Sally Singletary's Curiosity (The Sally Singletary Book 1) (6 page)

“What the…”

“Oh, my god!” Sally’s heart pounded so hard she felt as if her chest might explode.

A black cat bounded away from them, artfully dodging pieces of a broken Coke bottle.

“May I help you?”

Sally jumped again, this time bumping into Yasif, who nearly fell backward off the porch. She grabbed his arm to steady him.

A young man stood in the doorway, squinting in the afternoon light. “Are you all right?”

Sally took a moment to catch her breath. “I’m Sally Singletary, a reporter for the
Hidden Lake Investigator
.” She fished in her bag, then with a shaking hand, handed him a card. “Are you Jake DeLancie?”

As he studied the card, Sally studied him. The guy looked awful. Aside from the grungy clothes, there were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. His skin was dry, his face gaunt. “Yeah, I’m Jake,” his voice croaked. “What’s this about?”

Sally closed her eyes and steadied herself. “Can we come in and talk?”

“I really don’t think…” He scratched his head nervously. “Look, right now is really not a good time…”

“We just have a few questions about someone you once knew.”

He stared at her, one eye partially closed as if in pain. She had his attention, at least.

She turned, handing some money to Yasif. “Try to get him to wait for us.”

Yasif nodded and hurried off.

Sally pointed behind her. “That’s my co-chief, Yasif Zerriouh.”

“Where did you say you were from?” Jake asked.

“Hidden Lake Prep School,” Sally replied.

A look of recognition crossed his face. “Isn’t that that rich kid’s boarding school? Who the hell would I know there?”

“If we could just come in and talk…” Sally moved forward. Jake made no indication of letting her pass.

Yasif returned. “He said ten minutes.”

Sally turned back to Jake. “Do the names Billy Martin or Daniel Sherman ring a bell?”

At the sound of Daniel’s name, Jake’s eyes grew wide. “I… uh… Look… I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” He pointed toward the cab. “Get the hell out of here.” He slammed the door.

“That went well.” Sally debated knocking again, but decided that would only make matters worse.

“You’re giving up?” Yasif followed her up the walk.

“Of course not. We just need a new strategy.”

Yasif pulled open the cab door and let her in. “Guess we won’t be needing that ten minutes then.”

JAKE STOOD IN THE DARKNESS
with his back to the door, old memories surfacing in his mind. It had been three years since he’d last seen Daniel. Why did these kids want to bring it all back? He thought he’d finally gotten over what had happened. But the truth was, his feelings were just as strong as they’d been that day.

Jake pushed himself away from the door and made his way through the dark space that was his home. As he moved through the trash strewn about—empty beer cans and bottles, paper, wrappers, and various other empty food canisters—he cleared a spot on the couch and sat, pondering. Why now?

Sadness overwhelmed him and he buried his face in his hands. He couldn’t hold back the flood of emotion that he’d kept locked up. By the time he regained control, evening had settled and the living room was nearly pitch black. He picked up the card the girl had given him and rummaged through the mess until he found his phone. Flipping it open, he dialed the number on the card.

“Hello?” Her voice had sounded just as calm and collected as it had been when she spoke at his house.

“I’ll meet you at the diner in town at six.” Before she could respond, he snapped the phone shut, his heart pounding, his eyes losing focus. He brought the device to his forehead, squeezing it in his fist, wanting more than anything to call her back and cancel.

Not this time. He’d run away from himself for too long. It was time to face his past and accept who he was. It was time to stop letting others define his future.

SALLY SAT ACROSS FROM YASIF
in the restaurant Jake had chosen to meet. It was a local diner that tried to give a sense of nostalgia by hanging a bunch of random things from the 1980s all over the walls. For Sally it did nothing but make the place feel cluttered.

Yasif’s foot bounced up and down below the table, causing the silverware to rattle incessantly. Sally had finally had enough and slammed her hand down, startling him. “Will you stop!”

A sheepish grin appeared on his face and his cheeks went slightly red. “Sorry.” He shifted in his seat as she checked her phone for messages. A moment later, he added, “He said six, right?”

Sally shifted her gaze toward the clock. “Yes. Be patient, Yaz.”

