Secrets and Lies(25)

“No! I, uh, well…” Now she was the one stammering. Tenley cleared her throat. Pageant queens three times over did not stammer. “I wanted to see if you knew anything about this toy.” She held out her phone, which had the picture of Caitlin’s train drawing on the screen. She launched into her lie. “I’m trying to find it for my cousin—he drew that—but apparently they’re really rare. Someone mentioned that you might have one like it that I could buy.”

Joey looked down at the picture, saying nothing. She suddenly worried that he simply wouldn’t answer. As it was, this was the most she’d ever heard him talk. He shifted from foot to foot. What had to be a full minute passed before he finally spoke again. “I had a train like that.” He kept his gaze on her phone, avoiding eye contact. “Got it for Christmas years ago. A Steinhard Limited Edition Circus Train. It’s rare, a collector’s item, actually.”

“Did your mom get it for you?” Tenley chose her words carefully. She knew Joey’s story. Everyone at Winslow did: His dad was M.I.A., his mom was a hairstylist, and he was at Winslow—and now Danford—on scholarship. His wasn’t exactly the family she’d expect to run out and buy a collector’s item for Christmas.

“Kind of.” Joey glanced uneasily over his shoulder. He looked ready to bolt at any minute.

“Kind of?” Tenley pressed. She struggled not to let her frustration show. “How so?”

Joey transferred his gaze from the hallway to the floor of his room. “It was from one of those Re-Gift drives, you know, that Pat-a-Pancake runs every year? Usually the gifts were pretty crappy, beat-up stuffed animals, or board games missing half their pieces, so I couldn’t believe my luck when I got that train. It was barely even used.” He said it all in a single breath, like he just wanted to get it out. “Now, can I please have my room back?”

“Sure, as soon as you show me that train,” Tenley said hopefully.

Joey sighed. “I don’t have it anymore. Haven’t for a long time. I brought it to school in fourth grade, and it was stolen out of the classroom.”

Tenley looked up sharply. She didn’t remember that part. “Who stole it?”

Joey lifted his head, meeting her eyes at last. The anger in them made Tenley squirm. “Some sick creep. Whoever it was replaced it with a dead squirrel. Obviously in honor of its oh-so-creative Rabies-Mobile nickname.” He watched Tenley with a pained expression. “You sure it wasn’t you?”

This time, Tenley was the one to look away. After Joey got mauled by a dog in first grade, she’d been one of the first to start calling him Rabies Boy. She hadn’t left it at that, either. She’d made bite marks in his lunch sandwiches and filled his backpack with “rabid” foam. At the time, she’d believed it was all just fun and games. But if there was one thing she’d learned from the darer, it was how little fun those games really were. “It wasn’t me,” she said softly. Her stomach knotted up as she rocked back on her heels. “So you never got it back?”

Joey toyed with the textbook he was holding. INTRO TO ANIMATION was printed across the cover. “Nope. Gone forever.”

Tenley thought backward. Caitlin was kidnapped in sixth grade. Which meant that whoever had stolen Joey’s train was the person whose basement Caitlin had seen it in. Joey—and his family—couldn’t have been involved at all.

But whatever psycho had replaced the train with a dead squirrel could have been.

The whole thing made her want to scream. She’d gone all the way out to Danford, and all she’d learned was that the kidnapper was somehow connected to Winslow—at least enough to get inside a fourth-grade classroom. It wasn’t much to go on.

Gritting her teeth, she refocused on Joey. “You’re sure you don’t remember anything else?” she pushed. “About the train, or who could have stolen it? Anything?” She knew she was starting to sound desperate, but she didn’t care. If Joey knew something, she was going to get it out of him, even if she had to ask a hundred times. She took a deep breath and flashed Joey her friendliest smile, not wanting to startle him back into silence. “For my cousin, of course.”

“I… Well, I did look it up online once,” Joey said reluctantly. “To see how much it would cost to replace it. I found a few listed at estate sales, antique stores, places like that. But, you know, they were pricey.” He fidgeted with his textbook again. “Now, if that’s it…” He stepped aside, leaving an open pathway to the door. He looked strained, as if the effort of conversation had worn him out.

