Chapter 14: Guilty Conscience

School had been closed the following day, which meant I hadn’t been able to see Chloe. Thankfully, the next day things were back to normal, as normal as they could be considering the circumstances anyway. I arrived at school extra early. Nerves and excitement warred inside of me at seeing Chloe again. I hoped I could convince her not to tell anyone we’d been at the falls yesterday, and I really hoped she hadn’t already done so.

The hallways were eerily silent as I headed straight for Chloe’s locker. Late last night, I’d printed out the selfie I’d taken of us in front of the sign for the falls. Maybe if I reminded her how much fun we’d had, I could distract her from talking about being there. Though, sharing a picture of us at the very place where Rachel’s body was found probably wasn’t the smartest idea, which was why I had a backup plan.

I fiddled with the combination lock, listening for the distinct clicks to indicate I’d found the right sequence of numbers, then I popped open her locker. I stuck a couple post-it notes with handwritten questions to the inside of the door, taped the picture over them, closed the locker, and hid around the corner to wait for her.

Moments later, the hall filled with students. Chatter and laughter echoed around me. Chloe’s steps were quick and purposeful as she approached her locker. She glanced around, and her face fell with disappoint. Had she been hoping to find me waiting for her? That thought made me smile.

I watched as she opened her locker and found the picture. She took a moment to study it, and I waited with bated breath for her reaction. A faint smile curved her lips, and then when she found the first post-it note, she laughed. My smile widened, and my nerves vanished. Laughter was a good sign. Hopefully, she didn’t find the entire thing cheesy.

When she read the second note, her heart raced, the sound music to my enhanced ears. I momentarily closed my eyes and savored the fast, steady thumping. Knowing I’d caused that reaction in her was a rush. Unable to wait a second longer to talk to her, I approached. She had her back to me as she rummaged for stuff in her locker. I pulled another note from my pocket to have it at the ready.

She turned around and gasped with surprise. “You scared me,” she said, not even trying to hide her smile.

God, I loved that sight. I held up my finger, which had another note stuck to it. This one read,

Am I annoying you?

“No.” She laughed.

I grinned, and her breath hitched so hard and fast I expected everyone around us to be able to hear it, too.

I held up my other hand to indicate I needed a minute; then I turned my back to her so I could get the final note out of my pocket. A second later, I spun back around and held up another post-it.

Can I drive you home today?

“No.” She frowned. “I got busted. Aunt Beth said I have to come right home. With Abby.”

“I’m sorry I got you in trouble,” I said. And while I was truly sorry she’d gotten into trouble with her aunt, I wasn’t sorry for the reason why. Spending yesterday with her had been amazing.

“You didn’t. I could have easily said no.”

The corner of my lip lifted. I highly doubted she could’ve said no to me. She hadn’t wanted to—that had been glaringly obvious by how enthusiastic she’d been when I made the suggestion to skip school.

“So, what’s up with the notes?” she asked, leaning back against her locker.

“You don’t like them?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just…” She shrugged. “Different.”

“Well, you don’t have a phone, so I can’t text you. How else am I supposed to communicate?”

She laughed, and my heart soared. “Talk to me. You know, like you are right now.”

“Okay. What about this weekend?” Stepping around her, I opened my locker to gather my books. Not that I really needed them. I could do the assigned work in my sleep, but I had to keep up appearances. Especially now. “We could hang out and work on our History project a bit more, if you want.”

“I have plans with Ellie on Friday, but I’m free Saturday. I can ask Aunt Beth.”

I hid my frown behind my locker door. I liked that she’d made friends so quickly, but selfishly, I wanted her all to myself. That wasn’t fair to her, though, and she did seem rather excited about hanging out with Ellie.

“Did you hear about Rachel?” she asked.

I stiffened. And there it was. I knew this was a topic I’d have to broach with her, but I’d hoped to do it on my terms, but she beat me to it. “Yes.” I closed my locker and leaned against it. If I acted calm and concerned, I could pull this off without raising too many suspicions. “How’s Abby handling it?”

She hesitated. Had I said something wrong? I remained silent, waiting for her to speak first.

“Not well, but that’s to be expected, I guess.” She shrugged. “I know how she’s feeling, so I’ve been trying to give her space.”

Shit. I hadn’t even considered what this was doing to Chloe knowing she’d lost her mom not too long ago. This had to be bringing up a lot of bad memories and difficult emotions.

“That’s kind of you.” I reached for her hand and laced our fingers. “I’m sure that means a lot to her.” I tugged her closer, and she didn’t resist.

“They found her body at the falls,” she said.

I nodded.

“We should go to the police.”

Of course that would be her first instinct. Chloe was a genuinely good person. Still, I couldn’t let this happen.

“For what?” My tone was sharper than I intended.

She glanced around. “We were at the falls the day she died. We were there, and that’s where her body was, and…”

“And what?” My eyes darkened of their own volition, and I scowled.

This was getting out of control fast. If I didn’t make her understand, we’d both be in a heap of trouble. Without another word, I gently yanked on her hand and led her down the hall to an empty classroom. Ushering her inside, I closed the door and flicked on the lights.

“What good will it do to go to the police?” I crossed my arms over my chest. The very last thing I wanted to do was scare her or in any way intimidate her, but my very survival depended on her not talking to the police.

“I don’t know.” She glanced away. “But not going makes us look guilty.”

“The only thing we’re guilty of is skipping school.”

She narrowed her eyes, her scrutiny intense and unwavering. I should’ve known better than to think she’d just agree with me simply because I said so. That’s not the type of person she was. Still, I had to convince her to see things my way.

“If we go, what will we tell them, exactly? That we skipped school and hung out at the falls? Then what? We didn’t see or hear anything, Chloe. We have no information that can help them find Rachel’s killer.”

