Don't Make a Sound (Sawyer Brooks #1)(16)

Lennon swept his fingers through his curly mop of dirty-blond hair. “My bad,” he said. “Sorry I said anything.”

Sawyer ignored them both. Harper filled a to-go cup and slid it across the counter to Sawyer along with some creamer.

“Do I have to work with Dad today?” Lennon asked his mom.

“Yes.”

“All my friends are going to the water park while I’m handing tools and shit to a bunch of old guys.”

“Watch your language.”

“Aria swears all the time, and you don’t give her sh—crap.”

“She’s Aria.”

After screwing on the lid, Sawyer crooked her neck and looked up at Lennon. “How tall are you now?”

“Six one.” His eyebrows shot up. “Hey! If you’re going to be living with us for a while—”

“A few nights at most,” Sawyer cut in.

Harper crossed her arms. “You don’t like living with us?”

“It’s not that at all. I just prefer to have a place of my own.”

“Anyway,” Lennon tried again, “I was thinking maybe you could let me practice driving that beat-up heap of yours?”

“That’s not a nice thing to say about someone’s car,” Harper scolded.

“He’s right,” Sawyer said. “Old Suzy is falling apart. She’s a piece of shit—I mean, crap.”

Harper exhaled heavily as she set about making a cup of coffee for herself.

“It would be a good car for him to learn to drive in,” Sawyer said. “When I get back, I could take him to the school parking lot.”

“Lennon and Nate are going to be gone next week, helping Nate’s father with his fence.”

“Once we’re both back and settled,” Sawyer told Lennon, “I’ll take you driving.”

“Cool,” Lennon said.

“I’ll think about it,” Harper said.

Sawyer stood, grabbed the brown paper bag and coffee. “I should go. Thanks for taking care of Raccoon while I’m gone.”

“Raccoon?” Harper asked.

“That’s the cat’s name.”

Harper sighed.

Sawyer set her gaze on Lennon. “I’ll see you when you get back from Tahoe. Have fun putting in that fence.”

Once she was outside, Sawyer breathed in the fresh air. It made her sad to see her sister so rigid and uptight. If Harper could be honest with herself and others and let all her feelings out, the good and the bad, maybe all three of them—Harper, Aria, and Sawyer—could help one another heal properly.

Aria was of the mind that Harper was riddled with guilt for scaring Uncle Theo off when he’d come to her room, and yet failing to save her sisters. Apparently, Harper had grabbed a pencil from her bedside table and gouged Uncle Theo’s face, making a jagged line from eye to ear, warning him that if he ever touched her or her sisters, she’d go straight to the police.

Before Aria had related the story, Sawyer had always wondered where Uncle Theo had gotten the scar.

Now she knew.





CHAPTER EIGHT

On the drive to River Rock, Sawyer nearly turned around twice. Returning to her hometown always left her feeling weighed down by sadness and grief. Sometimes she wondered if she were the only person in River Rock who thought about Peggy Myers and Avery James. And what about Sawyer’s best friend, Rebecca? Was her family still looking for her? Or had life simply moved on without her?

Sawyer thought of Rebecca all the time. How they used to walk to the park where Sawyer would lie on the grass and watch the clouds make shapes while Rebecca pumped her legs on the swing, her head back and her eyes closed as she floated through air.

The drive felt longer than Sawyer remembered. The last time she’d visited was eighteen months ago. Although she hadn’t experienced any of the anxiety Harper had prophesized, as soon as she reached Frontage Road, her chest tightened. It was as if something were lodged in her throat, making it difficult to breathe.

She pulled into the gas station up ahead, next to an available pump, figuring she could fill up her tank and take a breather at the same time. She climbed out and slipped her credit card into the slot, then removed the cap from her gas tank.

“Sawyer Brooks,” she heard someone say.

She looked up, surprised to see Aspen Burke. She smiled at him, squinting into the sunlight. After Rebecca disappeared, she and Aspen had spent a lot of time together. He looked different. He’d filled out in the chest and shoulders, and his acne was gone. He used to have long, stringy brown hair that fell to his shoulders, but now he had a taper-and-fade cut around the ears, leaving his dark hair longer on top. He wore a short-sleeve tan uniform and a dark-blue flat-bill cap. A badge pinned to his left breast pocket read “Reserve Deputy.”

His smile reached his eyes, and before she knew what he was up to, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a long squeeze. “It’s good to see you, Sawyer.”

Her heart raced, and she tried not to panic. Relief washed over her when he finally released his hold. “Wow,” she said as she took a step back. “You’re a deputy now?”

“I am.” He pointed to the back of her car. “Broken taillight,” he said. “Might want to get that fixed. If it were anyone else, I would have to ticket you.”