Revelations (Brighton Wolves #1) Page 4

  Ginny’s little car was parked in the shade of an oak tree off to the side of the driveway. The old silver Chevy Impala was boiling on the inside, but the seats were cool and wouldn’t stick to their skin. Gabe started the car and rolled down the windows, backing out of the driveway and leaving the house far behind. Gwen watched all of the police and volunteers disappear from view, and she felt a twinge of doubt. “Gabe, where are we going that’s so important it can’t wait? I wanted to join the search.”

  “We’re going to talk to Tiffany,” he said, glancing at her. “You guys used to be friends before the distance came between you, but she’s still best friends with Ginny. I talked to one of the police officers and he told me she was the last person to see Ginny alive, but I wanted to talk to her myself. The police questioned her, but I figured she might tell us something she wouldn’t tell the police.”

  “Oh.” She hadn’t even thought of Tiffany since setting foot in Brighton, and she felt a twinge of guilt. She and Ginny had been best friends with Tiffany for years, but Gwen wasn’t in Brighton enough to make such a long distance friendship work. She and Tiffany had grown apart, but she couldn’t even begin to imagine how Tiffany must have been feeling right now. Her best friend was missing, and she had been the last person to see her—the person to let her walk home instead of insisting on driving her.

  I’d blame myself for sure, Gwen thought sadly, her eyes watching the trees as they zipped by.

  They made their way into town, and Gabe pulled into a small coffee shop in town that served food, homemade ice cream, and all kinds of specialty drinks. He locked the car doors as they got out, and together they headed inside the building to wait for Tiffany. Gwen went and found a booth in the back of the store, away from prying eyes, while Gabe went and ordered their drinks. He came back a couple of minutes later with two freshly blended fruit smoothies, and Gwen took a sip of hers, sighing appreciatively as the drink helped fight the heat.

  The bell above the door chimed, and Tiffany walked in, stopping to push her sunglasses on her head. Her face was red from the heat, and she flapped the sheer cardigan she wore over her tank top to cool down while she looked for Gabe and Gwen. Tiffany was sixteen, a year behind Gwen, and she was a couple of inches taller, not much shorter than Gabe. Her skin was the perfect shade of bronze that came from a regular tanning membership, and her hair was a natural dark blonde. With her sunglasses off, Gwen could tell her eyes were a blue-gray color.

  Tiffany was curvy, with wide hips and an ample chest, but she was a few pounds too heavy to be considered “thin”. Not that it seemed to matter. She was still gorgeous and not many would deny it. Perhaps it was her confidence that made her seem so attractive. Gwen peeked at her brother and almost smiled as his eyes watched her every move from the second she walked into the coffee shop.

  When her eyes found them, she walked over, setting her purse on the booth beside Gwen and sliding in gracefully beside her. Her nails were perfectly manicured and they tapped against the table nervously as she waited for one of them to speak. Gabe finally broke the silence, clearing his throat. “You look good, Tiffany.”

  She smiled faintly. “I know.” She looked at Gwen, the smile fading from her face as quickly as it had come. “I’m so sorry for what’s happening. This is all my fault.”

  “No, it’s not,” Gwen said. “Ginny walked home that night because she wanted to, not because you made her. Right? There was nothing you could have done to change her mind once it was made up.”

  “Unless she wasn’t really at your house the night she went missing,” Gabe said, leaning back against the booth. He sipped at his smoothie, his eyes never leaving Tiffany’s as he waited for her to say something. Gwen was shocked by her brother’s casual accusation, but when Tiffany didn’t defend herself, her heart sank. “Where was Ginny really the night she disappeared?”

  “I don’t know,” Tiffany said quickly.

  “Don’t lie to us,” Gabe said, his voice deepening just a hint. He was doing a good job holding onto his anger and keeping it in check, but all it would take for him to snap was one more lie.

