Page 24 of What Have You Done?

Edward swallows. This is bad.

‘And now she’s dead!’ Cameron says wildly.

‘It’s not your fault,’ Edward says, trying to calm him. He tries to think, but his brain doesn’t seem to be working properly. It takes him a moment to ask, ‘You didn’t see anything? Hear anything?’

Cameron shakes his head, then looks up anxiously. ‘What if someone saw me there in the truck?’

Edward swallows again. ‘Then you tell the police the truth.’

‘Should I tell them anyway?’

Edward considers this carefully. ‘I don’t think so. Let’s just keep this between us, okay?’

Cameron watches his father leave his bedroom and close the door behind him softly. He was afraid his dad already knew about the time he came home. He’d suspected as much in the truck on the way home from the police station. Now he knows for sure. He and his dad share a secret, and his father agrees that it should stay that way. At least now he doesn’t feel quite so alone.

He’s still very worried that he might have been seen.

Everything is so fucked up.

Cameron had spent the day lying in bed, curled in the fetal position, sending his parents away when they tried to come in to comfort him. He doesn’t want them, and he doesn’t want to talk. He wants to stop existing.

Cameron had heard Evan come to the door, had heard his father send him away. It might have been a mistake to talk to Riley. He’s worried about what Riley thinks. He hadn’t liked the way she looked at him.

At least his father believes him. His father would believe him no matter what lies he told.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

BRAD TURNER LIGHTS a rare cigarette, blowing the smoke out the open window. It’s not allowed in here, inside the apartment, but no one’s going to know. And he needs a cigarette desperately right now. He’s got a small, one-bedroom apartment in a low-rise building on one of the small side streets in town, Ivy Street. It’s quiet after five o’clock, when the shops close. He looks down on the street now. It’s quite late, long after dark, and no one is stirring. There’s no one to see him smoking at the window.

The apartment is mostly out of sight of the teenagers he teaches. They walk up and down the main street carousing in groups; they don’t come down here. He doesn’t want them to see him coming in and out of his apartment building. He doesn’t want them to know where he lives. Kids like to know things about their teachers. They’re nosy. They’re going to love this, he thinks, and angrily flicks the spent cigarette out the window.

He thinks about Diana, feels a pang of something sharp. He tries to identify it. What is it? Anger? Fear? Regret? He thinks it’s all of them. He’s sorry that Diana is dead. Of course he is. He genuinely liked her, in spite of everything. He’s angry, though – at her, and at Principal Kelly. He’s scared now too. The police are investigating Diana’s murder, and they’ll want to talk to him if they find out what she said to Kelly about him.

His cell phone rings, making him jump. He picks it up and recognizes the name: Graham Kelly, the principal. Shit, shit, shit. Today at school, in all the turmoil, he had barely seen Kelly. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to him alone; there was always someone around.

Kelly was on his side. Kelly had believed him. The whole thing had made Kelly very uncomfortable, and he’d obviously just wanted it all to go away. But what if he tells the police?

He answers the call. ‘Yes?’

‘Hi Brad, it’s Kelly.’

There’s an awkward pause, and then Kelly speaks. ‘I’m sorry, Brad. I wasn’t going to mention what happened with you and Diana to the police, but I feel I really have no choice. I wanted to give you the heads-up – I’m going to tell them in the morning.’

Fuck. Brad takes a breath. He says, ‘I understand; you’re in a difficult spot. I’m sorry. I’m sorry it ever happened.’ He’s still hoping to change Kelly’s mind. But even if he does, who else might know? Diana said that she didn’t want anyone to know, that she hadn’t told her mother, or anyone else. But what if she had? Kelly must realize he can’t keep it quiet, or he would.

‘I’m sorry too,’ Kelly says.

Brad realizes that Kelly isn’t going to change his mind. ‘You know this will ruin me,’ he can’t help saying. ‘And you know she was lying.’

Kelly doesn’t respond to that. He says, ‘It’s just that – what’s happened to her changes everything. And it’s unfortunate that this will now have to come out.’

Unfortunate, Brad thinks bitterly, close to panic. ‘And what will come out, exactly?’ he asks.

‘You know – what’s in the file.’

Brad closes his eyes for a moment in relief. He’s read the file. He opens them again. ‘Am I going to lose my job?’ he asks.

‘I will try to protect you, but honestly, I don’t know. It depends.’

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