“It’s her,” I mumble. “When she was a girl.”
Riley keeps staring at the photo, not saying anything.
“Let me see.” Kade snatches it from him, his eyebrows popping up. “Damn, she’s hot.”
I growl in my throat.
“Who’s the guy?” Kade passes it back.
Riley takes it and walks away from the bed. “I know him.”
“What!” Kade and I snap in unison. I get up and move to Riley’s side, leaning over his shoulder as he pulls up an Internet browser on his phone.
He gazes at the photo, then taps it against his chin. “There’s something familiar about him…her. I just… I know those faces.”
Grabbing the photo from him, I take a closer look, trying to figure out where he might have seen them. His thumbs tap on the phone until all I can hear is his beat and my breathing.
Then a quick breath whips out of him and his thumbs start flying over the screen.
“Remember that news article a while back about the teenage guy who was shot dead in a parking lot? Some high-flying businessman was charged with the crime and is awaiting trial.”
“No offense, Ry, but you know we never listen to you when you spout off about the news.” Kade crosses his arms and stares at him.
Riley scowls. “We had a conversation about it.”
Kade shrugs. “Was a hockey game on at the time?”
Riley rolls his eyes and looks back at his phone. An online Florida newspaper pops up. We all lean in to read the headline.
Family Claims Police Have The Wrong Killer
I frown and glare at the words. Riley scrolls down the screen and a photo of Chris pops up.
My lips part as I gape at the image and read the words around it.
“What shit is this? They think she did it?”
Riley softens my rage with a quiet murmur. “Doesn’t mean she did, man. The family is just speculating because she was with him the night he died.” He points to the little photo in my hand. “I’m guessing it was a date or something.”
I scowl and shove the image back into my pocket. I don’t need to look at it right now.
Riley keeps talking. “Apparently she just disappeared. The family says she ran away, but the Candellas think that’s proof she’s guilty.”
“She must have seen it happen,” I whisper, my heart twisting into a knot. I can totally imagine what she must have felt. Seeing the gun go off. Watching her friend fall to the ground. I grip my forehead, my chest heaving as I’m taunted by an image of my mother’s skin turning to charcoal.
“No way.” Kade points at some text. “It says here her uncle is charged with the crime.”
My head pops up, the news shocking me for a second.
Riley nods. “Means she must be willing to testify against him.”
Kade’s expression wrinkles with confusion. “Her own uncle?”
“Is that really so hard to believe?” I ask. “When was the last time you even spoke to your parents?”
His jaw works to the side and he glares at the screen.
“That’s why they had to hide her so well,” Riley mutters. “She told me the killer has connections. He’ll be hunting her down and trying to shut her up any way he can.”
Kade scoffs. “You’re making him sound like The Godfather.”
“Well, maybe he is.” Riley starts tapping his screen again. I share a dubious frown with Kade while Riley keeps talking. “This article says the Feds have been trying to catch him for years but they’ve never had anything solid enough to pin on him.”
“Al frickin’ Capone,” I seethe.
“According to this, he’s been arrested twice before, but he gets off every time.” Riley’s voice is dark and bitter for a second. “An eyewitness account of first-degree murder or even manslaughter would be like gold in this case. Chris has the power to bury the guy.”
“Chris,” I mutter and pull the photo back out of my pocket. “You mean Christiana Sorrentino.”
“I’m sorry, man.” He looks up at me with a sad smile. “But you’ve fallen for the wrong girl.”
A hot puff of air snorts out my nose as I glare down at Riley’s phone. “I don’t give a shit who her family is. She’s one of us now, and I’m not standing here and letting something bad happen to her.” I flick Riley’s arm. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“To find her.” I pull on a pair of jeans. Grabbing my wallet, I slide it into my back pocket then take my thick jacket out of the closet.
“Where do we even start looking?” Riley’s skeptical tone is dampened by the fact that he’s already getting changed.
“I don’t know, but we’ll think in the car.”
“What car?”
I pause at the door, then turn back to Kade’s question. I wait until his head has popped through his sweater before answering. “You still know how to hot-wire anything, right?”
Kade’s lips twitch. “Yeah.”
“And if I remember correctly, Headmaster Williams still parks his car in the back lot by East Gate.”