She flinched. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “But maybe we did see or hear something that we won’t know is important until we talk to the police. I watch a lot of cop shows and true crime stuff. It’s always some really small detail that helps the police solve cases like this.”

I almost smiled—because she was so determined to help and do the right thing, and that was incredibly admirable—but that would only encourage her. Instead, I remained stoic and expressionless. “This isn’t television.”

Chloe scowled. “So, what? We’re going to pretend we were never there?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” My voice deepened, and she took a small step back. Too far. I took a deep breath and put myself in check. Do not terrify her.

“But… what if we can help? Shouldn’t we at least try?”

What did I have to say or do to get her to see how bad of an idea that was? Maybe a touch of fear was what she needed.

“You want us to go to the police and admit we were at the scene of a murder?” I spoke slowly so that there would be no chance for her to misunderstand me. “What happens when we end up at the top of the suspect list? Because that is the only thing that will happen if we come forward.”

Her eyes widened, and her horrified expression told me I’d gotten through to her. Thank God. She hung her head, and my stomach sank. I hadn’t wanted to make her feel bad or defeat her strong will, but that’s exactly what I’d just done. I was a jerk.

I put my finger under her chin and tilted her head, so she was looking at me. “I know you feel bad and even a little guilty, but we did nothing wrong.” I stepped closer, putting us chest to chest. `

She sucked in a breath, and her racing heart momentarily distracted me. Would I ever tire of that sound?

“Getting ourselves involved with the police will only cause more problems. Please trust me on this.” My tone was pleading.

“Okay,” she said.

Relief flooded me, and all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and never let her go. But I couldn’t do that. Not yet.

“Thank you.” I ran my finger along her bottom lip, and my own tingled with the need to kiss her. I had a feeling she wouldn’t stop me if I tried, but again, until I stopped being a coward and told her the truth, I had to maintain firm control of my urges.

I stepped back and opened the door. “C’mon, we should get to class.”

The flash of disappointment to cross her face was damn near my undoing. Thankfully, she followed me out of the room, and I gave myself a pat on the back for not losing my composure.

In every one of my morning classes, teachers offered students the option to speak to grief counselors, and while a few kids jumped at that offer, most didn’t. Instead, they chose to gossip about what had happened, speculating about why Rachel had been at the falls, how she’d managed to fall. I’d heard one rumor that she’d been there with an older guy, and when she tried to end things, he pushed her. As tragic as that story was, it would have been better than the truth.

Between second and third period, Jax caught up to me in the hallway. “Did you hear the police questioned Marc?”

My eyebrows shot up. “They did?”

Jax nodded. “They let him go, but apparently he’s a person of interest.”

“Does Dad know that?”

“No idea.” Jax shrugged. “But I’m going to tell him, and then maybe I’ll pay Marc another visit. Make sure he didn’t say anything he shouldn’t have.”

If Marc had bothered to implicate me or Jax in Rachel’s death, the police would’ve already been at our door. Marc might be a slimy creep, but he wasn’t stupid. No way would he cast suspicion on us because if he did, he’d have to answer to Rector Zoya.

“You coming with me?” Jax asked.

“You’re going right now?”

“Yeah. Why not?” He glanced around. “Not like I’ll be missing anything here.” He laughed.

“I’m going to stay. Make sure Marc doesn’t show up and try to mess with Chloe again.”

Jax rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” Then he pushed through the exit doors at the end of the hallway and disappeared outside.

I went through the motions until lunch, and then I positioned myself near the entrance of the cafeteria so I could easily see Chloe. A moment later, she came down the hallway with Ellie, Gina, and Tonya. The four of them were smiling, and the sight warmed my heart.

“Hey,” Chloe said.

Behind her, Ellie stifled a giggle. She dragged Gina and Tonya into the cafeteria, winking at Chloe as she passed.

“What’s that all about?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

Nothing my ass. They’d clearly been talking about me. I grinned, and her breath hitched. I flung my arm around her shoulders and guided her into the cafeteria.

“So, can I take you up on your offer to drive me home today?” she asked.

“I’d be honored to drive you home today.” My answer was automatic. I’d do anything she asked of me. I stopped at my usual table in the corner and pulled out a chair for her. “I thought you had to go home with Abby, though.”

“Thanks.” She sat. “I was supposed to, but she’s having trouble dealing, so she went home early.”

I sat in the chair next to her. “Are you hungry?”

“Not really.” She fidgeted with the edge of the table. “Is your brother okay with me sitting here?”

“He’s not here.”

“Oh.” She shifted so she was facing me. “I heard the police questioned Marc Johnson yesterday. Do you think he could’ve had something to do with Rachel’s death?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

I shrugged one shoulder. At first, I’d thought the same thing, but after visiting the crime scene, I knew without a doubt that Marc had nothing to do with Rachel’s death. Not that I could tell Chloe that. I wished I could, though, because maybe then she’d stop feeling so guilty.

“I should tell the police about my run-in with Marc.”

“Why?” I said slowly.

“I don’t know.” She stared down at the table. “Maybe if I tell them how Marc behaved around me, they’ll see he has a history of… creepy behavior.”

She could not be serious. Good God, why couldn’t she just let this go? I snarled. “Unfortunately, being creepy isn’t against the law. And will you please stop obsessing about talking to the police?” Once again, I lifted her chin, so she was forced to look at me. “Besides, Marc won’t be bothering you again.”

“What?” She pulled away from my touch. “Why?”

“Jax and I had a little chat with him. He knows not to bother you again.”

Fear poured off her in waves. I mentally kicked myself for telling her that, but I was desperate for her to know she was safe from Marc and his mind manipulation. If I didn’t tell her the truth soon, I was going to slip up in a way that I wouldn’t be able to cover up.