Crushing (22 page)

“Yeah, how convenient for him.” The sarcasm was obvious. He shut my door and came around to the other side.

I was trying to act like I had no idea what he was getting at, but it was tough.

The drive to the clubhouse was only about two minutes but not something you want to do on foot in formal wear. In my family we would take the golf cart to dinner, but again, for these formal events, a car was kind of necessary.

They had the valets out front, and we waited patiently for our turn. When we got inside, the maître d’, George, whom I’d know practically since I could walk, smiled and greeted us.

“Miss Rory and Mr. Maddox, we’re so glad you could make it!” He pulled me in for a hug. “You’re so grown-up now, Miss Rory. Coming down here for a dinner dance with a real date.” George had always liked me—troublemaker or not. We were like family. Family that, like the rest of them, had no problem embarrassing me. He led us to a table for two up against the windows, away from the hustle and bustle of the bar and dancing.

“This is lovely, George. Thanks.”

Gage held out my chair. When he came around to sit down, he looked me in the eye.

“Did you know what Nathan was up to with this whole thing? Did you put your Machiavellian heads together to come up with this plan?”

I was looking at the menu intently. “What do you mean?” I could feel my lips twitching.

“The two of you are dangerous together. I know how dedicated you both are to getting your way.”

I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or impressed. I gave him a blank look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You knew what he was up to the whole time.”

“No, actually, I didn’t.”

“You weren’t in on the Bailee thing?”

“No. I had no idea until I saw your uncle on the beach. Then I kind of caught on.” He seemed intent on knowing whether I was in collusion with his uncle. I was glad I could honestly say I knew nothing about it. Well, almost nothing.

“And tonight?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

“No, I really thought he’d be here.” I could be honest about that, even though I was thrilled it was just the two of us, and I was pretty sure at this point his uncle had never intended on being here.

“Okay, you’re off the hook. This time.” He picked up his menu and seemed a little more relaxed.

“Thanks. He really cares about you.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a little weird having someone that focused on what I’m doing all the time. My grandfather kind of let me do my own thing. He was very laid back. Nathan is . . .” He seemed to be hunting for the right words. “He’s what I always thought a dad would be.”

My heart swelled and I got goose bumps. I grabbed his hand across the table. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m not really sure it’s a good thing.” He shook his head. “He’s very used to manipulating his surroundings. I’m going to have to watch him more carefully from now on.”

“Nice to know you come by it naturally.” It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

He had a little smile as he looked at the menu. “I think this is one of those ‘it takes one to know one’ kind of moments.”

I picked up my menu again. “I think you have the wrong idea about me. I’m a ‘go with the flow’ kind of girl.”

That got me a bark of a laugh from him. “Right.”

I was so happy to see him enjoying himself.

We took our time with dinner. I didn’t care who was looking, what anyone thought, or whose feelings were going to get hurt. I couldn’t believe how much time and energy I had wasted worrying about those things. They seemed so unimportant now.

The restaurant was full of couples and groups all dressed in formal attire. The lights were dim, and the fireplace was roaring. It was the perfect romantic evening. The club had these dinner dances a few times a year. Normally we sat at a table with the Rossis, and it was a very different experience. I was thrilled to be here on a date that had been manipulated by Nathan and not my parents. When I thought about that again, it made me wonder how I could have been so dumb not to have figured out earlier that Gage was it and Dominic was only friend material.

After dessert, the band started to play. “Would you like to dance?” Gage asked.

“Ummm, sure.”

It was a slow song, which worked for me, especially in the shoes I was wearing. And some of the older club members were very talented ballroom dancers. I didn’t think I wanted to be in competition with that. As we picked our way through the maze of tables to the dance floor, I looked up. We were on a direct path to Mr. And Mrs. Cosgrove. Oh man. There was no way to actually go around them without making a scene, and after this morning I had to play this cool and pray that all the alcohol she had probably consumed tonight wouldn’t make her chatty.

Mrs. Cosgrove looked a little unsteady on her feet. “Good evening, Rory.” She was slurring a bit.

Mr. Cosgrove looked at her with what I could only think of as contempt. The poor woman. Being married to that, it was no wonder she had an alcohol problem. “Mrs. Cosgrove. Mr. Cosgrove. Lovely to see you.” I was using every bit of my Southern manners. My heart was pounding. I did not want her to give away my plan.

