Todd Strasser - Kill You Last

Or had she been looking for something in the office and now come back to see if we’d found it?

Or was I just being completely over-the-top paranoid? After all, she was my best friend.

Roman was still waiting for an answer when Whit spoke up. “I asked her to bring me here. After writing all these stories about her dad, I really wanted to see the place.”

“Uh-huh.” From the way Roman nodded, I knew she didn’t believe that. But maybe it didn’t matter.

“I better get going before my mom sends the police to find me,” I said.

I got into my car feeling wound up and tense about Roman being there and about going home and facing Mom, who would demand to know why I’d lied to her and where I’d really been. I’d barely gotten out of the studio parking lot before my BlackBerry rang. It was Roman, calling from her car.

“What was that about?” she asked.

“How did you know we were there?” I asked back.

“I asked my question first,” she said.

At that point I didn’t care who’d asked first. I was feeling seriously stressed and suspicious. Roman was my best friend. If I couldn’t trust her, then who could I trust? “I’m serious. How did you know?”

“I told you, it was a lucky guess, pure and simple. Where else would you have been?”

“I can think of a hundred places.”

“Well, I don’t have your imagination. So what’s the story?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I thought we were best friends,” she said.

“And you’ve never kept a secret from me?”

“What’s that got to do…,” she began to ask, then realized.

“Oh, so that’s the deal? I must have kept secrets from you, so it’s okay for you to keep this secret from me?”

I didn’t answer.

“Since when don’t we trust each other?” she asked.

Was she right? Was I being crazy paranoid? She couldn’t possibly have anything to do with those missing girls, could she? And yet, I still didn’t understand how she could have known that Whit and I were at the studio just now. Could it really have been as simple as a lucky guess?

“I’m almost home,” I lied. “I have to go in and face Mom. We’ll talk about this later.”

A few moments later I pulled into the driveway but didn’t get out right away. I was scared. I wished I could tell Mom the truth, but Whit had made me swear that I’d keep the Janet thing a secret.

I couldn’t sit in the car forever, putting off the inevitable, so I took a deep breath and got out. As I walked to the front door, I expected that Mom would be waiting in the living room.

What I didn’t expect was for Dad to be waiting there, too.

Mom was sitting on the couch. Dad was in an easy chair on the other side of the coffee table. As I closed the door behind me, he lowered a copy of the newspaper. I imagined their sitting in complete silence with Dad reading the paper while they waited for me.

“I called Roman’s house,” Mom began.

“I know,” I said. “She told me.”

“So…?”

“I…was with a guy.”

From the surprise on their faces, I knew immediately that my answer had worked.

“Really?” Dad’s eyebrows rose with interest. “Someone from school?”

“He goes to Sarah Lawrence,” I said.

Mom’s eyebrows dipped uncertainly. “How did you meet him?”

“The day I went for my interview.”

“No kidding?” Dad seemed happy for me. How could this be the same man who stole from all those girls? I wondered.

It wasn’t in my nature to spin lies, but I knew that Mom would want to know more. “I asked him for directions…and he offered to show me the way and we started to talk.”

“Like an instant attraction?” Dad smiled brightly. Despite all the horrible things going on in his life, you could see that he still got a kick out of hearing how his daughter met a guy.

“Was this the first time you’ve seen him since then?” Mom asked.

“Oh no, I…we’ve seen each other a couple of times and talked a lot on the phone.” It was interesting how, except for the part about asking for directions, almost every answer I’d given had basically been true, and how easily the true answers had fit the questions.

But then Mom said, “And suddenly tonight you just had to see him?”

I felt my insides tighten. How would I answer that?

“Oh, come on, Ruth,” Dad said. “It’s young love. It’s passionate and impatient and impetuous.”

Mom’s eyes remained fixed on me as if she hadn’t heard a word he’d said.

“Do we get to meet him?” Dad asked.

“Uh…” I hesitated. Ironically, it was Dad who’d innocently asked the question that was hardest to answer. “Maybe someday. I mean, we’re not there yet, you know?”

Dad nodded and smiled. Mom just gazed silently at me as if trying to see through to the truth.

“Well, then, all right.” Dad stood up as if the matter had been settled. “I think we’ve gotten to the bottom of that. When you’re ready, Shels, I’d like to meet him.” He gave Mom a terse nod and left the living room.

Mom remained on the couch, waiting, it seemed to me, until Dad was out of earshot. Then, in a low voice, she said, “I read an interesting article once. It said that everyone believes that liars aren’t able to look you in the eye, so some liars go out of their way to look you in the eye to make you think they’re telling the truth.”

I kept my eyes on hers. Mom studied me silently. “You must stay out of this, Shelby. It’s dangerous. The girl they found in that cave near Scranton didn’t wind up there by accident. I know you want to protect your father, but you can’t do that without putting yourself at risk.”

Suddenly, I couldn’t meet her gaze anymore and stared down at the floor.

“Tell me you’ll stay out of it,” Mom said.

“I…will.”

“Promise me?” she said, getting up and coming toward me.

I looked up. “I said I will.”

Mom kissed me on the forehead, then nodded as if to say I could go. I went upstairs and slumped down in front of my computer. The memory of how I’d left things with Roman returned. I’d been unreasonably mistrustful and must have hurt her feelings. I was wondering if I should call and apologize when a text showed up… from Gabriel: Thx 4 inviting me 2 the party. W2 meet again? 121?

That caught me by surprise. I could only assume that the quick kiss I’d given him after the party, before we’d parted, had smoothed out the earlier rough spots. It was flattering to think that he still liked me, but then I thought about the warnings both Whit and Roman had given me about him. I was wondering about how to answer him when an e-mail popped up from vengeance13772388@gmail. com: I like you, Shelby Sloan. If I have to kill you, I’ll kill you last.

I almost cried out. My hands gripped the edge of the desk, and my heart thudded heavily in my chest as I stared at the ominous words, reading them over and over.

Someone was actually threatening to kill me.

It took a while to begin to calm down and breathe normally again. They’re just words, I told myself. It could even be someone playing a sick joke. Besides, as long as I’m in my house, in my room, I’m safe.

I began to think about what the words meant. The person who sent the e-mail said he liked me. Could it really be someone I knew that well?

And what did “If I have to kill you” mean? Why would anyone have to kill me? It didn’t make sense…unless it was a warning…That he would have to kill me if I didn’t stop looking into my father’s situation…

But why send the e-mail now? Why hadn’t he sent it a few days ago? And didn’t it imply that I was onto something? Clearly whoever sent it did so because he was feeling threatened by me.