Senior prom. And Alicia wasn’t going to make it. Sarah wished that wasn’t the case, but she had that feeling. Her gut never failed her.
Alicia Appleton wasn’t coming home.
“I know this is difficult to talk about,” Sarah said carefully, not wanting to sound like an interrogator, “but some people are saying that Alicia left for New York early.” She watched his eyes very closely and hated herself for what she was about to do. “Without you.”
Her pulse reacted to the instant change in his demeanor. The shy, naive little boy vanished. Testosterone-fueled, outraged man took his place.
“Whoever said that is a liar. Alicia would never do that to me.” He looked around again, abruptly realizing he’d shouted; then he bent forward. “It’s the curse,” he said for Sarah’s ears only. Another covert check of the lobby. “Some of the other guys make fun of me for believing it. But Alicia knew. She said somebody had been following her. She was worried that something was going to happen to her. She said it was the devil.”
Her pulse thumping harder, Sarah leaned in closer. “That information could be very helpful to the investigation. Did you tell Chief Willard?”
He nodded, looked around again. “He thanked me, but didn’t seem to take me all that seriously since I didn’t have any other details. Alicia never saw the person. No notes or calls. Nothing like that. That’s what makes it so creepy. She said she’d wake up at night and feel like somebody had been in the room with her. Or turn around and no one was there when she’d felt like someone was right behind her.”
“Does Alicia have any enemies that you know of?”
He lifted his shoulders and let them fall with visible disgust. “That’s what the cops are focusing on. But I can’t think of nobody. Everybody likes her. I swear. She’s the most popular girl in school.”
“I guess when you’re that gorgeous, you get used to the jealousy.” Even a girl with no enemies in the broadest sense of the term had to have experienced envy, particularly one as physically beautiful as Alicia. “After all, whenever there’s a winner, there are always losers, too.”
Another of those disheartened shrugs. “I don’t think that really bothers anybody. Alicia is Alicia. If she walks across that stage, she’sgonna win. The other girls just accept it.” His forehead lined as he hesitated, obviously reconsidering. “Except maybe ...”
Sarah waited, the tension swelling in her chest. Give me a name, Brady. Some damned place to start!
“I don’t think Polly likes Alicia too much. She sort of had a crush on me, and that caused some trouble a while back. But it wasn’t that big a deal.”
Polly ... where had Sarah heard or read that name? “What kind of trouble?”
“You know, the whole talking behind Alicia’s back, saying she was a snob and crap like that. Polly’s kinda got a reputation for running her mouth, so nobody pays much attention to what she says. Sometimes her mouth gets her in trouble, though. But she’s okay.”
Polly . . . Polly.
Damn. Polly Conner.
Kale’s little sister.
Holy cow.
“Polly Conner is a senior this year, too, right?” Sarah asked, confirming her conclusion that the Conner girl was the Polly he meant.
He nodded. “She feels real bad about Alicia and the stuff she said in the past. I told her Alicia didn’t take it seriously, but I’m not sure it helped Polly feel any better.”
“Brady, I need you out back.”
Sarah’s attention swung to the corridor on the left of the registration desk just as the owner of the very unhappy female voice appeared.
“Coming, Mom.” Brady glanced at Sarah. “Gotta go.”
“Fill the wood box and see that the cord Mr. Jacobs just delivered is stacked neatly in the barn,” his mother ordered as he swaggered past her. “I’ll take care of things in here.” That last part hadn’t been intended for Brady. She’d stared straight at Sarah as she made the statement, disapproval and distaste radiating from every square inch of her petite frame. Sarah didn’t let that stop her from pushing a greeting smile intoplace. If Brenda Harvey expected her to run for cover, she could forget about it. Tougher broads than her had tried that tactic.
“Is there something you need, Ms. Newton?” Brenda took her son’s place behind the counter. “I can help you if you’re ready to check out.”
News traveled fast. “Thanks, but I’ll be staying a while longer.” The tightening of lips told Sarah that Mrs. Brenda Harvey wasn’t too happy to hear that.
“You stopped at the counter,” she maintained, “so you must’ve wanted something.”
Touché. “Just checking to see if I had any messages.” Good one. Sarah gave herself a pat on the back.
The silent stare dragged on. Gave Sarah time to analyze the lady. Well-fitting green dress that brought out the emerald flecks in her eyes. Brenda Harvey was slender, maybe five one, with blond, graying hair arranged in a neat braid that coiled around the back of her head. She wore small wire-framed reading glasses that hovered on the end of her thin nose.