Mr. Cosgrove had an odd look on his face when he looked at me and then nodded. “Rory.” He looked over my head at Gage, and his face tightened up and he glared.

What a jackass.

Holden’s mom touched Gage’s arm as she walked by. “I hope you can forgive Holden. He’s been a trial since he was small,” Mrs. Cosgrove said.

Uh oh.

“Alicia, let’s go.” Mr. Cosgrove frowned and looked away. He took hold of her arm and pulled her toward the bar. I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding, and kept moving.

Gage put his hand on my lower back and led me to the dance floor. He took me in his arms as we started swaying together to the music.

“What was she talking about? I would have thought she’d give me the death glare too,” he said.

“Hmmm. No idea.” I tried to act casual.

He pulled back a little to look me in the face. “Why is it that I don’t believe you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she understands the situation better now.”

“Have you spoken to them about it?” He rubbed his hand up and down my back in a soothing way, but his expression wasn’t exactly calm.

“Why are you so suspicious all of a sudden?”

“I guess it’s because you have now teamed up with my uncle to get into my business.”

“I haven’t done any such thing. I didn’t know what he was up to.”

“But you did talk to the Cosgroves, didn’t you?”

“I may have spoken to Mrs. Cosgrove when she was out for her morning coffee and walk this morning. What’s the problem? Do I have to clear my schedule with you now?”

“What exactly did you talk to her about this morning?”

I let out a frustrated sigh. Why couldn’t he be oblivious to his surroundings?

“I mentioned to her that I had an appointment with the reporter for the local paper. I was going to discuss what happened with Holden and tell him that you had only been defending me. I explained that you were definitely going to come out looking like a hero, and I was concerned that her family might not be seen in a very positive light.” I looked up at his face. He looked mad. Well, he would just have to deal with it. I hadn’t wanted it to come out like this. I had just wanted it to go away. I guess I had to tell him everything now.

“I pointed out that if they agreed to drop the charges against you, I would do the same. I told her I thought it would be better for their family to heal in private, and that this kind of thing could get very ugly and drag out. She agreed. They’re going to speak to the DA tomorrow. They’re going to drop the charges.” I was staring at my feet by the time I was done.

“Rory.”

I took a peek at his face.

“Come with me.” He led me out onto the patio that overlooked the beach. Thankfully we were alone. He turned me to face him.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I couldn’t do this in there.” He brought his mouth to mine. No hesitation. He wrapped me in his arms, and I felt surrounded. He opened his mouth on mine. I was lost. My mind went blank and I could only feel.

When he pulled his mouth back, he put his lips to my ear instead. “Thank you.”

I nodded.

He pulled me in for a full body hug and rested his chin on the top of my head.

“You didn’t have to do this for me, you know.”

“How do you know I did it for you?” I was grinning into his chest.

“If you still want to press charges against Holden, you should. I don’t want you bargaining your justice for my freedom. As grateful as I am, it feels wrong.”

I sighed. “It seems right to me. Holden needs treatment, not jail. He is a messed-up person from a messed-up family. I don’t think jail is going to fix it. He’s in rehab. He’s getting help. That’s all I wanted.”

“Are you sure?” He was rubbing my back again.

I wanted to just curl up under his skin. Why was he still talking and not kissing me? “Yes, I’m sure. You should not go to jail for protecting me. That’s the most important thing. The Cosgroves can worry about Holden. Now, can you kiss me again?”

He looked at me, and it seemed like the weight of the world had been lifted. “I suppose I can do that.”

We stayed out on the patio until another couple came out. We slow-danced again. We didn’t talk much. I was just enjoying being with him with no pressure. Later, he drove me home and walked me to my door.

“Thanks for taking me,” I said.

He hugged me. “Thank you for going with me, even though technically I didn’t ask you. You were really Nathan’s date.”

“What?” I practically screeched.

“Well, he asked you; I didn’t.”

It didn’t take long for the sarcasm to make a return. “Well, be sure to thank him for a lovely date when you see him.” I tried to wiggle out of his arms.

“Now, now, don’t get all worked up. His loss was definitely my gain.” He was squeezing me so I couldn’t get away.

“Well, all right then.” I harrumphed.

He looked down at me and his face got serious. “Thank you. For everything.”

“You’re welcome.” He was starting to lean down, when the front door flung open.

