Page 102 of Want to Know a Secret?

“Um, yeah…”

“Geez, it’s been a while.” He yawns. “What’s up?”

“I… I’m sorry. Were you sleeping?”

He hesitates. “A little. What’s wrong?”

It’s such a relief to tell somebody else the entire story. I start at the beginning and ramble on for several minutes. It sounds crazy, even to my own ears. But Riley is silent on the other line, listening. I get to the part about Brianna being followed by April, and then the purpose of the call: “I think April did something to her.”

“Jesus Christ, Jules,” Riley mutters. “You really took the law into your own hands. I think you need to get back to work. Or else… I don’t know… get a dog or something.”

I feel a lump in my throat. “You don’t believe me…”

“Of course I believe you. I just wish you would’ve called me sooner.”

My shoulders sag. “Will you help me?”

“Yeah, I’ll do my best.” He grunts on the other line. “This isn’t my… you know, jurisdiction. But I’ll work it out. Just hang tight. Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll call you later tonight.”

“Thanks, Riley.”

But I have a horrible feeling it’s too late.

_____

The phone wakes me up at one in the morning.

I’m lying in bed next to Keith, but I’m not asleep. I’m lying awake, staring at the ceiling. Keith is about three feet away from me, as far as he could possibly be while still in the same bed, and he’s snoring up a storm. He has horrible sleep apnea, but he refuses to wear the CPAP machine that his doctor prescribed. Most nights, I sneak into the guest room and sleep there. Besides snoring like a chainsaw, Keith is also a bed hog. I prefer to sleep alone.

But tonight, I want company. I can’t stop thinking of Brianna’s last phone call to me. What happened to her? I called Maria to see if April had shown up to the book club, and apparently, they had turned her away. God knows where she went after that.

Keith rolls over in bed and the phone starts ringing. His eyes spring open. “Who the hell is calling in the middle of the night?”

I snatch up the phone before Keith can see the name on the screen. He knows exactly who Riley Hanrahan is, and he won’t be happy to see that name pop up on my phone. “Sorry. I’ll go to the other room.”

Keith grumbles something and punches his pillow with his hand. I take the phone outside before I press the green button.

“Riley?” I whisper.

“Hey, Jules.” His voice is low, almost a whisper like mine. “Sorry it’s late.”

“Did you find her?”

“Yeah.” He heaves a sigh. “She’s dead, Jules.”

The room starts to spin. I lean against the wall and sink onto my knees. “What happened to her?” I manage.

“I shouldn’t be talking about this,” he murmurs. “I’d get in a lot of trouble.”

“I’ve stuck my neck out for you too,” I remind him.

“Yeah, I know.” Back when I was at the DA’s office, we worked together a lot. We shared information not everybody got to know. I trusted him. He trusted me. “We found her lying behind some trash bins. It looks like she was hit repeatedly in the head with a blunt object, but we won’t know for sure until the autopsy.”

“Oh my God,” I breathe.

“Look,” Riley says, “I gotta be honest with you. I know you think April Masterson did this, but I don’t know. It would have taken a lot of force. That Masterson woman doesn’t look like she has it in her.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “She has it in her. Trust me.”