“Like mold,” I muttered. Watching Dee made me dizzy. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on, Katy. You can even invite Blake if you want to.”
I made a face. “I’m not inviting him.”
She came to a sudden halt, the lollipop dangling from her fingers. “Are you guys having problems?” she asked hopefully.
“You know, if I were actually dating him, I’d have a problem with how happy you sounded there, but since I’m not dating him, I’m okay.”
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What’s going on with you two, then?”
“Nothing.” I sighed.
She sucked on her lollipop for a few moments as she watched me. “And nothing is going on with my brother. Right? He’s just slinking around the house for no reason.”
My lips pursed. “Dee…”
“He’s my brother, Katy. I love him. And you’re my best friend, even though you haven’t really acted like it recently.” She flashed a quick grin before continuing. “So I feel like I’m stuck in the middle of you two. And I know neither of you is putting me there, but I want…both of you happy.”
Wondering how we ended up on this conversation, I sat down with a sigh. “Dee, it’s really complicated.”
“It can’t be that complicated,” she replied, sounding like Lesa. “You guys like each other, and I know Daemon would be risking a lot by pursuing a relationship with you, but that’s his risk to take.” Dee sat beside me, her body humming with energy. “Anyway, I think you guys need to talk or…I don’t know. Cave to your passions.”
I busted out laughing. “Oh my God, are you serious?”
She grinned. “So are you going to go with us tomorrow night?”
As much as I wanted to see the Thompsons’ house, because I bet it was super posh and cool, I was still undecided. “I’ll think about it.”
“You promise?” She nudged me with her elbow. “It would make me really happy if you did.”
Partying with them did sound better than what I had planned, which was nothing. Dee stayed for a little while, borrowing a couple of books, and then left. Then, around suppertime, Will showed up with Chinese takeout. I didn’t turn the food down, but I wasn’t much for conversation. Mom practically floated around the kitchen, buzzing on a good-boyfriend high.
When they left, I spent the rest of the evening reading, finishing a book for a blog tour, and starting a new one I wasn’t scheduled to read. Having time to read was nice and relaxing. I could feel a little bit of my old self creeping back. Not the timid Katy, but the one who did what she wanted because she enjoyed it.
When it got close to ten, I put the book down and considered checking in with Daemon. Was he going back to that warehouse without me? There was a good chance he was. Trying to distract myself, I logged into one of the local news websites and searched for any mention of the two officers going missing. I’d checked each night with no results.
But tonight was different.
The headline on the Charleston Gazette read:
two department of defense officers missing after last seen near petersburg.
My breath caught as I scanned the article. Officer Robert McConnell and Officer James Richardson were last seen near Petersburg on December 26th and have not been heard from since. Authorities are not saying the nature of their dealings in Grant County but are asking anyone who may have seen the officers or may know anything to please contact their tip line.
Below the article were two pictures. I recognized them immediately. Clicking off the webpage, I immediately brought up a new web search screen. First, I Googled Nancy Husher and came up with nothing. Smoker had mentioned her by last name, saying she wouldn’t be mad if I wasn’t…messed up.
I shuddered.
I’d thought there’d at least be something in relation to the DOD, but it wasn’t like the woman existed on the Internet. My next search victim was my mom’s boyfriend. There were quite a few sites linking to numerous awards won in the medical community, but nothing showing a connection to Bethany.
But there was something that left a bad taste in my mouth about him.
One article’s headline read:
local doctor overcomes leukemia, backs funding for new cancer treatment center in grant county.
My eyes scanned the article. It was Will. There was a picture of him, most likely taken during rounds of treatment, because I recognized that bone-haggard look.
I couldn’t believe it. Did Mom know this? I mean, cancer wasn’t a reason not to date someone, but after everything she went through with Dad? Could she go through something like that again if the cancer came back?
And if I actually grew to like the dude, if he wasn’t an implant, could I deal with that again? I went back to the search page, unable to wrap my brain around this new fact.
Stopping to grab a cup of cocoa, I returned to my amateurish investigation. My fingers hovered over the keyboard while a sense of guilt flushed my cheeks. Then, with a cringe, I Googled Blake Saunders, telling myself I only wanted to see his old blog, since he never did tell me its name.
The first searches linked to some college athlete, but down toward the bottom of the first page, I saw a news report about his parents’ murders. Clicking on the link, I read the sad, sad write-up on the deaths of his parents and sister. It was called a brutal break-in.
There were a couple more articles stating the same, and then I found the obituary for his parents, which took me to a funeral home site in Santa Monica. Sunny Acres. Who in the hell named a funeral home Sunny Acres? Shaking my head, I took a sip of my cocoa and clicked the pictures the website had of the family. The younger Blake was cute, and so was his sister. My gut clenched when I looked at the pictures of him and his little sister playing on a swing set. The kid was way too young, and her death was probably horrific. I blinked back hot tears, moved by someone I’d never even met. It just wasn’t fair or right. Death usually was never those two things but this…this was wrong.