“So glad you’re back! Have a nice time?” My dad was in the doorway with a big grin.

I put my head in Gage’s chest. “Dad!”

Gage released me and stepped back.

“What?” I could hear the laughter in my dad’s voice. “You two want to come in and have some popcorn and watch a movie with us?”

“No, we don’t!” I glared at him.

“No, thank you, Dr. Atherton. I’m going to head home. See you later, Rory. I had fun.”

At this point my mom came hurrying out with a covered cake plate in her hands.

“Here you go. Lemon cake. I hope you like it,” she said.

He looked a little overwhelmed again, but took the plate from her. “Uh, thank you so much, Mrs. Atherton. It looks great.”

“You’re so welcome, sweetheart. Anytime,” my mom gushed.

I rolled my eyes. My parents were so embarrassing.

“Good night,” he said as he walked back to the car.

I pushed past my dad. “Really, Dad? Are you kidding?” I stomped up the stairs.

He was chuckling. “What’s the problem? I just thought you guys might want to do movie night with us,” he called up to me.

Right. That’s why he did it. Cavemen were impossible to reason with. Whatever.

The next morning I woke up grinning and couldn’t seem to stop. The date had been amazing, and I had gotten the first good night’s sleep in what seemed like weeks. Unfortunately, I was too late for church. I would listen to a sermon online while I got ready.

My friends and I were making plans to help with the search party for Lindsay today. Another search party was being organized to look again in the forest on the side of the highway where they’d found her car. I was so ready to do something constructive to find her.

Veronica came over so we could ride together. My mom made a huge Sunday brunch. When we finally sat down to eat, I filled Ronnie in on what was going on with Gage and me.

“So did he ask you to be his girlfriend yet?”

“Uh, no. We had other things to discuss.”

“Oh really? Like what?”

“Well, I told him that I had spoken to the Cosgroves.”

“He must have been happy about that.”

“Well, kind of, but he didn’t want me to sacrifice justice to get him off the hook. I explained how much more important to me it is for him not to go to jail.”

“I agree. I mean, I know we talked about this. At least Holden is getting treatment.”

“Exactly.”

Jeremiah reached over my plate and stole a piece of bacon. “Holden should fry. You’re too nice, Shrimpy.” He stuffed it in his mouth.

“Eww, use your manners.” I swatted him with my napkin. I loved my brothers, but they could be disgusting.

#

We drove down to the command station, where they were organizing the search. We were going to be canvassing the forest trying to cover more ground then they had already. We all wore T-shirts with the ‘Find Lindsay’ graphic on it.

Veronica and I were looking for Laken in the crowd. We saw her, Dominic, and Walker hanging out by the parking lot. Dom saw me and turned away. He didn’t look mad, just miserable. My heart twisted a bit. I hoped someday we would be able to be friends again, but I had made my choice. Now I had to live with it.

“Laken!” I called across the parking lot. I waved like a dork.

She finally looked over and headed our way.

“Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was going to get stuck searching with the boys. They’re annoying me.” She made a face.

“Yeah, that would not be fun right now,” Veronica said.

I was pretty sure she was referring to my crushing Dominic’s heart.

“Hey, cute necklace.” Laken pointed at my chest.

“Oh, is it yours?” I had meant to ask. It’s why I left it on.

“No. Why?”

I turned to Veronica. “Ronnie, is it yours?”

“Nope, I meant to ask you this morning where you got it, but I got distracted with all the Gage drama.” She laughed.

“I found it in my drawer. I thought maybe one of you left it. Weird. I’ll have to see if it’s Kelly’s or Ruby’s.” I shrugged.

“Wait,” Laken said. “What Gage drama? What haven’t you told me?”

The people in charge of organizing the volunteers called everyone over. It was time to get the search started.

“I’ll tell you later,” I told her.

They announced that we would be given numbers and a map with a grid. We would be given a specific area to search and were told that we needed to move very slowly. When we got to the front to get our assignment, we were handed our map and a flyer with pictures of exactly what Lindsay had been wearing on the night she disappeared.

Veronica suddenly turned to me with a flyer in her hand. Her face had turned white under her makeup. “Rory, I think you need to look at this.” She shoved it at me.

“What?” I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about.

The flyer was shaking now, and she pointed to the necklace Lindsay wore in the picture.

It was the necklace I was wearing.

I could feel all the blood drain out of my face, and I started to shake. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up. “Oh, no.” I couldn’t think.

