“Thanks Blake,” she murmured, her voice tinged with weariness. “I appreciate it, you can’t imagine how tumultuous these last two years have been.”
And I stroked her hair more, my brother coming to join us on the couch. It was almost idyllic, surrounding the girl of our dreams, making sure she was okay, happy, taken care of. Okay, so maybe we were living in a shitty little trailer for the time being, but what counted was being together, making sure Callie felt safe and content.
Which was why we’d taken pains to exclude her friend Chrissy from the dissection today. The blonde had been useful so far – she’d hosted a party at her house where Bryan and I had done some undercover investigation. We’d learned that Canterdale isn’t as terrible as it seems, that the kids, despite being rich and spoiled, aren’t bad … at least not in the criminal sense of the word.
After doing Callie in Chrissy’s bedroom, we’d snuck downstairs, straightening out our clothes, trying to look nonchalant.
“Oh there you are!” squealed Chrissy, her eyes darting between the three of us suspiciously. “Where have you been? Bryan, I went to the kitchen to re-fill your drink and you disappeared,” she accused.
“Oh right,” said my brother. “Sorry about that, just went to the restroom and got distracted,” he stated.
“Did you find it?” asked Chrissy, still suspicious. “I mean, it’s been forty minutes and the bathroom’s right there,” she said, gesturing to a closed door behind us.
“Oh I just whizzed in a potted plant,” tossed off my twin with a salacious grin. Man, that guy had the moves because instead of being grossed out, Chrissy just giggled and started flirting again.#p#分页标题#e#
“No way!” she said. “I hope you take lots of Vitamin K because it’s good for leafy greens you know,” she simpered.
And that had been that, or so we thought.
But suddenly, the bathroom door burst open and two kids came out, stumbling a bit as they laughed and pushed each other.
“Hey man!” chattered one boy to the other.
The two were gangling, unreTylerable looking adolescents. They would have been okay-looking had it not been for unfortunate haircuts and a bad case of acne.
“Yeah way!” said the other, “I swear it’s true.”
My brother and I frowned at each other. What seems like an innocuous exchange to the general public can sometimes set off the radar of a cop. Teenage boys are notorious trouble-makers and the way these two were acting … I don’t know. I mean, what were two male adolescents doing together in the toilet anyways?
Without saying a word, Bryan disappeared into the now-vacated bathroom, presumably to relieve himself, but I knew he’d be checking for drug residue. Even if you’re careful, crack is hard not to spill and almost always leaves traces on the bathroom sink, the cover of the toilet, wherever you’d done the deed.
Meanwhile, I eyed the boys with an impassive face as they stumbled off, my arm still slung around Callie.
“Who are those dudes?” I’d asked Chrissy.
“Oh them?” she asked, distracted as she mixed another drink. “I think they’re friends of my sister Valerie, I don’t really know.”
Callie shot me a warning look, but I ignored it.
“Oh is Valerie a freshman?” I’d asked casually. Those boys couldn’t have been more than fifteen.
“Not exactly,” said Chrissy. “Valerie’s three years older actually, she was at Canterdale a couple years back but dropped out because she needed some time to find herself.”
I almost snorted but kept myself in check. “Finding yourself” was a euphemism at the precinct for a rich kid with serious issues, like addiction or crime.
“So where is Valerie now?” I asked casually, ignoring Callie’s jab to my ribs. “She around tonight?”
That got Chrissy’s attention. “Yeah, I think so,” she said, craning her neck, looking around to survey the mass of bodies. “She bought the beer tonight and I think she was going to make a second run to the store if necessary,” she shrugged. “I mean, you never know with Valerie. She’s got this new boyfriend, he’s so disgusting,” she said wrinkling her nose. “Old, stringy brown hair in a ponytail, thinks he’s some biker gang member.”
That definitely caught my ear. An old dude hanging out with high school kids? Definitely a recipe for disaster. I wanted to ask more but could no longer ignore the sharp looks from Callie. Clearly, there was something buried here and my girl didn’t want to go any further down this line of questioning.