As far as he could tell, she never stayed away from the property long, and therefore never left him much opportunity. Instead, Lily seemed to be always lurking around the complex, or in the office, or at least inside the shitty little apartment behind it.
Today’s unexpected departure had given him the chance to put on a jacket, pull a baseball cap low to shield his face, and explore the grounds for a few minutes.
It had been easy enough to peel back a section of fencing before zip-tying it back into place, since he’d carefully chosen an isolated corner that seemed safe from cameras. Once inside, even with the cameras rolling, he doubted she would suspect him of anything at all. He was only a random renter, an average white guy walking through the complex as if he owned the world. He noted every nook and cranny in the place in case he needed a quick hiding spot, but made his way steadily toward the office.
A six-foot-tall wooden privacy fence jutted out from the wall of the brick building that housed the office and the family living quarters. Knowing she was gone, he made a show of walking up to the office door and knocking as if he needed help. Keeping his chin tucked to hide behind the cap, he pretended to scroll through his phone for a moment while he peered in at the office layout and the heavy white door behind it that probably led to the apartment. He finally feigned losing patience for the camera aimed toward the door, then wandered down the walk as if he were still looking for help.
After following a turn in the concrete path to step around to the side of the apartment, he peeked through the slats of fencing. A cement patio hid behind the planks, hosting a couple of cheap chairs and a grill. A sliding glass door provided entry, and the open blinds allowed him to see into their home.
Though he didn’t dare linger, he was able to catch sight of a flimsy dinette table and chairs, as well as the edge of a couch inside. He knew from long experience that opening a sliding door was as easy as taking candy from a baby. If he needed to get inside—
Something heavy thudded into the wood next to his ear, and his heart was still in midexplosion when he registered a bitter scratch of claws and a line of sleek fur. A black cat turned and glared at him before hopping into the patio area.
“Shit, that can’t be good luck,” he drawled, laughing with relief that he hadn’t been caught prowling.
Taking the cat as a sign, he backed off and worked his way around the entire building before hitting the exit button on the gate. Whatever might happen in the coming days, he needed to get the lay of the land so he’d be ready for anything.
CHAPTER 10
“This is so exciting,” Josephine whispered as they left Everett’s mom behind in the apartment and rushed outside. School had felt interminable, waiting for the moment when he could finally show Josephine the locker. Fear still skittered beneath the excitement, but it felt distant now as his body pumped out adrenaline.
“Speaking of . . . ,” Everett said as he shrugged his backpack on. “Follow me closely to avoid cameras.”
“Everett! Hey there!”
He jumped in guilty shock when he heard the shout.
It was Sharon from across the street, hurrying over. He shot Josephine an apologetic look before they headed toward the pedestrian gate to meet her.
“Where are you kids off to?” she asked.
“Oh, you know. Just hanging out.”
“Hanging out, huh? Well, I saw what you were up to, and you’d better be careful.”
He felt all the blood drain from his face, and suddenly realized that was a real thing that happened, not just a punch line in cartoons. He dared a glance at Josephine’s wide eyes, then jerked his gaze back to Sharon. “Wh-what?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell your mom.”
They hadn’t even visited the locker yet. Had she somehow seen Everett going in? “Oh,” he ventured. “Okay?”
“That said, you really shouldn’t be up on that roof. It’s not safe. If I see you again, I’ll have to say something. All right, Everett?”
A warm wave fell over his body, sliding from his head to his toes and leaving his knees weak as noodles. “The roof. Right. Yes. Of course, Mrs. Hassan.”
She turned to Josephine. “I’m Mrs. Hassan from the shop across the way. It’s nice to meet you . . .”
“Josephine,” Everett supplied quickly.
“And Everett, the crawfish boil is in three weeks; do not let your mom squirm out of it. She needs to get out more often.”
He nodded, shifting from foot to foot.
“Well, you kids stay out of trouble now,” she said. “I’ll be keeping my eye out.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they both chanted before spinning to hurry away.
“Jesus Christ,” he rasped.
“Yeah, no crap,” Josephine whispered. “Thought we were dead meat.”
“My mom would absolutely kill me if she knew about this.”
“Mine too. Though my dad might be willing to smuggle me to another state.”
“Hell, I’ve got a leg up. My dad’s already in hiding. I’d just have to find him.”
A laugh burst so loudly from Josephine that Everett found himself joining in. It felt good to laugh about it, to let out the energy that had hardened and curled inside him. He still had the birthday card his dad had sent. Happy 7th Birthday, Big Boy! He hadn’t signed it, but his dad had drawn a little cartoon bunny that he’d sometimes sketched on napkins for Everett.
“So . . . that’s all true?” Josephine asked as they moved deeper into the complex.
He hadn’t planned on talking about this, but Everett couldn’t exactly avoid the subject now. “I’m not sure what you heard, but yeah. He stole a bunch of money from a bunch of places. The Ford dealership. Some trucking company. The hospital. I don’t really know how it worked, but he took over a million dollars.” Everett swallowed a thick pain stuck in his throat. His cheeks warmed until he was sure they must be glowing. “Then he left.”
“Wow. I heard he was one of the FBI’s most wanted.”
He laughed a little just to break the clog in his throat. “I don’t think that part is true. I never saw that online, anyway.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. It’s not really that interesting. He just moved numbers around on computers. I didn’t think anyone talked about it much these days.”
“I don’t think they do,” she reassured him. “Bea told me because you got off at our bus stop so we saw you all the time. But I don’t think my mom knows. She’s never said anything.”
He nodded, hoping that was true. He didn’t have his dad’s name anymore, and people seemed to have short attention spans for gossip. He knew his mom had always worried about repercussions for him, but kids didn’t care about the stuff adults did. If his dad had murdered someone, sure. He’d be famous at school. But an accounting crime? Boring.
He did vaguely remember some boy saying, Your dad’s a thief, in first grade, but the insult had rolled away forgotten, likely because it made six-year-olds picture some kind of ninja jumping from roof to roof, and that was actually pretty cool.
“Almost there,” Everett said, and that was the end of the conversation about his father, thank God. Instead, Josephine began listing what she’d found about Alex Bennick, and Everett was glad. He didn’t want to think about his dad. He wanted to think about anything else for a while.
“This guy worked for the school district for thirty years! So the first girl who went missing . . . Yolanda Carpenter? It was 1999, and she’d only graduated the year before. Or she was in school, at least. I don’t know if she graduated. I know some of them didn’t.”
“I was thinking about that,” Everett said. “If these were girls who caused trouble, they might have been in contact with the school district people, you know? Not just teachers and principals. Maybe that has something to do with this.”