Page 61 of Forever Gone

Kelly frowned. “What’s so funny about that?”

Selena felt the unease before she spoke. “I’m staying there at the moment as well.”

“Oh.” Kelly gave a small nod. “Cool.”

The word did not fit the atmosphere. For a moment, neither woman returned to the computer.

Kelly cleared her throat. “Eric is a character.”

“Yes, he is,” Selena said.

Memories of Kelly following her through school corridors pressed against the idea of adjoining motel rooms. Selena pictured shared walkways, the reception office, accidental meetings at breakfast, and Eric inviting both of them to a film night as if decades of hostility could be settled over popcorn.

Connor seemed to catch the discomfort but misread its cause.

“Well, it’s safer that you’re both in the same place,” he said. “I wonder if I should put a car on the motel, just to keep an eye on you.”

“We’ll be fine, Connor. The killer’s targeting people who live here.”

“I wasn’t asking permission.”

Selena lifted her chin. “Fine. Do what you think’s best.”

“Selena, I am the...”

“I’ve got a lead.”

The change in her voice brought Kelly closer to the screen. Connor abandoned whatever title he had been about to claim and came around the table.

A disciplinary index had appeared beside the scanned rosters. Most entries gave only a student name, date, and code. Selena selected one attached to Karen’s senior year. The record opened as a poorly scanned report, several lines faded almost to white.

BOYD CUTLER.

The name appeared three times across the first page. Selena enlarged the image and read the surviving text.

“Boyd Cutler,” she said. “Started at Elmsview High, then transferred to Harlan County Regional after repeated suspensions. Expelled during his senior year.”

Kelly pulled her chair beside Selena’s. “What for?”

“An incident involving two female students during a joint district event. One was Karen Sloane; the other’s name is redacted for some reason. Probably because she had less to do with it.”

“Get Dana to request the unredacted original,” Selena said. “Tell her it’s urgent.”

Connor leaned over the back of Selena’s chair without touching it. “What kind of incident was this?”

“Harassment, threats, damage to personal property.” Selena scrolled to the next page. “There was an allegation that he trapped both girls in a storage room near the gym and threatened them with a box cutter. School security intervened before anyone was injured.”

Kelly read from the lower section. “The second girl’s name has been redacted in this copy.”

“Karen gave a statement,” Selena said. “Cutler claimed she lied and got him expelled.”

Connor straightened. “That gives him a reason to hate her. What about Ruth or Linda?”

“No connection yet.”

Selena entered Boyd’s date of birth into the state system. The search returned a current address outside Wallins Creek, forty minutes from Elmsview, followed by a record that had never developed into a serious conviction but carried a consistent tone.

Two restraining orders, both filed by women. One dismissed assault charge after the complainant stopped cooperating. Disorderly conduct. Criminal mischief. A workplace complaint involving threats that had not produced charges.