Page 32 of Forged in Secrets

“Actually, yeah, I do,” Tom said, taking out his phone and scrolling across the screen for several seconds. “It was around eight-thirty. I’d just gotten off the phone with my…”

“Your mom?” blue shorts prompted, letting out a guffaw.

Tom glared at him. “My girlfriend, but it’s cool, okay? We have an arrangement. Whatever happens off-campus doesn’t count.”

Grace caught Ben’s gaze, her own disgust reflected on his face.

“Okay, thank you, that’s helpful,” Grace said through gritted teeth, even though they hadn’t learned anything new. Katie had been seen at a restaurant with multiple witnesses around ten.

“What’s this about, anyway?” Tom asked.

“The girl in the picture, Katie Fairman, disappeared on Monday night,” Ben said.

“Have you checked the frat houses back in Brownsville?” blue shorts chimed in.

“Can’t say we have.”

“Might not be a bad idea. Considering.”

Ben took two steps closer to the boy, straightening up to every inch of his six-foot-three. “Considering what?”

Blue shorts raised his hands, and Tom cast a glance at his other friends, who had meandered over to the boardwalk. “Hey man, I’m just saying, we weren’t the only guys trying to hit up those girls. It was pretty clear what they were after.”

Blue shorts nodded in agreement. “I saw the one with the darker skin and black hair on some guy’s lap, I guess I figured she looked pretty easy. And the blonde one?”

“My friend, Katie, who is currently missing,” Grace prompted. Ben rested a gentle hand against the small of her back. Despite her anger, his touch sent a comforting shiver through her, and she was disappointed when he pulled away a few moments later. Not that he had much ofa choice, if he wanted these guys to keep believing they were brother and sister.

“Look, I’m sorry,” blue shorts said, making an attempt at a sympathetic expression. “I’m just saying, she’d already gotten a bit of a reputation on the Island, and the way she dressed and the vibes she gave off solidified it.”

“We hope you find her, though,” Tom added. “I’m sure she’s fine. Probably just sleeping off the mother of all hangovers somewhere.”

Grace glanced over at the water, lost in her own thoughts as Ben recorded the boys’ names and numbers on his phone. Finally, they were alone, and they began meandering slowly up the beach once more.

“Those guys were awful,” Grace said at last.

Ben nodded. “Total douchebags, as the kids say.”

“I’m not sure the kids say that anymore, actually,” she pointed out, smiling a little in spite of herself. This trip was making her feel seriously geriatric, but at least no one had called her a narc yet. “Anyway, they didn’t tell us anything new. They saw Katie at least an hour before she disappeared.”

Ben let out a sigh, rubbing his hands over his face.

“What?” she asked.

He glanced down at her.

“Grace, I know you don’t want to think badly of Katie,” he started, biting his lip as though trying to tease out his next words carefully. “But if she was engaging in risky behaviors, I think we need to explore those angles.”

“You think she is, and I quote, ‘sleeping off the mother of all hangovers’ somewhere?”

“Probably not. But I do think that it’s possible she went off with a guy who’s bad news rather than being grabbed by a kidnapper.”

Ben paused.

Grace continued walking, waiting for him to finish.

“Anyway,” he said quickly, “I’m not trying to victim blame here, but I do think that if these guys are telling the truth about her, we need to be open to the possibility that she’s not this careful, prudent person you once knew her to be.”

Grace’s heart began to beat more quickly as her cheeks warmed. She hated what he was saying, but she couldn’t deny that he might have a point. Katie Fairman was a lot younger than she was. They were friends and kept in touch, but it was a different kind of closeness than she might have had with her had they been closer in age.

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