"Why DID you stay behind?"
He smiles. "I was hoping to get this girl. We were making out but her friend showed up and they left. After that I got wasted and passed out."
"So Brock is the only alibi?"
"Unless Uncle Devon was still here."
"What if your dad lied?" I ask. "What if he changed the timeline of when Braden got home to protect him?"
"He wouldn't do that."
"Really?" I say, raising my brows. "For Braden?
He sighs. "Okay, maybe, but I can't prove it."
"What if MY dad could?" I step closer to Trystan and lower my voice. "We need to find my dad. He might be the only one who knows what really happened that night."
Trystan walks around me, going to the couch on the other side of the room. He sits down, leaning over and staring at the floor.
"When would we go?" he asks.
My heart races. He's actually going to do this? He's going to take me to find Devon? I can't believe he's agreeing to this.
If we find Devon, I might finally get answers. Answers about Brock. My mom. What happened to Andrea.
"Sunday," I say. "We'll leave early. We'll sneak out."
"My dad will freak when he finds out. He'll have the cops looking for us."
"You're afraid to sneak out?" I say, smiling. "You've never done it, have you?"
"I didn't have to. He's never here."
"And now that he is, you're afraid to."
"I'm not afraid," he says, getting up.
"Then prove it. We'll leave at five. Your dad's not even up until eight. It's only two hours. We'll go there, look for my dad, and if we can't find him, we'll leave. We could be home by noon."
"Wait—this is stupid. We don't even know if he's there, and if he is, we don't know where to find him."
"I know it's a long shot but we have to try. We know my dad likes music stores and coffee shops so we'll try those first."
"We should try homeless shelters first. I doubt he has a place to live. Or we could try the beach. He used to sleep on the beach."
"In LA?"
"No, when he'd go places. He didn't have money for a hotel so he'd hang out on the beach all night. Beg for money. Get drunk."
Shelby said she saw him on the beach but then said it wasn't him. But I bet it was. Why would he hang out on the beach in La Jolla when he could've just gone to Brock's house?
"So you'll do it?" I ask.
Trystan walks to the windows and looks out the back. "Only if you do something forme."
"What is it?"
He turns to me. "Go with me to see my mom."