Laken started stuttering. “Wha-what do we do? Oh my gosh, Ror—take it off. You have to take it off.” My hands were shaking, and I was reaching up to grab the clasp.

“No! Stop!” Veronica shouted. “We have to let the police do it.” She grabbed my arm and dragged me up the stairs and inside the command center. To the first person she found, she barked. “Who’s in charge here?”

“Young lady, what do you need?” An older woman at a desk glared at us.

“We need to speak to the officer in charge.”

“I’m sure he has better things to do than talk to you.” She started to come out of her chair.

“Really? I don’t think so. Rory is the one that found Lindsay’s ID, and apparently this”—she pointed at my necklace and held the flyer next to it—“was in her drawer at home.” Veronica stared pointedly at the old lady.

The poor lady started to turn white herself. “I’ll go get him.” She whipped around and hurried into another room at the back.

We stood there for a minute not talking. My head was spinning. Why did this keep happening to me? I didn’t understand what I could possibly have to do with this.

Detective Holbrook came out of the room like someone had shouted “fire!”

“Miss Atherton, what’s going on?”

“I . . . I found this in my drawer last night.” I pointed to the necklace without touching it. “I thought one of my friends had left it there, but then we just saw the picture of it.” I shoved the flyer at him.

“Okay, let’s get that off you.” He opened a drawer in one of the desks and pulled out gloves and an envelope.

“Can you lift your hair without touching the necklace?” he asked.

“Sure.” I lifted my hair, careful to not brush it with my fingers.

He unclasped it and dropped it in the envelope and sealed it. “Was there anything else in your drawer besides the necklace?”

“Yes, it came in a little brown pouch. It’s still in my drawer at home.”

“Okay. I’m going to take you home to get it. Also I want you to take a look at some of the footage from the prayer vigil, where you found the ID.”

“Okay.”

“It’s on my laptop. I’ll bring it over so you can look at it at home. I don’t want you to have to come to the station again.”

“That’s fine. Is it okay if my friends drive me home and we meet you there?”

“Sure, but please don’t mention it to anyone, and don’t stop anywhere on your way.”

“We won’t.” I nodded.

Veronica, Laken, and I hurried out to the car. What in the world was going on?

#

Detective Holbrook and a female officer ended up basically following us to my house. We got out of the car and went straight to the great room.

“Mom, Dad! Are you here?” No answer. Well, maybe that was better. “Do you want to see where the necklace was?”

He nodded. “Definitely.”

We all tromped up the stairs to my room.

He put on another pair of gloves and grabbed another one of those envelopes out of the pocket of his jacket. He pulled the drawer open and pulled out the little drawstring bag.

He held the pouch up to the light to get a better look at it.

“Do any of you recognized this?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said.

Both Laken and Veronica were kind of staring at it as if trying to place it.

“It looks like one of those bags you get at that tourist store that sells the pretty rocks,” I told him.

“Yeah. I think my little brother has a bag like that filled with them.” Laken added.

“Well, that’s something.” He put it in the envelope and sealed it. He handed it to the other officer, who proceeded to dust the handle and my dresser for prints.

“Why would he be leaving me things of Lindsay’s?” I couldn’t figure this part out.

“Sometimes people that perpetrate these kinds of crimes want people to know about it. They like the glory of it. They want to see themselves on the news. They will do things that look like they want to get caught just for the publicity,” he answered.

“But why me?” I asked.

“That’s a question I don’t have an answer to. I wish I did.” He looked concerned. “You need to be careful and do what your parents tell you until we figure out who this guy is, okay?”

I nodded.

“Let’s go check out that footage.”

I couldn’t get past the idea that someone had been in here. Then I realized someone
had
been in here. Hoodie Guy. My heart was starting to pound again. I needed to get ahold of myself.

I led them back downstairs and showed Detective Holbrook where he could get set up on the breakfast bar. We would all be able to kind of hover around the computer there. I got water bottles for us all. I was still shaking a bit, and I had to force myself to take deep breaths.

“I haven’t shown this to you before because the quality isn’t very good, and it’s pretty dark. I don’t know if you’ll even be able to see much, but we are really stuck for leads here. If you see anyone you recognize that you didn’t know was there, please just say it.”

The detective hit Play on the video, and I saw the big crowd in the church courtyard. It was pretty dark, but the lights from the church lit it up some. The footage started while everyone was gathering.