  “I’m not! Honest. I don’t know where she was,” she said miserably, putting her face in her hands. “I begged her to tell me, but she refused. She said it was better if I didn’t know who she was going to meet, said it was her business and nobody else’s. I tried for days to get it out of her, but when that night came, she turned off her phone and shut me out.”

  “Why didn’t you tell the police this?” Gabe demanded.

  “I felt so guilty,” she said, looking up at him. “Plus I promised Ginny that I wouldn’t tell anyone that she wasn’t at my house that night. She said she didn’t want anyone to think she was out meeting a boy or on drugs. At the time, I thought it was weird she said that to me, but now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I think she was planning in case something bad happened to her. She didn’t want her image or your family’s to be ruined.”

  “She was planning for something bad to happen?” Gwen asked, disbelief evident in her voice. “She knew there was a chance something bad was going to happen, and she went where she did anyways.” She glanced across the table at Gabe. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was deep in thought, just like her. “What could have been so important that she’d risk her safety to go? And why keep it secret?”

  “People are gonna think she ran away to be with a boy, and they might stop the search,” Tiffany said, her voice trembling. “That was another reason I didn’t tell the police when they asked. I didn’t want them to stop looking and write her off as a runaway or something. I should have still told them,” she admitted. “But I wanted to honor Ginny’s wishes.”

  “It’s okay,” Gwen said, putting her hand on Tiffany’s shoulder. “We’ll tell the police when we get home and join the search. They’ll keep looking for her, I’m sure of it. She’s underage and they have no proof she snuck out to run away with a boy or do drugs. They’ll have to keep looking.”

  Tiffany sighed, nibbling on her lower lip. “I’m sorry, you guys. I let her down. I should have tried harder to keep her from going.”

  “Do you know anything about where she was going? Anything at all?” Gabe asked.

  “No,” Tiffany said, shaking her head. Gwen and Gabe traded quick, hopeless glances. “Wait! For a few days before she went where she was going, I noticed she was seriously attached to her phone. I caught her checking her email a lot more than usual, but she was using an email I didn’t recognize, and I didn’t see who she was messaging. If you could get into her computer, you might be able to figure out a password and check her sent folder.”

  “She was really going through a lot of trouble to hide what she was really doing,” Gabe said. “Creating a secret throwaway email account just to message someone is a big commitment. I wonder if she really was meeting a boy.” When Gwen glared, he put his hands up, stopping her before she could yell at him. “I’m not saying she was planning on running away with him or anything. But maybe she thought she was going to meet a nice boy, and it ended up being someone else instead. It wouldn’t be the first time a naïve teenager was tricked into meeting a predator in real life. Watch a news special sometime.”

  “It’s possible,” Tiffany admitted. “But I think Ginny was far too cautious to go and meet just anyone, especially at night like that. It was probably someone she met before, someone she felt at least somewhat safe with. The police will probably be able to find more than you guys, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look, too. Do some digging and let me know what you come up with?” Tiffany got to her feet, putting her sunglasses back over her face. “Good luck, guys. I’m sorry this is happening.”

  Gwen watched Tiffany leave. She was conflicted on how she should feel about this new information. Tiffany had lied to the police at Ginny’s request, but she could have hampered the search in the process. Not to mention, there was no telling if what Tiffany had told them just now was the truth, or all of the truth. Any part of it could have easily been a lie, and they wouldn’t know.

  Not until we check Ginny’s email.

  She looked at Gabe, studying him for any sign as to what he was thinking. He looked pensive, and Gwen didn’t want to interrupt him, but she was eager to get home and join the search. Not to mention inform the police about what Tiffany had just told them. She was anxious to see how that would change the tone of the search. Would the police stop putting in as much effort if they thought they were looking for a drug addicted runaway instead of a straight A student?

  “We should get home,” Gabe said, grabbing his drink. “I wanna join the search, too. And the sooner we give the police this new information the better. That and I should probably apologize to Mom for my behavior earlier. Even if they’re keeping things from us, it doesn’t mean I have to make things harder on them at a time like this.”

  “I’m sure she’ll understand.”

