aterovis_bleedinghearts.pm6 (27 page)

“No. You do not understand my grief. And there’s plenty of proof, but no one will even look at it. How was that note written?”

“It was computer generated. Simple red ink on white paper.”

“That’s exactly like the threatening notes Seth was getting before he was murdered.”

Officer Hoetz pulled out a notebook and jotted something on it, flipped it closed and stuck it back in his pocket. “We’ll look into it, Mr. Connelly.”

“I hope so,” Adam said angrily.

232

Bleeding Hearts

Another officer approached Hoetz and asked if he could speak to him for a minute. He excused himself and they walked off to one side and spoke quietly with their heads together.

“This is a nightmare. It’s like Seth all over again,”

Adam mumbled as he rubbed his forehead.

Kane turned into Adam’s shoulder and started to cry softly.

“Oh, damn, I’m sorry, Kane. I didn’t mean to upset you any more,” Adam said wearily.

“I’m just scared something’s gonna happen to Killian,” he sniffled.

“Nothing is going to happen to Killian,” he soothed.

“Not if I can help it,” he added under his breath.

I had been listening to all this as if from a distance, not really taking it in. I felt a pair of arms slide around me from behind and twisted awkwardly to find it was Asher. I turned rest of the way into him and returned the hug. I needed that right now.

* * *

The rest of the night was spent in routine police work, or so Officer Hoetz told us. They couldn’t match the fabric sample at first glance, but that was inconclusive anyway since so many people had left before the cops got there. As he said wryly, it’s not like we lacked for suspects...a couple hundreds’ worth. Of course, I had my own list of suspects, with Zack and Jesse at the top of the list.

I stayed up the rest of the night thinking, since I was too unnerved to get any sleep anyway and I had so much on my mind. I had gone in several different directions, but I seemed to make breakthroughs in every area. I decided that I was ready to come out at school, for one thing. It was obvious that Gilly and I were through, and it might help goad the killer into making a move. If he 233

JOSH ATEROVIS

got caught, it would be worth any danger to me. Or at least that’s what I reasoned at four in the morning.

I also decided to confront Zack once and for all. I was feeling very reckless and angry by this point, ready for action.

Last, but not least, I decided to give Asher another chance. Not that I was ruling out Jake, but it seemed like Asher was always there for me, no matter what. He was definitely a true friend, and isn’t that what you want in a boyfriend?

With that last thought still playing through my mind, I fell asleep just as the first rays of light broke over the horizon.

* * *

Adam let me sleep in the next morning, for which I was very grateful. I didn’t get up until 1:00 in the afternoon and I was still very tired, but there were things I wanted to do that day that I didn’t want to put off.

Kane was already downstairs when I came down, but then he’d fallen asleep as soon as we got home last night.

“Hey, you didn’t sleep much last night, did you?” he asked me as soon as he saw me.

“No, but you didn’t seem to have any trouble,” I said as I ruffled his hair.

“I was really worn out, I guess,” he explained.

“No kidding.”

I wandered into the kitchen, grabbed a pack of cookies out of the cabinet and poured myself a glass of milk before sitting down at the table. Kane followed me in and sat down across from me, snagging a few cookies in the process and dipping them in my milk.

“Hey, get your own,” I protested, “Where’s Adam?”

“He went down to the police station to see about your car. They impounded it last night.”

“Oh.”

234

Bleeding Hearts

“Asher called this morning and so did Jake.”

“Oh,” I said again. “You and Jake seemed to hit it off.”

Kane shot me a funny look and I quickly explained.

“I meant as friends.”

“Oh, yeah,” he smiled. “He’s really funny. So what was on your mind last night that you couldn’t sleep?

Upset about the whole car thing?”

“Partly, but I also made a lot of decisions last night.”

“Like what?”

“Well, like that guy Dash last night made me realize I had been avoiding a lot of stuff, and it’s time I faced it instead of pretending it doesn’t exist or whatever.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I decided to come out at school.”

“Whoa! That’s a big deal, isn’t it? I mean, won’t that be really hard?”

“Oh yeah. I’m scared, but I’m also tired of pretending to be something I’m not. I mean, I’m not, like, gonna get on stage at an assembly and announce it, but I’m gonna stop pretending.”

“I’m also going to confront Zack. I want to do that today, before I lose my nerve.”

“Is that the jerk from last night? The guy in the Scream costume?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Confront him how?”

“Just tell him to leave me alone once and for all, and all my friends. And find out why he hates me so much.

We used to be friends...kinda.”

Kane shook his head. “I think you need some more sleep,” he said.

“Wait, I’m not even done yet,” I told him.

He raised his eyebrows just like Adam does and I almost started laughing. “I’m going to give Asher another chance. I mean, he’s always there for me when I need 235

JOSH ATEROVIS

him and he’s a true friend.”

“What about Jake? I can tell he really likes you too.”

“I don’t know what to do about Jake. I mean I like him, but...it’s different with Asher and me. We have a history, you know? I just met Jake.”

Kane smiled. “Follow your heart, Killian. You’ll know what’s right.”

“How’d you get so smart?” I asked fondly.

“I dunno, good genes I guess.”

I laughed and got up to call Zack’s house. I wanted to make sure he was home before I drove to his house.

