Aaron laughs. “Okay, if I ever had any doubt that Molly’s in there somewhere, your expression just erased it. Ella isn’t her favorite person.”
Ella isn’t anybody’s favorite person, except maybe her own. If she’d kept some of her opinions to herself maybe Mama wouldn’t—
Chill, okay?
I feel a little guilty as I push Molly to the back again. I’m not trying to be insensitive, but carrying on a normal conversation while an extra person’s ranting inside your skull isn’t easy.
I want to ask Aaron more about how he thinks this Graham Cregg fits into the picture, but something outside the window catches his eye. He goes to pull the curtain aside. The parking area looks pretty much the same as before, except it’s twilight now. And there’s a pale-purple Jeep parked at the curb.
“Damn it, Tay!”
He doesn’t explain further, just opens the front door.
At first glance, I think the girl is younger than Deo, but when she turns toward me I see that she’s about my age. She’s short, five one, maybe less. The green sweater she’s wearing is so long her skirt barely peeks out at the bottom. Her face is heart-shaped, framed by a dark-auburn asymmetrical pixie cut. She looks like a cross between Peter Pan and Tinker Bell.
I get a surge of emotion from Molly that’s nearly as strong as when she saw her grandfather.
“What are you doing here?” Aaron asks. “I told Daniel—”
“Well, hello, Aaron!” Taylor’s voice is rich with sarcasm. “It’s wonderful to see you, too, big bro.”
He sighs, then gives her a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead.
“That’s better.” She flashes him a very brief, very grim smile. “I’m here to tell you that Daniel is on his way.”
“I know that. He’s picking up Deo.”
Taylor shakes her head. “Nope. Deo wasn’t there. When Daniel didn’t see him, he drove by the address you gave him and there was a police officer—Baker, actually—leading the kid out to his car.”
“What!” I cross over to the doorway and start tugging on my shoes. “Why?”
She ignores my question, although I guess maybe she wouldn’t have the answer.
“And how do you know all of this, Taylor?” Aaron asks.
“Followed him. And then . . . sort of passed him. He doesn’t know, although I’m guessing he’ll have a pretty good idea when he pulls up and sees me here.”
Outside the still-open door, the very conspicuous Jeep sits at the curb. If she followed someone in that, it’s hard to believe he could fail to notice.
I sling my backpack over my shoulder. “I have to go get him, Aaron. Will you take me or should I head for the bus stop?”
Taylor looks at me for the first time, her expression unreadable. “Is Molly really in your head, like Aaron says?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell her I said to piss off.”
Molly recoils both at the words and the venom in Taylor’s voice.
“Taylor,” Aaron says reproachfully. “Come on, that’s not fair.”
I glance back and forth between the two of them. “But . . . I thought you and Molly were best friends.”
“So did I!” Taylor is directly in front of me now, and she’s a little intimidating, even though I’m a good three inches taller. “But best friends tell you when they have a problem. They don’t sneak off in the middle of the night without saying good-bye. Best friends ask for help. They don’t do something so incredibly, unbelievably stupid that they get themselves killed.”
Another car has pulled up to the curb, right behind the Jeep.
I was trying to help my mother! Anna, tell her, please. I didn’t know—
But I don’t get a chance to relay the message, because Taylor is headed back over to Aaron, who is having a heated conversation with the guy at the door. The newcomer—Daniel, I guess—towers several inches over Aaron, making his brother look short, even though Aaron is probably close to six feet himself. I wouldn’t have guessed Daniel was related to Aaron and Taylor by appearance.
Daniel has lighter hair, with deep-set brown eyes and a more muscular build. His skin has a slightly weathered look, like he’s spent a lot of time in the sun. From what Aaron said, Daniel must be twenty-four or twenty-five, tops, but he seems older.
“. . . occurred to you that you took a witness away from the scene of the crime?” Daniel’s voice is deep, a full octave below his brother’s.
“Obviously it occurred to me. But I’m more worried about keeping two kids away from the people who shot Porter. And finding out who killed Molly.”