  Gabe slid out of the booth. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

  *****

  When they arrived home from the coffee shop, all of the volunteers that had been gathered outside earlier were gone, all probably out in the woods searching for any sign of Ginny. There was one police officer on the front porch, taking with Geoffrey and Sandra. He was taking notes in his notebook, and Gwen wondered if he was questioning them to see if any answers they’d given police had changed. She knew that in disappearances, family was always a likely suspect, but she knew Geoffrey and Sandra would never hurt Ginny.

  But the police can’t know that. They’re just doing their job, she reminded herself.

  Gabe parked beneath the oak tree and turned off the car, making sure to roll up the windows first in case it began to rain later. For a minute, he sat in the driver’s seat, his head back against the headrest, not moving a muscle. Gwen watched his breathing slow, and she figured he was trying to mentally prepare himself for what was about to happen. They were about to tell the police—in front of both Geoffrey and Sandra—that Ginny had snuck out to do only God knew what, that Ginny had lied about where she was going to be.

  They’re going to be crushed.

  Gwen was the first one to get out of the car, deciding that she couldn’t wait around any longer. She needed to get this off her chest, and then she needed to join the search. She knew that Ginny would be out there searching for her if their situations were reversed.

  She made her way up the porch, and she knew that Geoffrey could tell something was wrong right away. Before he could even ask, Gwen turned to the police officer. “My brother and I have some new information for you.”

  The officer was young and probably not particularly experienced, and he looked shocked at her admission. He immediately turned away from Geoffrey and Sandra, and flipped to a new page in his notebook. He rested his pen against the page, waiting patiently for her to begin talking. “Whenever you’re ready, Miss Grady.”

  “We just got done meeting with Tiffany, Ginny’s best friend. I guess Gabe had a hunch, and he was right. Tiffany told us that Ginny wasn’t really at her house the night she went missing.” Sandra sucked in a harsh breath and Geoffrey tensed, but Gwen kept going. “She doesn’t know where Ginny really was that night since Ginny wouldn’t tell her, but she definitely wasn’t with Tiffany. She thinks Ginny might have been emailing somebody.”

  The officer was furiously scribbling notes, but he stopped and looked up. “We already checked her email for any suspicious activity and came up empty handed.”

  “Tiffany said she caught Ginny using a fake email, a secret throwaway account. She didn’t get a glimpse of who she was emailing though.” Gwen looked at Geoffrey and Sandra, who looked positively devastated to hear this new development. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard to hear.”

  The officer cleared his throat. “Why didn’t Tiffany tell us the truth from the beginning?”

  “Ginny asked her not to tell anyone what she was doing, and Tiffany was just trying to respect her wishes. That and she was worried you guys might not search as hard if you thought she was a lovesick or drug addicted runaway instead of the straight A student she is. She had what she thought was Ginny’s best interests in mind.”

  The officer finished his feverish scribbling. If Gwen wasn’t mistaken, he almost looked pleased with the info she had just given him. Figures, he’s probably thinking of a promotion. Typical small town cop.

  “I’ll call this new information in,” the officer said, flipping his notebook closed with a flourish. “You have my word it won’t change how we handle the investigation. No one in their right mind would think a girl like Ginevra Grady would ever runaway from home or get involved in drugs. But they do need to know there’s a possibility of a boy being involved, just in case. Teenagers can let their hormones get the best of them from time to time.”

  “Not Ginny,” Sandra said, shaking her head firmly. “If she did meet a boy, she would have told us about him. We don’t keep secrets in this family.”

  Gwen elbowed Gabe before he could snort, and she glanced up at him. “Don’t,” she mouthed. She turned her attention back to Geoffrey and was unsurprised to find him standing there with a blank mask on his face. It was getting more and more obvious as they spent time here that all of the adults were keeping something from them, and it was getting harder and harder not to get angry and demand any answers. Gwen hated the thought that their family had some dark, hidden secret that had put Ginny in danger.

