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“I…I think I need to go to the police. I didn’t want to, because Chloe thinks I’m being a paranoid toxic friend, but I’ve been looking at the stuff her boyfriend is posting on social media and it scares me. I’m worried he’s going to do something crazy.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at home. Jason has the car, and it’s too late to bike around town. I was going to tell Jason before, but we had a fight, sort of, and Chloe says she’ll never speak to me if I tell the police and—”
“Holly.” Kendra cut her off. “What does your gut say?”
“I’m scared,” she whispered. “Scared for Chloe. He said he was going to buy a gun as soon as he got old enough, and he just had a birthday.”
“I’ll come get you. We’ll go talk to Granger. He’s the new safety officer.”
“Her boyfriend lives in another town, so I don’t know if it should be Granger or…”
“He’ll know what to do. We got this. I’ll be right there.” She pulled the phone away from her face and addressed Dominic. “I have to do something before we go anywhere.”
“Jesus, Kendra—”
“Will you take me?” she said sharply. “Or should I drive myself?”
“I suppose we can afford a short detour.”
Kendra turned back to the call. “I’m going to call Granger and give him a head’s up,” she told Holly. “We’ll go see him together.”
“Okay. Thanks, Kendra.” The relief in Holly’s voice made her heart twist. The poor girl. This must be what had been bothering her all this time. Wanting to respect her friend’s wishes versus worried for her safety.
She and Dominic climbed into the backseat and the Honda eased out of her father’s driveway. Night closed around them, enveloping the car in soft darkness.
The Honda sped toward the part of town where Holly and Jason lived. She wondered where Jason was, and why he wasn’t answering Holly’s calls. He hadn’t answered her text either. Was he okay? A growing sense of unease filled her.
In the dark masses of trees, she saw the occasional twinkle of someone’s lights. The moon was about to dip behind the treetops, and already the stars were brighter.
As it turned out, Earl Granger met them at Jason’s house. They arrived almost at the same moment. Holly rushed out of the house and huddled close to Kendra, who kept an arm around her shoulder while she spilled all the details.
Dominic hovered a few yards away, constantly checking his phone and shooting impatient glances their way.
“I kept screenshots of all his posts even though Chloe got mad at me. She says he just talks shit and I’m taking it too seriously.”
“You did the right thing,” Granger told her. He took notes in a little book while she talked. His big frame and stern manner was wildly reassuring. “I can take it from here.”
Holly burst into tears. Her body shook against Kendra’s, the release of weeks of worry pouring out in the form of sobs. Kendra held her tight. “I’m so glad you called me,” she whispered to her. “This is good. Hard but good.”
Holly just nodded, her head buried in her hands.
“Can you keep Holly’s name out of it?” Kendra asked Granger. That would probably be Jason’s first question if he was here.
“For now, yes. We’ll take this one step at a time.”
Holly drew away, wiping her tears. She glanced at Dominic, who was slouched against the Honda. “Are you going somewhere, Kendra?”
Yes, across the ocean, to one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. “Nowhere important. I can stay if—”
“No no. I’m fine. Jason will be home soon. I just remembered that it’s his jam session night and he probably turned off his phone. You can go.”
“But I thought he was being a—”
Holly didn’t let her finish that sentence. “He’ll be great. He’s Jason.” As if that explained everything, which, in fact, it did. “Thank you, Kendra.” She threw her arms around Kendra again, and they shared a long hug.
It was hard to leave her, but both Granger and Holly insisted they’d be fine. So she got back into the Uber.