As she glanced around, she noticed two men seated in the booth directly behind Yasif. She would have ignored them, except she was sure one of them had glanced directly at her—though it was hard to tell with the dark glasses that covered his eyes. They both wore black suits and fit in with the other patrons about as well as a flamingo at a penguin parade.

“Something wrong?” Yasif asked.

She motioned with her head as the men got up to leave.

“Probably just a couple city guys in town for business,” Yasif commented with a dismissive wave.

The waitress set a plate of fries in front of them, and Yasif snatched a few, stuffing them into his mouth. “Oh, my god, these are so much better than the fries at school!”

Sally grinned. “You’re not saying our award-winning menus suck, are you?”

“Not at all, but everything is always so healthy. Sometimes you just want a good batch of saturated fat, you know?”

“Just be careful.” Sally tossed a fry into her mouth. “They’ll go straight to your hips.”

“Hi.” Jake stood beside the table. He’d changed clothes, at least, although the new ones weren’t much better than the ones he’d worn when they’d first seen him.

In the brighter light of the restaurant, his features looked even less appealing. The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced, his drawn complexion more exaggerated, the emaciation of his body even more glaring. Sally motioned for him to join them and pushed the plate of fries toward the center of the table. “Have some.”

Jake glanced up as though checking to make sure she’d meant it, then grabbed a handful of fries and downed them as if they were the first thing he’d eaten in weeks. Silence and glances passed between them for a time before he finally spoke up. “What is it that you guys want to know?”

“Well…” Sally glanced at Yasif, pushing her hair behind her ear. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the disappearances.”

He gave her a confused look.

“The kids at our school? It’s been all over the news.”

Clearly he hadn’t.

“You don’t know that Billy Martin and his best friend, Daniel Sherman, are missing?”

Jake gave a start when he heard Daniel’s name.

Sally took mental note. It was definitely Daniel he knew, but why the strange reactions? Was he pretending or did he know more about what was happening than he was letting on? Sally wasn’t sure.

“Missing?”

There was genuine concern in his voice. She figured Daniel must have been a friend, but it was also clear it had been a long time ago.

“Three students and a teacher went missing from Hidden Lake two days ago. We found this in their room.” She motioned to Yasif, and he pulled out Jake’s picture.

“Oh, sweet Jesus, you don’t think I had anything…”

She eyed him. “We just want to know what connection you have to these boys.” She needed him to confirm her hunch.

“I…” Jake stared out of the window. “Look, if it helps, I knew Daniel. But it was a long time ago.”

“Then why would he have a picture of you in his dorm?” Yasif piped up.

“I don’t know. I told you, it was a long time ago. We used to live on the same street.”

“Did you two hang out a lot?” Sally asked.

“Occasionally,” Jake said. “We were friends as kids… Look, I don’t know what you want, but I hadn’t even heard there was a disappearance until you told me. I had nothin’ to do with this. I promise.”

“Relax.” Sally grabbed a fry. “We’re not here because we suspect involvement. We are just trying to get to the bottom of this. The disappearance was quite…” She searched for the right word. “…sudden. We found this picture in their room and hoped you would be able to tell us something useful.”

“I don’t know anything. I haven’t seen Daniel in three years.”

There was more; she was sure of it, but she didn’t want to press too hard and lose him altogether. He may not have heard about the disappearances, but he was certainly hiding something—something big.

“Wait, what do you mean by sudden?” Jake asked, as if just realizing what she had said.

Sally glanced at Yasif, who responded with a shrug.

Sharing what they knew might just get him to open up more. She got the sense that he cared about what happened to Daniel. “There’s more to what’s going on than what’s in the news—not that you’ve been paying attention to the news.” She paused. “Billy and Daniel didn’t just run away. When I say they disappeared, I’m being quite literal. It happened right in front of my eyes. Poof.” She motioned with her hands. “They were gone.”

She watched, waiting for the information to sink in, but Jake stared at the corner of the table in deep thought as if he hadn’t heard what she said. Then his gaze met hers. His brows turned upward. “Look. No one but us knows about this. We’re taking a huge chance talking to you, but you’re the only clue we’ve found in all this mess.”