  They should have told us whatever it was. If it got Ginny in trouble, it might do the same with us. It’s pretty irresponsible of them to keep it hidden, especially with her missing now.

  When the police officer left, Geoffrey went back in the house, not even bothering to stay and ask Gwen any questions. She watched him go, shoulders tense and back stiff as a board, but her observations were interrupted by Sandra’s painful hug. She pulled Gwen close against her chest, nearly squeezing the life out of her. Gwen struggled to breathe as Sandra began to sob. “Thank you for coming forward with this.”

  “Of course,” Gwen said, surprised. “Why wouldn’t I? It might help find her.”

  “I know you and Ginny are very close. You could have chosen to respect her privacy like Tiffany did, and we might never have known what was really going on.” Gwen didn’t know what to say. She just let Sandra hold her close until she was done sobbing, and when she pulled away, she looked horrified. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you see that. You’re just a child.”

  Gwen couldn’t bring herself to be angry at being called a child. Her aunt looked so lost and lonely, and she was still crying. It would have been impossible to be angry with her at a time like this, when her only child was missing and nobody had any answers. She was probably trying to be strong, but was slowly falling apart as the hours wore by and nobody had any good news.

  Sandra went back into the kitchen, and Gwen and Gabe traded uncertain glances. “This is getting weird,” he said. “They’re keeping secrets from us, and now it looks like Ginny was keeping secrets, too. What are we missing?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m about to start getting angry if someone doesn’t tell us something,” Gwen said, heading for the door. Gabe followed close behind, and she held the door open for him, pausing in the doorway. Gabe peeked over her shoulder to see why she had stopped, and their eyes both widened.

  From where they stood, they could just see into the kitchen. Grant and Geoffrey were in each other’s faces, their nostrils flared and their teeth bared in vicious grimaces. She couldn’t hear what Geoffrey said, but whatever it was, it brought on an explosive reaction from Grant. He shoved his brother’s chest, knocking him back against the fridge, rattling some jars on top and knocking one to the ground. Geoffrey swung back, aiming for Grant’s face. Their father stepped back, but Geoffrey rushed forward, closing the gap between them. The two grappled together, swearing and doing their best to hurt the other.

  Gabe and Gwen rushed into the kitchen. “Stop it!” she shouted, startling the two brothers. Despite being much shorter than both Grant and Geoffrey, Gabe shouldered his way between them, forcing their father to back away. He firmly planted his hands on their father’s chest and shoved, putting even more distance between the two brothers. Gwen looked from one to the other, a frown on her face and tears in her eyes. She couldn’t imagine how much the two of them must have hated one another to be fighting over some petty family feud at a time like this.

  “What is wrong with you?” Gabe shouted, startling Gwen. “You two should be ashamed of yourselves! Ginny is missing and you’re in here fighting like punks.” He looked at their father, his eyes narrowing. “You’ve been acting like a sullen jackass since we left, and it’s getting old real fast. Whatever happened between the two of you years ago needs to be laid to rest, at least for the time being. Until Ginny is found, you two need to shape up and act like the united family we should be.”

  Gwen almost smiled at her brother’s speech. She felt the weight of his words settle over her, and she could see the change they brought over Geoffrey. Grant didn’t seem quite as affected by Gabe’s words though. He just shoved Gabe’s hands off his chest and stormed out of the kitchen without another glance at anyone in the room. Gwen felt her spirits deflate again at her father’s inexcusable behavior. How can he act like this? Do they really hate each other that much?

  Geoffrey was breathing harshly, trying to calm down after their confrontation. He had the proper decency to look ashamed of his actions, but Gwen could still see the fury in his eyes and the tenseness to his shoulders. But when he sighed, she could see the apology on his face, and she knew he regretted losing his temper like that. Unlike their own father—who had regular temper tantrums—she had never really seen Geoffrey get angry like that. She glanced over at Gabe, wondering if an explosive temper ran in the family. Even though he had been trying to break up a fight, he had still gotten pretty heated himself.