Where the Darkness Goes

Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

GARRETT — AGE 18

It’s chilly for an April morning when I reach the ball court at the park and find Brendan, Mark, and Justin standing around. It doesn’t take long for me to realize Will isn’t there.

“Hey!” I call, startling them. They’re huddled in a circle looking at something near the far corner of the court.

“Hey.” Mark looks over his shoulder. “Did you hear about Cory? I guess they found some stuff at his house that could connect him to the other murders. Apparently his dad lost his job over it.”

“He wasn’t arrested,” I remind them. It’s the same conversation I’ve been having all week at school. “He was brought in for questioning, but they haven’t proven anything yet.”

“Yeah, but whatever they found at his house must be bad,” Brendan says. “My dad says he thinks they’ll have arrested him by the end of next week.”

“My parents were talking about it, too. I guess they’re pulling him out of school because of it. Or because someone keeps spray painting his locker,” Mark adds with a bit of a chuckle.

“Or stealing his clothes in gym,” Justin says.

“I heard someone beat the shit out of him yesterday.” Brendan sucks his teeth, shaking his head as if this is all just water cooler gossip and not our friend’s life we’re talking about.

I can’t believe this is what it’s come to. “Yeah, I heard that, too. Pretty shitty if you ask me.”

Brendan’s shoulders are tense as they all turn to face me. “What’d you say?”

“I mean, come on. We don’t even know that Cory did anything wrong. Like you said, the police let him go.” When no one says anything, I add, “Guys, we know Cory. Do you really think he would kill someone?” I’ve seen it happening at school, the way everyone turned on him when he came back. The way they’ve made his days hell. I should’ve done more to stand up for him, and now I’m ashamed to say I didn’t, but cheering because his dad lost his job or he’s having to be pulled out of school just feels sick.

“Whatever,” Brendan says. “He was caught red-handed in the basement with her, knife and all. Who else could’ve done it? The boogeyman?” He wiggles his fingers in the air, taunting me.

“Maybe you hadn’t heard his prints weren’t on the knife,” I argue, knowing they heard, and they just don’t care. “Plus the basement door that leads outside was left open. Whoever killed Cassidy could’ve bolted out into the yard when they heard him coming down the stairs. Cory said he went down and found her, tried to resuscitate her or whatever. There’s no proof he did anything wrong and that’s why they let him go.” Frustration spirals in my chest when he scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“That basement door leads to the woods, idiot. Unless you’re suggesting Bigfoot came along and killed her, there’s no chance anyone would’ve made it to the driveway covered in blood without being seen. The woods go nowhere.”

I clench my jaw. He’s not wrong. Tessa and I were some of the only people outside and we never saw or heard anything until we heard Will scream. The sound was clear for us because the exterior door to the basement was open when he went down there and saw Cassidy’s body. I like to think we would’ve heard if someone had gone running, but then again, we were…preoccupied. It haunts me to wonder if we might’ve been the only chance of catching the killer, and we missed them.

“Look,” Brendan goes on, “I’m just glad they finally caught someone. It’s been more than six months since Amber and her mom died. Meanwhile, Tommy Ward’s running around with his thumb up his ass like he doesn’t know which way is left or right and can’t figure out why the sheriff’s badge is on his chest. We needed answers, and now we have them. Thank God Cory’s such an epic fuck-up, or the police would still be wandering around chasing their tails.”

I flinch at the harsh words, though I know it’s just regurgitated nonsense most of the town is saying. Nothing about his statement is original. Parents and kids alike are celebrating that we finally have our killer, just waiting for the holes in the case to be filled in so an actual arrest can be made.

“Wow. So much for loyalty.” I wave a hand at them, starting to walk away. “I’m done here.”

“Loyalty?” Brendan shouts, stopping me in my tracks. “What about your loyalty to Emily? Everyone knows the two of you were hooking up. Guess you don’t care now that he killed her.”

I storm back across the court, voice trembling with radiating fury. “If Cory killed someone—and that’s a big if —I hope he gets what he deserves. But right now we don’t know that he did it, and we definitely don’t know that he had anything to do with the other deaths. The stuff everyone’s saying they found at his house could just be rumors. You sure are quick to condemn a friend we’ve all known since kindergarten.” I cock my head to the side, something occurring to me for the first time. Why is he so eager to get everyone to believe Cory’s guilty? “Maybe you’re the one who has something to hide.”

He steps forward so we’re chest to chest. “Maybe you’re just mad because you know I could take your girl if I still wanted her,” he sneers.

“Ha!” I laugh, throwing my head back. “You couldn’t take my order at a Wendy’s, bro, let alone my girl.”

“Wanna bet?”

“I’d pay money to see you try.”

“Maybe I will.”

“Okay, guys, chill out.” Mark steps in, shoving his way in between us, hands on each of our chests to keep us back. “This is stupid. Let’s just play some ball, okay? That’s why we’re all here.”

We both nod, and I look around. “Well, not all of us. Where’s Will, anyway? Anyone heard from him?” He’s been weird lately. Distant and quiet. He hasn’t wanted to hang out as much. I know a lot of it has to do with Cassidy, but I can’t stop worrying it’s also about Tessa and me. Things have changed with our dynamic, where she used to be the third wheel with the three of us, and now I’m finding it difficult to keep it all balanced and not make either of them feel that way.

I’m not sure it’s working.

“Haven’t heard from him.” Brendan unlocks his phone, and as he does, I get a glimpse of the image on the screen. It has to be the one they were all huddled around looking at before. Quickly, he swipes it away and opens his messages.

My blood runs cold at first, then red hot. “What the fuck was that on your screen?”

He pales when he realizes what I’ve seen. “Nothing. Mind your business.”

I know what I saw. A nude photo of a girl on his phone. My stomach churns as I realize the last girl he spent any time with was Tessa. Did she send him…

I’m going to be sick.

“Was that Tessa?” I demand, wondering now if there was some credibility to his earlier threat.

Brendan’s lips curl up into a cruel smile. “You really are obsessed with the fact that I had her first, aren’t you?”

“It’s not her,” Mark says quickly, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“Then who?” I don’t believe them.

Suddenly, they all look guilty.

“I said don’t worry about?—”

“ Goddamn it! Who?! ” I shout. My voice echoes through the quiet park.

Every single head points to the ground before Brendan coughs, clears his throat, and finally says, “It’s, look, it’s from before, obviously, but it’s, it’s Cassidy, okay?”