“I told you. I don’t know why my picture was there.”

“I have a guess.” Yasif snorted.

Jake’s eyes grew wide and he looked as though he were ready to bolt from the table.

Sally still didn’t understand what Yasif was referring to. He raised an eyebrow as if she should have picked up on whatever it was that he thought was so clear. She glanced back at Jake and then it hit her. “Oh!” She wagged her finger between Jake and the picture. “You and he were…”

“No!” Jake stiffened, his eyes wide. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sally smiled to herself and looked down at the plate of fries. “Well, that explains why he never… I thought it was something with me…” Looking back at Jake, she said, “It’s okay, Jake, we’re not here to judge. It actually explains a lot.”

“But it doesn’t help us with the investigation.” Yasif’s tone had changed. He’d deflated a bit.

“I don’t know what you guys are on about, I’m not…” He stopped, unable to finish his sentence.

“Do you have a better explanation for why there was a picture of you in Daniel’s room?” Yasif asked accusingly, even a bit harshly.

“I already told you…”

“Drop the charade, man. No one cares if you’re gay or not. We just need some answers.”

Jake cringed as if Yasif had just uttered a vulgarity. He stared down onto his lap as though about to cry.

Sally put a hand on Yasif’s arm. Why couldn’t he see he was upsetting Jake? “So we’re back to square one.” She pulled out her phone and made a quick note.

“What are you doing?” Jake looked at her with wide expecting eyes.

“Just making a note. If you have nothing further, then I think we’re done here.” She moved, motioning to Yasif that she was ready to leave.

“Wait,” Jake said. “Don’t go. Please.”

Sally settled back into her seat, her purse strap still on her shoulder.

“Is there anything…” Jake cleared his throat. “Can I do something? I mean… I just…”

There was pain in his eyes. She felt sorry for him, but they really didn’t need a tag-along. And yet, something made her feel there was something about him, something he could offer. The fact that he knew Daniel at all might come in handy.

“Tell you what. We’re staying at the Radisson just up the street. Room 247. We’ll be there until tomorrow. If you find some useful information, we can talk. Deal?” Sally was vaguely aware of Yasif’s stare.

They said their goodbyes and left Jake with the plate of fries.

“I don’t think that guy can help us,” Yasif stated, the restaurant door shutting behind them with a jingle.

“He knew Daniel.”

Yasif held out a hand. “So do I. How is that going to help us figure out what happened?”

Sally shrugged. “Don’t know yet, another hunch I guess.”

“So now we’re investigating hunches?” Yasif asked.

Sally stopped, giving him a disapproving look. “Not everything has to be by the book.”

“So we’re just going to ignore all the facts and wing it then?” Yasif crossed his arms.

“Wing it?” Sally cast an angry look. “Don’t you trust my judgment?”

“It’s just that we rode all the way out here to talk to some guy who might have known Daniel years ago, and we’ve found out nothing! I told you this would be a waste!”

Sally threw her hands into the air. “Don’t you get what it means to investigate something? You don’t just follow up on a lead because it’s easy! Ninety percent of leads will get you nowhere, but you won’t know if you don’t follow up.”

Yasif spoke. “Look, it was one thing when we were investigating stuff around school, but this is dangerous. We’re out here in a strange town on our own, and I haven’t even turned eighteen yet!”

“Sometimes, you’re such a wuss!” She regretted the comment as soon as she’d said it.

A hurt expression crossed his face.

“Yaz!” she called after him. “Yaz! I’m sorry!”

Sally didn’t understand what was happening. He’d never had trouble with investigating before. Was it really because they’d come to Athens? She had a hard time believing that. Sure, this was farther than anywhere else they’d gone together, but Yasif could hold his own.

With Daniel missing, maybe he was just scared of the burden of maintaining the site on his own. Perhaps he felt he wasn’t good enough. That was nonsense, of course; he could hold his own. He was the only other person she knew whose writing was as good as her own. She needed him. He knew how important he was to the site, and to her, even if they had to find someone to fill Daniel’s role.

No, there was something else, and it seemed worse the closer they got to graduation. He had been increasingly agitated, always stuttering and second-guessing himself when she was around.