Page 29 of Guess Again
“Not now, no. But when we’re both a little older and you’re out of the house and away at school, a lot can change between you and your parents. That’s all I’m saying. But for now, during your senior year and while I start teaching in the fall, we have to keep things quiet. Really, really quiet. Got it?”
Callie looked at him through the darkness. “Yeah, I get it.”
“You haven’t told any of your friends, have you?”
“About us? God no. They’d freak out. And for sure none of them would stay quiet about it.”
“Not even Lindsay, right?”
“Why are you asking about Lindsay?”
“Because you guys are best friends.”
“I haven’t told her a thing, and don’t plan to.”
Blake nodded.
“So explain it to me again. What are we doing at this gas station?” Callie asked.
“I need a prepaid cell phone.”
“What’s the matter with your phone?”
“You can’t call my phone anymore. Or text. We need a prepaid phone so we can talk. No one’s able to trace it.”
“Trace it?”
“Like if your parents ever look at your phone.”
“My parents never look at my phone.”
“But just in case they ever do. My number should not be in your call list, Callie. The school has a strict policy against students texting teachers directly. If we buy a prepaid phone, we can text back and forth without worrying someone will find out. Just keep using that app to erase our text threads.”
“You’re being paranoid.”
Blake handed her money.
“The phones will be up by the register. Grab a Samsung. They have the most minutes on them. And pay cash.”
Callie took the money and stared at him.
“Trust me,” Blake said. “This is the safest way for now.”
“I hate all this sneaking around.”
“It won’t be forever. But for now, this is how we have to do it.”
Blake leaned over and kissed her before Callie exited the car and walked across the dark parking lot of the gas station.
PART IV
All In
CHAPTER 27
Boscobel, Wisconsin Wednesday, July 23, 2025
SINCEFRANCISBERNARD HAD UTTEREDCALLIEJONES’S NAME, Ethan was all in on the investigation. He’d nearly killed himself at the ER the week before by working six straight days of twelve-hour shifts. But it had earned him two weeks off, which he combined with two weeks of vacation time. He now had a month free from his responsibilities at the ER, and he planned to spend every moment on the Callie Jones case.
