Troy shook his head in disgust. “You know what he did. You were there. If you go taking sides with him—”
“What’s going on?”
Emily’s father walked toward them; her mother stood near the front door, the phone clutched in her hand.God.Emily hated that her parents had to see this. Just something else for them to worry about.
“Remember what I said,” Troy warned, shaking a finger at her. “The best thing for you to do is stay away from Austin. I’m gonna take care of that situation personally.”
Before she could respond, Troy strode back to his truck and burned rubber peeling away.
She’d hurt him. Her actions had increased the pain he felt. She hadn’t meant to do that. Everything was all screwed up. This was her confusion. Her problem. Hurting anyone else was the last thing she’d wanted to do.
When Troy had disappeared from sight, Emily turned to her father. He hadn’t said anything else. Hadn’t asked her if she was okay the way he usually did after something like this. Part of her understood that he was waiting for her to make the first move. The dark circles beneath his eyes and the fatigue on his face made her stomach clench with regret. She was responsible for this too. But she had to know the truth.
“Is there anything you’d like to tell me about you and Fairgate?” She waited, held her breath. She desperately needed someone to do the right thing. To just tell her the truth.
Her father shook his head and said the one word that broke her heart: “No.”
Emily got into her car and left.
That battle would have to wait until she’d gotten used to the painful idea that her parents were lying to her.
What was her father hiding? What was with all these rumors about Austin’s alibi and his possible innocence? None of it made sense anymore. She’d lost direction ... lost her certainty just like Marv said.
Clint Austin couldn’t be innocent, could he? She couldn’t have been that wrong.
She thought of the way those people had treated him in the Piggly Wiggly and she ached. That she could feel any sort of tender emotionfor him was making her crazy. Troy hated her for even suggesting Clint’s innocence, which she hadn’t actually done. Marv likely thought she was nuts. Her parents had lied to her. Her friends had withheld their true feelings.
Where did she go from here? She couldn’t go back, couldn’t go forward.
She was trapped.
25
Saturday, July 20; 1:03 a.m.
A sound woke her.
Emily blinked, rubbed her hands across her eyes, and looked again. The digital clock on her dash still read the same: 1:03.
Damn. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Certainly not parked in front of Austin’s house, but she’d had no place else to go. She doubted she was welcome at home right now. And keeping an eye on him was the only thing left she felt committed about.
She reached for the ignition, but something caused her to hesitate. The vaguest sound ... a crackle or splintering noise. So soft and indistinct she wasn’t sure she heard anything at all.
A frown furrowed its way across her brow. What was that smell? She inhaled deeply, analyzed the odor. Smoke. Maybe.
In a kind of slow motion, her hand dropped away from the ignition as she turned her head toward Austin’s house. The idea that maybe she was dreaming delayed her initial reaction to what her eyes saw. But then the flames flickered again, dancing beyond the front window.
Fire.
Inside the house.
Was he in there?
She looked around almost expecting to see a fire truck or the police or both, but the road was dark and deserted except for her. Her car doorwas open and she was standing in the middle of the road a second later. She didn’t remember making the decision to get out. Austin’s car sat in the driveway right where he’d parked after coming home.
“Jesus Christ.”
Adrenaline fired through her veins like mercury rising toward the boiling point.