“We always film at these kind of events because sometimes the perpetrator will show up. In these kinds of cases sometimes, they want to see the damage they’ve caused.” He was frowning.

As the footage showed the candles being lit and the pastor starting the prayer, I picked myself out of the crowd. My head was bowed, with Gage on one side and Dom on the other. There wasn’t any sound. I started to get the chills. All of a sudden I saw someone behind me on the screen.

“There.” I pointed. “Do you see him?”

Laken and Veronica leaned closer to look. It was blurry and dark. He was wearing a hoodie. Oh. My. Gosh. It was Hoodie Guy.

“Detective Holbrook? I think that is the guy who broke into my house and set off the alarm.”

“What? When?”

“About a week ago, when my parents were gone. Someone broke in. My house key had been missing. That person broke in and stole the cash box and the money out of everyone’s purses at the dance, so I thought it was from that.”

“Why didn’t you report it?” He was looking at me, stunned.

I suddenly felt really dumb to have not put them together. “I sort of did. The police showed up and the security company. When it happened, I just thought it was somebody wanting to rob my house, like he was robbing the school. Nothing was missing. We changed the locks and the security code. I didn’t think it had anything to do with Lindsay.”

“Was anything taken?” he asked.

“Well, no.” Now I really felt stupid. “The alarm went off. He came out onto my balcony and looked down at me when I was going down the drainpipe, and then he took off. I think that’s the guy.” I pointed at the screen.

He frowned at me. I guess the officers handling the break-ins and the homicide detectives didn’t always compare notes.

“All right. I want you to watch the footage again and try to put yourself back there at that time and see if you remember anything else.”

He hit the Play button again, and I tried to put myself back there on that night.

Even though it was blurry, I could see him standing right behind me. I saw his hand reach up and brush my back and then toss the ID at my feet and move on. This was beyond creepy. My whole body felt cold. I felt nauseated and jittery.

Wait. The way he walked was familiar. Who was that? I knew that walk. And I remembered the smell I had smelled right before I felt that ID hit my foot. It was the same smell I noticed under the scent of cleanser in the janitor’s closet the night of the dance. Some kind of cologne. I closed my eyes for a second. No. It couldn’t be.

“It’s Holden,” I blurted out.

“What?” Laken practically shrieked.

“Oh my gosh. Yes. Play it back. That’s his walk! Totally.” Veronica was pointing at the screen.

“And it was his cologne. I remember. I haven’t smelled it in a while because he always smells like alcohol lately, but it totally is. How is this possible? He’s Hoodie Guy?” I was shocked. Had Holden taken Lindsay? Had he killed that girl? I couldn’t imagine him doing something this awful.

“Okay, hold on. So you are saying that this guy”—he pointed to the guy with the hoodie on the screen—“is Holden Cosgrove?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Absolutely. We’ve known him since we were little. It’s him,” Veronica confirmed.

Laken was staring at the screen. She started to cry. “It’s him. I’m sure too.” She put her hands over her face and started to bawl.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. This was not even in the realm of what I could believe. I knew he had done something awful to me, but he had been drunk. The rest of what was happening here meant he had been planning this whole thing. I knew what he had done in the parking lot was wrong, but I also knew he was a different person when he drank. This person, who did something awful to Lindsay, was a pathological creep. I couldn’t imagine Holden doing something like that.

“And you’re sure it’s the same guy that broke into your house last week?”

I nodded. When I thought back to when I looked up at Hoodie Guy on my balcony and compared it to the video, I knew. There had been something familiar. It was Holden.

“That must have been when he put the necklace in my drawer.”

He nodded. “We are going to check this out. I don’t want this to get out, so I don’t want you to come to the station. Will you and your parents all be home this evening?”

We nodded.

“All right, I’m going to come by and get your individual statements when your parents are home. In the meantime, Rory, I want you to try to remember anything you can about the break-in.”

He packed up his laptop, and I showed them to the door.

He looked at us all. His face was serious. “I know it’s going to be tempting, but please don’t share any of this with anyone except your parents. No Twitter, no Facebook, no texting your friends about it. We need to find Lindsay, and it could be the difference between finding her alive and . . . well, not. Okay?”

We assured him we wouldn’t. My skin felt crawly. I wanted to vomit. Everything just got way creepier.