?
It’s a good twenty-minute walk to Echo Ridge High from our house, even with both Katrin and me moving at a quick pace. My phone vibrates in my hand a couple of times as I walk, but I keep my eyes on Katrin. In the hazy moonlight there’s something almost insubstantial about her, like she might disappear if I stop paying attention. I keep thinking about our parents’ wedding reception last spring, when my new stepsister wore a brittle smile and a short white dress like some kind of bride in training. While Peter and Mom circled the floor for their first dance, she grabbed a couple of champagne glasses from a passing waiter’s tray and handed one to me.
“We’re stuck with one another now, aren’t we, Mal?” she asked before downing half of hers in one gulp. She clinked her glass against mine. “Might as well get used to it. Cheers.”
I liked her better than I thought I would that night. And since. So I would really fucking hate for Ellery to be right about any of this.
Katrin stops a few hundred feet short of Echo Ridge High, at a stone wall that divides the school from neighboring property. The streetlights in front of the school throw off a yellowish glow, enough for me to see her put the backpack down and crouch beside it. I kneel behind a bush, my heart beating uncomfortably fast. While I wait for Katrin to rise again, I look down at the last text I received from Ellery: What’s she up to?
About to find out. Hang on.
I open my camera and flip it to Video, hit Zoom, and train it on Katrin as she pulls something square and white out of the backpack. She unfolds it like a map and steps toward the stone wall. I watch as she fastens one corner of what she’s holding to the top of the wall with duct tape, then repeats the process until a sign with red lettering is prominently displayed.