Page 8 of Treasured By Them
My hand tingles with the memory, and I have to think of something else, fast, before I get a boner in her old kitchen.
We find the cake. Wallace loves it, and his boyfriend helps him slice it for everyone. The tiny drumset gets placed in the center of the kitchen table, surrounded by bowls of chips and dips.
This party is super informal compared to the parties thrown by the Laytons. The food isn’t as good. The alcohol is cheap. And yet it’s a lot more fun. Ed Senior’s disapproval doesn’t sour the atmosphere. His wife doesn’t make snarky comments about other women. There’s no undercurrent of danger.
Until Dani’s other former roommate, Elias, bursts into the kitchen area. In a hushed, excited voice, he says, “You guys, there’s been another murder.”
A long moment of silence while everyone processes his announcement.
“Were you listening to your police scanner app at Wallace’s graduation party?” Dani glares at Elias.
Rita glares just as hard. “Elias, we have been telling you, this is a problem.”
Wallace and their other friends are loudly talking in the living room, unaware of the drama in the kitchen.
Elias frowns and brushes his long hair back from his forehead. “It was just for a few minutes. I was curious what’s going on. And shit has gone down, you guys. Britney Gardner’s murderer has struck again.”
Dani purses her lips. She hasn’t said anything to her old roommates about the memory she uncovered. Given the manic glint in Elias’s eyes right now, I don’t blame her. He’d probably sit her down and interrogate her for hours if he thought she was a witness to a murder.
“We worry about you, Elias,” Dani finally says. “You get that, right? And you also have to understand Britney Gardner was murdered over a decade ago, in a completely different place. Chances are it isn’t the same guy.”
“But it could be.” Elias looks like he’s about to launch into a longer discussion, but the music abruptly cuts off from the speakers.
We all turn toward the living room to see what interrupted the music, to find Wallace and a bunch of his friends taking out instruments for a jam session.
“And that’s our cue to leave,” Dani says, grabbing my arm.
“Take me with you,” Rita whispers.
Edmund and I laugh. I ask, “Are they that bad?”
“No, they’re good...but they’ll be at it for hours.” Rita shakes her head. “I’ll be sleeping in both earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones tonight.”
We say our goodbyes and leave the house, with strains of fairly decent jazz following us toward the street. Dani tucks herself against my side in the chilly night air as Edmund opens the door of our car.
He pokes his head inside. “All quiet tonight, Jon?”
A long pause while nobody responds. The hairs on the back of my neck rise in alarm.
Edmund starts. “Troy?—”
I don’t need to hear the rest. His tone says everything.
“Take Dani and go inside. Now.” I pull him away from the car and put the two of them together, pushing them toward the house.
“What’s happening?” Dani moves with Edmund, not fighting or arguing.
I go around to the front of the car. The driver’s door is open, the window broken. Jon slumps back in his seat, lips parted, eyes staring vacantly into nothing. Blood trickles from a gunshot wound in his forehead.
4
Edmund
Three days ago, the Vorsongs killed Jon outside of Danica’s old house. It’s hard to believe we were inside at the time, partying with her old roommates, completely unaware.
The Vorsongs left a note—a phone number, that’s all. Nothing incriminating. After calling Caleb Morraine to figure out the clean-up, I arranged another ride. Troy and I escorted Danica back to the penthouse. Then we went straight to Rendsell.
If my father was sad about Jon’s death, he didn’t show it. I only saw anger. I’m not sure if that was because Jon died, or because the Vorsongs have the upper hand.
