Page 99 of The Executioners Three
“But I thought… I thought we were…” He motioned between them. “I mean, you wore my jacket on Friday, Freddie.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied, even though sheactuallywanted to scream:THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE ARE DATING.
And yes, she might’ve had a crush on him last Friday, but as far as she could tell, she had done nothing whatsoever to lead him into expecting more. Not to mention, they had spent all of high school in the same homeroom and Kyle had never ever noticed her before. Now suddenly he liked her and was jealous?
But that was a problem to be dealt with later. Right now, Freddie had five people gaping at her—and all of them waiting for her to do something.
Divya was the one that Freddie turned to first. She hated the confusion knitting over Divya’s brow. Shehatedthe disappointment sloping across her lips.
“I’m sorry,” Freddie said again, and unlike with Kyle, she meant it this time. “I was going to tell you.”
“Going to tell her?” Cat demanded. “Tell her what? That you’re consorting with the enemy?”
“I have a name,” Theo muttered.
“Yeah,” Kyle snarled. “Douchebag.”
“Eat it.” Theo puffed out his chest—which prompted both Kyle and Luis to puff out theirs.
And suddenly she’d had enough. The posturing. The pointless hatredbetween two sides. Montagues and Capulets that could only resolve their differences throughmurder. It was stupid, stupid, stupid. But before Freddie could barkSTOP THIS!at all of them, Divya stepped in and beat her to it.
“Stop!” she screeched, rounding first on Kyle and Luis. Then on Theo. “Juststop,all of you.” Lastly she turned to Freddie. Her cheeks were flushed with cold—and with emotion too. “Laina is missing, Fred. That’s why we’re here. I went down to my kitchen and when I came back up, she was gone.”
No.Freddie’s lungs inverted. Her gut swept down to her toes.
“I tried calling you,” Divya went on. She walked toward Freddie. Snow flickered across her black hair. “But your phone was off, and your mom didn’t know where you were. Since the library was closed, I figured you had to be here.”
Good detective work,Freddie thought, and if the moment had been anything butthisone, she would’ve said so. Instead, she asked: “And you tried Laina’s house?”
“Of course, but her mom hasn’t seen her, and she’s not answering her phone. So I called them.” Divya waved to Cat, Luis, and Kyle. “I didn’t know who else could help me.”
“Right.” Shame spiderwebbed through Freddie’s belly. Her friend had needed her, and she hadn’t been there. “And… and did you explain to them what’s going on with Laina?”
“You mean that Laina sleepwalks?” Cat folded her arms over her chest. “She did.”
Okay. Okay. Freddie could figure this out. Shehadto figure this out. Although first she turned to Theo. He had been watching this whole exchange, locked up and closed off. Freddie approached him, and though she didn’t want to, she removed his blazer. Cold rushed in. “You should go, Theo.”
He wet his lips. “So you’re choosing them?”
“I’m notchoosinganyone.” Freddie offered him the jacket. He didn’t take it. “But I have to deal with this, and you have to see your grandmother.”
He winced, a tiny movement around his eyes. As if, in all this madness, he had forgotten Mrs. Ferris and the beef jerky. Freddie almost had.
“Okay,” he said softly. Then before Freddie could stop him, he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead.
It was a curt movement, like he didn’t want to do it in front of everyone but ratherhadto. Like it was Very Important that Freddie see he wasn’t upset with her. “Keep the jacket,” he said, “and I’ll call you later.”
Theo stalked away.
“Piss off, Porter!” Kyle shouted at Theo’s back.
And Theo answered with an expertly flicked middle finger before slinging into his Civic. A heartbeat later, the car revved to life. Two heartbeats after that, and it was pulling away.
“Alright,” Freddie said, once Theo was out of the parking lot, “the first place we should look is at Fortin Prep.”
“Um.” Luis barked a laugh. “You’re not going anywhere with us.”
Freddie blinked. “What? Of course I am.”
