Josh’s eyes widen. “Which means hewas.”
“No,” I huff out.
“I mean, he found something,” explains Josh hastily, “as if hewassnooping around. Though he wasn’t.”
“Exactly.” I don’t know why I feel the need to defend my dad even though he’s dead. But he wouldn’tsnoop. It was obviouslyan accident.
“What did he find?”
“No idea.” I swallow the rest of my frap as the jitters definitely kick in, and they mix uncomfortably with my stomach lurching as I remember the other part of what he told me. “But he did say he couldn’t possiblynotlook when he saw what was written on a piece of paper that was lying on Bob Nelson’s desk.”
“Did he saywhatwas written on the piece of paper?”
“Uhm. Not really. Well… he might have mentioned that there were block letters on the top of the paper. Block letters that… uh… spelled out my name.”
Josh leans back, actually shocked into silence. Then he says, “Is that why you’ve been so intent on getting into Devil Tower? I thought it was because of the soldiers. But you wanted to find that paper?”
Oops. In retrospect, that’s definitely what I should have been doing. But the truth is, between discovering my parents’ dead bodies and Quill reappearing in my life, I had forgotten all about it.
“Actually, I had kind of fixated on something else Dad said,” I explain awkwardly. “The main reason I wanted to go to Devil Tower was because he had mentioned its founders. He asked me if I knew about them.”
Josh looks more confused than ever. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“I think he meant it more, in a, like, ‘hey, so, you know him? Well, get this...’ kind of way.”
“Him? You meanthem, no? The founders?”
“We-e-ell...” I cough, realizing that I’ve definitely been overlooking some important clues. “Actually, now that I think of it, he really only mentioned Logan Colt.”
There’s a long pause, broken only by the coffee machine whirring at the counter.
“Which means we should probably be going back to DevilTower,” I add in a squeaky little voice, “so we can figure out just what Logan Colt and a piece of paper with my name on it have to do with my parents’ death.”
My face blotchy red, I loudly suck the bottom of my empty frappucino with my straw. I can’t believe I’ve been so focused this whole time on what Quill did or didn’t do that I never even thought through Dad’s last words. I’ve been sitting on the biggest clues to this mystery from the very beginning.
Josh stares at me for a beat, shaking his head slowly in disbelief.
Then he says, “You’re my best friend, Piper, so I hope you’ll forgive me for saying this, but wow. You are definitelynotNancy Drew.”
I can’t help but agree.
28
Quill
Eighteen years old
“
O
h my gosh!” squeals a high-pitched voice, and I look away from my girl’s ass to the screen in front of her.
We’ve spent the day like we usually do. Her lying on her stomach, typing away at the computer, me staring at her ass, her thighs, and the space between them. Listening to her chirp away about whatever asinine thing she’s working on, and trying to keep my thoughts on what she’s saying instead of her addictive body as it wriggles just slightly with every press of her keyboard.
I’ve taken her at least four times today, but that won’t stop from sinking my cock into her a few more. In fact, I was just wondering how I could position her so I could get access to her cunt without preventing her from working.
Because she’s been complaining lately about what a distraction I am.
