CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Tanner’s voice exploded in the still and silent room. The maracas clattered to the floor as he shot to his feet. Adrian held Veronica’s gaze for another moment, then dropped his eyes, a light flush creeping up his neck.
“I swore I wouldn’t tell, but everything’s gotten so crazy. And I saw that other girl on the news, and now …” He gestured wildly with his hands as he spoke, his voice fast and high-pitched. “Rory came out here to meet with a guy. I don’t know who he is—she wouldn’t tell me. But I guess she was pretty sure you wouldn’t like him.”
Lianne stared incredulously at him. “What are you saying, Adrian? Aurora’s with … with a boy?”
He pursed his lips. “I’m not sure ‘boy’ is the right word. I got the feeling he was … older.”
Lianne gaped at him. But Tanner was shaking his head.
“There’s no way. She wouldn’t do this to me. There’s no way!”
Veronica took Adrian by the arm and walked him, not particularly gently, to the glass table in the dining area. She pulled out a chair. “Sit.”
He did.
Behind them, Tanner was staring at Adrian so hard his eyes bulged. His expression was somewhere between shock, horror, and fury. Lianne’s eyes darted between Tanner and Adrian for a moment. She went into the kitchen with forced calm and came back with a few bottles of water.
“Start at the beginning,” Veronica said as Lianne set the bottles on the table. “Did you and Aurora have some kind of plan before she came to visit?”
Adrian shifted in his seat. “I wasn’t exactly included in the plan. As far as I knew, she was coming out here to see me, but as soon as she got off the bus she was hinting about some guy she planned to meet up with. I didn’t get a lot of details.”
“But she came out here to meet up with him? Does he live in Neptune?”
He shook his head. “No, I think they just arranged to meet here. She knew her parents would let her come to see me.” He looked down at the tabletop. “And she knew I’d help her.”
Lianne looked like she was about to cry. “Adrian.” The word was a simple, sorrowful admonishment. His shoulders hunched around his ears.
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Scott. Mr. Scott. I know I should have told you. But everything got sort of … out of control. And I didn’t know what to do.” He glanced up. “Rory’s my best friend. I mean, we’ve been through hell together. She was one of the few people in the world who had my back in high school. I owe her everything—and she asked me for a favor.” He gave a lame shrug. “So I helped her.”
“So you didn’t meet this boyfriend? Or see him? Why wouldn’t she at least introduce you, if you’re her most trusted friend?” Veronica put both her hands on the table and leaned across it.
He smiled slightly. “Rory likes mystery—she thinks it makes her interesting. And honestly, I didn’t ask. She’s always trying to get me to act shocked or impressed—she loves creating drama. But I get tired of being her sidekick. Sometimes I just refuse to play the game. It really pisses her off.” He opened the water bottle in front of him, taking a small sip.
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“That part’s the same as what I told the police. She arrived Monday afternoon on the bus. I picked her up, we went to the beach and checked out cute boys. That night she told me she didn’t plan to go back to Tucson. She said she’d met a guy, that she was crazy in love, and that her parents wouldn’t approve. She said he was picking her up Wednesday night. She begged me not to tell anyone. I told her she was being stupid. But you know Rory. She’s kind of … impulsive.” This last bit he said to Lianne, almost as if it were an apology. “So Wednesday we went to that party together. Sort of a last hurrah, I guess. Around about two a.m. she gave me a hug and a kiss and told me her ride was there and she’d see me sometime.”
For a moment, the only sound was the careless tick of the wall clock over the fireplace. Tanner stood at the window where Jackson had been a few moments before, staring out at the lush balcony, with its jewel-colored plants and heavy furniture. He seemed to be absorbing the information, his hands dangling unsure at his sides. Lianne leaned against the kitchen island.
“Mom? Tanner? I know you told me there’s been some power struggles between you and Aurora in the past few years.” She kept her voice carefully neutral. “Was there anything recently that made you feel like she was angry again? Did you ground her or punish her at all in the past few weeks?”
Tanner closed his eyes, but it was Lianne who answered.
“We almost didn’t let her go.” Her voice was a whisper, low and husky. “She had a week where she kept coming home past curfew. Way past curfew. And she skipped a few days of school. When she brought up the idea of visiting Hearst we almost told her no. Tanner was afraid she was getting wild on us again, that she’d gotten in with a bad crowd. But I thought a visit with Adrian would help. I talked Tanner into saying yes because I thought … I thought it’d stabilize her.”
Adrian was staring down at the table as if he wanted to crawl under it. Veronica almost felt sorry for him. Letting a missing person search mount when he knew perfectly well where Aurora was? Pretty shitty thing to do. But the more she heard about Aurora Scott, the more she reminded her of Lilly Kane—wild, warmhearted, and sometimes manipulative. And, once upon a time, Veronica would have done almost anything for Lilly.
“Do you have any means of contacting her? Is she answering texts, e-mails?” Veronica asked, turning back to Adrian.