He flipped the page and found a message from Charlotte. The bad thing about yearbooks was that no one bothered writing last names, assuming they would live forever in your memory.
I hope you never forget me, even if you move away and become famous with your music (I know you will!). Smiley face. I’ll never forget you or how much fun we had at Homecoming. I know Maggie will be smiling down on you when they hand out diplomas. I miss her, too, but I miss the “old” Caden more (don’t be angry I said that). Love you always. Two hearts with a string of xoxo’s.
Ryan remembered Charlotte, last name Wills, or something similar. She and Caden had been exclusive in the fall of ’67, but when the bridge fell their relationship crumbled in the aftermath. Caden had cut himself off from a lot of people when Maggie died, and Charlotte had been one of them. From what Ryan could remember, she’d left for college and never bothered coming back. It was unlikely she’d been the object of Lyle’s love struck adoration, but he jotted her name on the tablet, anyway.
The names of a few other girls followed. He was in the midst of reading a sappy message from Marian when someone loomed over his shoulder.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Ryan glanced up with a guilty start to find his brother hovering over him. “Uh…reading about your love life?” He tagged the question with an innocent grin.
“Those are private.” Caden took the book and flipped it closed with one hand. Dropping it on his desk, he sat in his chair, facing Ryan. “I thought you’d already snooped through everything of interest. Without my permission.” The last three words carried a sting.
Ryan shrugged aside the rebuke. “Don’t get your feathers ruffled. When you hear what I have to say, you’re going to be re-reading that sappy shit yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
Ryan relayed his visit with Darrell, then pointedly folded his arms across his chest. “Now what do you think?”
Caden scowled. “That it doesn’t make a scrap of sense.” He flipped open the yearbook, staring down at the scribbled passages decorating the pages. “Lyle and I didn’t run in the same crowd. He’s got no reason to hold a grudge against me.”
“He does if you were hot and heavy with a girl he liked.” Ryan tossed him the tablet. He’d written eight names and had been ready to add Marian’s. “Any of those a possibility?”
Caden gave them a quick glance. “No.”
“Why so sure?”
“Because they just aren’t. I wasn’t serious with any of them.”
“Which means you broke a few hearts. What about Marian?”
“Who?”
Ryan made a tsking sound. “I don’t think she’d like your answer given she wrote two whole paragraphs about the Saturday night you spent by the river.”
“Jackass.” Caden ripped the paper from the tablet. “Marian Dosler.” He wadded the sheet into a ball and shot it at Ryan. His brother dodged, then picked it up from the floor with a grin.
“We went out three or four times.” Caden closed the yearbook and shoved it to the center of the desk. “That was it.”
“Well, somehow, some way, you made an enemy of Lyle.”
“Fine.” Caden batted the observation aside. “We’ve got enough on our plate with the Mothman and UFOs. Katie’s safe at her mom’s place, so Lyle can take a backseat. If he’s got a grudge, I’ll be happy to hammer it out when I run into him.”
“What about Eve and Mom? He might look for you at either place.”
“He thinks I’m with Katie, so he doesn’t know about Eve. I’ll put Mom on alert to be on the safe side. You’re there most of the time, anyway.” He paused a beat. “I guess you heard about the phones?”
“Yeah.” Ryan picked up his handset and listened for a second before returning the receiver to its cradle. “Still static-y. Popular opinion blames our returning spacemen. I heard they were busy at the TNT again.”
Caden nodded thoughtfully. “Out-of-towners are starting to camp out on Conway Road, waiting for fly-bys. I heard a guy say you could set your watch by them.”
“I wonder what he was smoking.”
“It gets better.” Caden gave a grim smile. “I stopped at the gas station on the way in and ran into Shawn Preech getting a fill up. He said he saw three red lights pass over his house last night. Within two hours, a guy dressed in black showed up at the door and told him he should forget what he’d seen.”
Ryan grunted. “I bet that went over well. Knowing Shawn, he’ll be telling everyone from here to Gallipolis what happened for sheer spite.” The Men in Black hadn’t been as visible lately, but still made occasional appearances according to town gossip. A few had given names when pressed—Smith, Jones, Williams—common surnames coupled with hastily produced credentials witnesses were never allowed to view for long. “Did Shawn get anything out of the guy? Figure out who he was?”
Caden shook his head. “Probably a friend of Evening’s.” His expression soured at the mention of the blond-haired man. “Speaking of him, think we should bring him up to speed with the latest news on Lyle?”
“Pete’s orders.”
“Yeah, I’m just soured on the whole deal. I’d bet money there’s something that guy isn’t telling us.”
“You’re right. I almost forgot.” Ryan cursed himself for overlooking one of the most important pieces of information he’d discovered that morning. “Do you still have that envelope from Austin?”
“Yeah.” Caden opened his center desk drawer. “Why?”
“Because the last time I talked to Evening, he let it slip that Lyle had been in Austin. I think that’s where Evening’s facility is. It all fits. That message you got in the mail had to be from Lyle. He must have sent it while he was still there. After he had the flicker episode, or whatever the hell Evening called it.”
Caden located the envelope and removed the note.
“Anything?” Given recent discoveries, Ryan hoped there would be some clue Caden could decipherer from the terse message.