“Yeah, I guess so,” she said, disappointed. “Thanks.” She’d made it halfway to the door when she stopped. “Actually, that’s not it.” She turned back around to find a horrified expression on Joey’s face. She ignored it, forging ahead. “I—I also wanted to talk to you,” she said haltingly. “We—I—never got to say sorry last month. What we accused you of… We were so wrong. We found those in your locker and—”

“Someone planted them there,” Joey cut in.

“I know,” Tenley said quickly. “Now I do. But at the time, we got really freaked out. We jumped to conclusions that we shouldn’t have. And… I’m sorry.” She traced a scratch on the floor with her eyes. She couldn’t help thinking of the Rabies-Mobile, of all those years she’d taunted him, played games of her own. “Really sorry,” she added softly. She looked back up to find Joey staring at her. She expected to see that anger in his eyes again, maybe even hatred. But instead, he just looked sad. “For everything,” she finished.

Joey nodded. “Thanks,” he said quietly. He paused, picking at the spine of his textbook. “Did you ever find out who it really was? Was it really just a prank like you said?”

A lie automatically sprang to her tongue, but she swallowed it back. Lies were what had sent Joey to Danford in the first place. She couldn’t take back what she’d done—would never be able to change it—but maybe this was a chance to give him a little peace of mind. She couldn’t ignore that.

“It wasn’t a prank,” she said finally. “One of our friends was angry about something we did to her as kids and… she wanted revenge.” She bit nervously on her bottom lip. The darer would skewer her if it ever got out that she’d told Joey the truth about Tricia. Then again, the darer already wanted to skewer her. And then barbecue her to a crisp. “She set you up,” she continued. “Made us believe it was you.”

“Which you all did without batting an eye.” Joey let out a harsh laugh. “Easy, right? Just blame Rabies Boy for all that creeps and crawls at Winslow.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again. The apology sounded useless even to her.

A shrill beep sounded in the room. “A school-wide assembly will commence in ten minutes,” a voice announced over the loudspeaker.

“I guess that’s my cue,” Tenley said hesitantly. She waited for Joey to reply, but he just nodded again. “Thanks again for your help.” She pushed past him awkwardly, hurrying into the hall. She’d made to the stairwell when her phone let out a beep. She stopped so abruptly she almost tumbled down the steps. She had no memory of reaching into her bag, but suddenly the phone was in her hand, the text message staring up at her.

Thought you could play Nancy Drew and get away with it? I warned you.… Now it’s time to pay. T-48 hours till D-Day. And by D, I do mean death.

Tenley opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She’d been caught. The darer was everywhere, knew everything. Anger surged through her like an electric storm. And with it, a sudden sense of clarity. It didn’t matter what she did. It didn’t matter what rules she followed. She was prey, and the darer was predator. This wouldn’t stop until the darer went in for the kill.

She squeezed her phone in her hands. She had forty-eight hours left. Forty-eight hours to stop this.

She was in her car and speeding toward the Echo Bay Police Station before she’d even consciously made the decision. If the darer planned to kill her regardless, why not go to the cops? She had nothing to lose anymore. Sydney and Emerson might not like it, but that was too bad. She was the one who was next on the darer’s hit list.

She made it back to Echo Bay in record time. Her tires squealed as she jerked to a stop in the police station parking lot. Her mind was already racing through what she should say to the cops. Should she show them the texts? Would they know how to trace their origin? Should she tell them about Tricia? Should she—

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud beep. Her phone.

“No,” she whispered. “It can’t be.”

It was.

I see all. Set foot in that building and Mommy Reed will end up right where she belongs.

The darer had to be following her! She spun around in a circle, frantically scanning the lot. But other than the cop cars, it was completely empty. Echo Bay wasn’t exactly a hotbed of crime. Or at least it hadn’t been.

Goose bumps spread across Tenley’s arms as several cars drove past on the street. This darer was like a shadow: stealthy and invisible, tailing her every move.