I kept going through the pictures, stopping on an older one of Blake’s father. I could see the resemblance in the easy smile and hazel eyes. The man next to his father looked oddly familiar. He shared some of the same features as Blake’s dad, but his face was rounder. Some of the pictures had captions below, but this one didn’t. I went through the next couple of pictures greedily, and then I stopped on one that looked like a family reunion taken around the holidays.
Leaning closer, I set the cup down before I dropped it. A sharp pang sliced my breath as I got a real good look at the guy who’d been in the picture with Blake’s father.
The man had his hand clamped on the younger Blake’s shoulder and was smiling at the camera from beneath a wiry, light brown mustache. The caption below listed him as Brian Vaughn.
Thoughts warred in my head as I quickly clicked on the obituary again, skimming for surviving family members. Brian Vaughn was listed as a stepbrother of the deceased—of Blake’s dad.
My surprised laugh came out strangled, and I stood, looking around the room expectantly, although I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. Shock beat at me, struggling to keep the rising tide of anger at bay.
Blake was related to a DOD officer.
How…coincidental.
I started to pace the length of the living room, my breath coming out harsh and fast. The illogical part of my brain was trying to convince myself that it was just a coincidence, that it was another Brian Vaughn who looked like the DOD officer. But the harsh reality of being fooled…of allowing myself to be played right into the DOD’s hands beat at me.
His relation to the DOD explained how Blake knew so much about the Luxen and mutated humans. Why he’d asked so many times about who had healed me. How reckless and dangerous he’d grown in his training sessions. I didn’t even know where Blake lived.
But I knew where Vaughn lived.
I stopped myself before I reached for my car keys. There was no way I was going to Vaughn’s house. What would I do? Bust up in there? That was worse than Daemon’s typical plans.
Torn between wanting to talk to Daemon and letting the issue drop until I knew what I was dealing with, I sat back and pulled my knees to my chest. Could I have been fooled this badly? This entire time working with someone who was tied to the DOD?
Anger and fear kept alternating, gripping me for several minutes, then letting go and allowing the other emotion to take hold.
My eyes found my car keys. Vaughn hadn’t been home, and Blake claimed he’d be out of town until school picked up, visiting family with his…uncle. And this would be the perfect opportunity to see if I could find any undisputable evidence that would point to Blake working with the DOD.
“Dammit!” I exploded, jumping to my feet.
Fury became a living, breathing entity inside me, coloring everything in a reddish-white light. Some of it was directed at me, but most of it had a target. Blake had been in my house, talked to my mom, earned my trust, and kissed me. That kind of betrayal ran so deep it left a permanent mark on my soul.
Daemon was the last person I needed to go to right now. If Blake was working for the DOD, I needed to keep Daemon far away from this. At least until I knew he wouldn’t fly off and do something even dumber than what I was about to do.
Done thinking, I snatched my hoodie and tugged it on over my head. Grabbing my keys and my cell phone, I left the house.
I’d done an incredible amount of stupid things in my life. Petting the baby opossum was one of them, walking out in front of the MAC truck was another. I’d even gotten pissy once about the pirating of books and had posted this manifesto on my blog that hardly made any sense.
This, though, probably topped the list.
But as I hit the highway, hands clenching the steering wheel, I was a much different person now. I could kick major ass if need be, and I wouldn’t let Blake get away with this.
I parked my car two roads down from where Vaughn lived and stepped out into the frigid air that smelled of snow. Tugging the hood up over my head, I shoved my hands into the middle pocket and hoofed it back toward Vaughn’s house. The irony of bitching out Daemon due to his lack of plans didn’t pass me by, but now I understood that sometimes certain situations called for well-thought-out stupidity.
This was one of them.
Vaughn’s house looked empty as I approached from the rear. Luckily, the two houses closest to his were spaced out. One had a foreclosure sign, and the other was just as dark. Little flakes of snow started to fall as I crept around to the front. My breath came out in puffs, hanging in the air like clouds.
The driveway was empty.
Knowing that didn’t mean the house was completely devoid of people, I debated what to do. I didn’t come all the way here to stare at the outside of the house. I wanted in there. I wanted to find evidence linking Blake to Vaughn, and I wanted to see if there was anything on the location of Dawson and Bethany.
I went to the back of the house and tried the door. It was locked as expected, but I remembered both Daemon and Blake mentioning how easy locks were to manipulate. It should be a piece of cake.
An alarm system would be a whole different story.
