Page 75 of One Killer Night
“Mom,” I say when the coast is clear, but she’s still talking.
“I keep telling your dad that ‘virus’ sounded strange, but you never can tell with Evie. Plus, I was half listening. Most of her conversation was a rant about someone named Star-Lord.”
I grin, my fingers tapping the magazine, impatient to share my news. “Sounds about right. Guess what I got early?”
“Oh, and that reminds me, your father wanted me to tell you he met a lovely couple at one of his marathons. What do you know, they do birth parent searches. He said they were a real-lifeHart to Hart.”
“Who? What are you talking about?”
She playfully scoffs. “It was a television show from the eighties his grandma made him watch with her ... back before smart TVs, when you couldn’t binge or buy your way out of commercials.”
“Okay, great, whatever ... Will you listen to my news, please? I’m dying a slow death over here.”
She laughs. “Yes. Sorry, go.”
I take a deep breath. “I got an early copy. I’m looking at my name in print.”
She screams, and I can tell she’s jumping up and down. Then, because she’s the best mom ever, the crying starts. From both of us.
“I’m so proud of you, Goldie. My little ray of sunshine. This is only the beginning. Everything starts now.”
Chapter Seventeen
Camp Weonoke—years prior
The boy swept the room, careful not to hit her feet as she stocked shelves with more baked beans and creamed corn.
Townie,she thought to herself. She’d heard the camp director say his name but hadn’t remembered it, but most people called him Townie. It seemed cruel, but she wasn’t one to rock the boat.
Still, she was curious about him.
Mainly because she knew he watched them. It was his blue eyes she’d seen from the tree line the first time Davis went to second base. And she’d seen him again yesterday, when Davis had made butterflies tickle her stomach while getting to third.
This boy was always watching.
It occurred to her that something so sinister, so disturbing, shouldn’t have made her more curious. But she was.
“Why do you watch us?” she said, not looking over her shoulder. “Aren’t you scared he’ll catch you?”
The sweeping stopped, but he didn’t answer until she turned around and their eyes met.What a beautiful sapphire color,she thought to herself.
“I don’t watch him. Just you.”
She wasn’t sure why that made her feel weird, and not necessarily in a bad way.
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Because you’re interesting.”
“Do you even know my name?” she retorted.
He licked his lips, steeling his cold blue eyes deeper into hers. “Do you know mine?”
She fleetingly wondered if what she’d say would embarrass him, but she didn’t care if it did. He wasn’t like Davis. He didn’t have any of the charm or well-natured smiles that came so easily to Davis.
There is an honesty, though,she thought.
One that he had but Davis could never possess. Because his honesty wasn’t a reflection of his goodness. Oftentimes, well-intentioned people committed the worst crimes because they didn’t want to hurt someone. Something told her that wasn’t an affliction the townie suffered.
