Part 95 (1/2)
”Wait,” Jennifer said, but he left anyway. Jennifer pulled the tray back on her lap and ate the cold pancakes.
From the way the purse bounced heavily on the bed, she knew the gun was still inside. Jennifer reached inside, touched the b.u.t.t of the gun with her fingers, and pulled out the phone.
”What happens now?” she said, holding the phone in her hand.
”I want you to stay here,” Jacob said. ”I don't think it's safe for you to go home.”
”You want me to move in with you? Jacob, we went on a bike ride together. Once. I'm not ready for-”
”I'm not asking you to sleep with me. Or do anything else. I don't sleep up here anyway. You can have it. If you want to move out of town, I'll make sure you have a safe place to stay. Anywhere you want to go. I can set up your sister, too.”
”I need a minute,” she said.
He left the room and pulled the door shut. Jennifer slumped on the pillows, covered her eyes with her hand, and pinched the bridge of her nose.
This was insane.
She couldn't go back to the house now after Grayson trashed her bedroom. Whether she liked it or not, her days of living in the duplex and pretending everything was normal were over.
Moving in with Katie suddenly sounded like a good idea, especially if she wouldn't have to worry about money. Not that she could accept generosity like that, though. The two of them would be fine on their own. Jennifer took a deep breath, then flipped open her phone to call Katie and try to explain what the h.e.l.l was going on.
She had a missed call. Jennifer expected to see Katie's name but saw Howard Unger instead. Why was the vice princ.i.p.al calling her on a Sunday? The first call was made at just after four in the morning.
”Howard?”
”Jennifer! You haven't been answering. Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Where are you? Your home phone says it's been disconnected.”
”What's wrong?”
He took a ragged breath. ”I need you to brace yourself. I have bad news.”
Not now. ”What? What is it?”
”I don't know how to... look, I just have to say it. Two of our kids died last night.”
Her stomach froze and tightened up into a ball.
”Who?”
Howard took another ragged breath. ”A transfer student named Cole Hauser, and Krystal Summers.”
It took Jennifer a moment to realize that Howard's voice was so small and tinny because her hand went slack, the phone slid out of her grip and landed on the bed.
”Jennifer? Jennifer?”
She gingerly brought the phone to her ear. ”What do you mean?”
Silence, and then, ”They're dead, Jenn. I'm sorry.”
”How did you-”
”Calvin called me this morning after they were found.” He meant the chief of police. ”Shot. They don't know who might've done it yet. I don't know what else to say. We're closed indefinitely. They're going to hold a news conference in a few hours.”
”Oh,” she said, and hung up.
She tossed the phone on the bed. The pressure built up in her chest, creeping up her neck to pound behind her eyes as she clenched her hands into fists. When she couldn't hold it back anymore, she wailed and thrashed on the bed, pounding her fists on the mattress.
Jacob stormed into the room. He reached out for her and pulled back, fumbling with his big hands as he tried to figure out what to do with them. Jennifer rocked on the bed and sobbed.
”What happened? Is your sister-”
”Not her,” Jennifer scrubbed her eyes. ”Howard was trying to call me. Two of the kids got killed last night.”
”What? Who?”
”Krystal. From my advanced placement cla.s.s. She-”
”I know who she is. I have her in the morning for calculus. You were close to her.”
”She was close to me. I always pushed her back. She just wanted to be my friend.”
”It's not your fault.”
”Don't start,” Jennifer snapped. A moment later she muttered, ”Sorry, I-”
”Who was the other one?”
”Cole, the transfer student. The one from the fight the other day.”
Jacob froze. ”What?”
”The first day. The fight. I guess he worked up the courage to ask her out-”
”What happened to them? Tell me everything he told you.”
Jennifer forced down her breakfast with a hard swallow. ”He just said they were shot.”
”Where?”
”I don't know.”
”I need to find out.”
”Why?”
”I need to know.”
”Why? Tell me why.”
”Think about that morning. What started the fight?”