I talked to his mom for a few minutes then hung up, leaving my hand on the receiver while I was lost in thought.

“What?” Kane asked after a moment.

“Zack never came home last night. They’ve called Jesse, and Jesse says he left him at the party. They split when the cops arrived.”

“What’s that mean?”

“I don’t know.” Just then the phone rang, startling me and causing me to jump. The receiver was still in my hand and it clattered to the floor. I scooped it up and said hello quickly.

“Killian?” It was Adam. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just dropped the phone.”

“Killian, listen, is Kane there with you?”

“Yes.” I said.

“Good. After we hang up, lock all the doors and check the windows and don’t go anywhere until I get home.”

“Why? What’s going on? Adam, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry, Killian, they just found Zachary Phillips’s body floating in the creek behind the Sheridan house.”

The phone suddenly became heavy and my arm slowly dropped down until I was holding the phone at my side. I could still hear Adam’s voice squawking but I could no longer understand individual words. I 236

Bleeding Hearts

couldn’t seem to find words to say either. My mind had become a total blank.

I heard Kane asking me what was wrong, then I felt him come up behind and me and gently take the phone from my hand. I heard him talking to Adam, asking him what was going on, asking when he’d be home. I heard the phone hang up and then Kane was standing in front of me.

“Killian, snap out of it. I need your help,” he said.

I forced myself to focus on him.

“Why are you acting like this?” he asked, “You weren’t close to that guy, were you? Wasn’t he the jerk?”

I shook my head to clear it. “We used to be friends.

I’ve known him since we were little kids. We grew up together. Now he’s gone. The killer got him, too. And he’s not going to stop till he gets me.” I was getting more and more hysterical with every passing second.

Kane grabbed my shoulders and shook me, “Killian, listen to me,” he said urgently, “No one knows if Zack was murdered yet. All they know is that he was dead in the creek. Maybe he got drunk and fell in. Don’t jump to conclusions yet. Dad said they are sending his body up to Baltimore for an autopsy; it’s a rush because of everything that’s been going on. Besides, why would anyone want to kill Zack?”

“I don’t know. I just know that this is bad. Very bad.

It’s too much to be a coincidence.”

“Well, of course it’s bad. It’s always bad when someone dies. But you need to calm down right now. Dad wants us to lock all the doors and windows. Help me do that.”

We went around the house locking and checking all the doors and windows on the first floor, then after some thought, the windows on the second floor as well. We’d watched too many movies, though, and by the time we were finished we’d thoroughly spooked ourselves. Kane 237

JOSH ATEROVIS

had brought a bat with him, which we retrieved from the closet, and I armed myself with a large kitchen knife.

Then we barricaded ourselves into the living room to wait for Adam to get back.

As we were sitting there, it suddenly occurred to me that we were acting like little kids. It was broad daylight and here we were hiding in our living room. The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it became, until I was laughing out loud.

“What’s so funny?” Kane asked, sounding a little insulted.

“Just that here we are, you’re 14 and I’m 16, and we’re acting like a couple of babies scared of our own shadows. It’s broad daylight. I’m not going to live my life in fear. I had plans for today and I’m sticking to them.”

“But Adam wanted us to wait for him here,” Kane protested.

“I’ll leave a note. Do you wanna come with me or do you wanna stay here?”

“I’m not staying here alone!”

“Okay, then lemme go shower and get dressed and we’ll go see Asher and maybe go see Jake if we have time.” I became quickly sober again, “He must be really shaken up. I mean, having a dead body in your back yard has got to be horrible. I wonder who found him?”

“Dad didn’t say,” Kane said.

I shrugged and sighed as I stood up. I returned the knife to the kitchen before heading up for my shower.

Adam was home by the time I showered and dressed.

He and Kane were talking quietly in the living room when I came downstairs; the bat was still resting across Kane’s lap.

They both looked up and fell silent as I came in

“What?” I demanded.

“What do you mean?” Adam asked innocently.

238

Bleeding Hearts

“You stopped talking when I walked in the room. You must have been talking about me.”

Adam and Kane exchanged glances, then looked back at me.

“Sit down, Killian,” Adam said.

This wasn’t going to be good. No conversation that started with the words “sit down” was ever good. I crossed the room and sat down on the couch next to Kane.

“Does this have to do with Zack?” I asked.

“Yes. I couldn’t go into it over the phone, or rather I could, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to be here to tell you in person.”

“Why? Tell me what? What’s going on?”

“Killian, I told Kane that they were taking Zack to Baltimore for an autopsy, and they are, but what I didn’t tell him is that they don’t really need to determine the cause of death. They pretty much know that already.”

“What are you saying?”

Adam swallowed and took a deep breath, “Killian, Zack was murdered just like Seth. His throat was cut.

He was most likely dead before he was thrown into the creek.”

I sat stunned for several moments. “I don’t understand,” I said finally.

“Well, without the autopsy and all the forensic examinations, nothing is positive, but it’s a little much. I mean, no one likes coincidences, and it’s a little much to believe that we have two killers running around our little town. Zack’s throat was cut, just like Seth’s. The police don’t understand what the connection could be yet. They are still looking into it. They do think that it was Zack that either broke your windows or left the note, or maybe both. The fabric fragment that the police found matched a tear in Zack’s costume.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. If Zack is the killer, who 239

JOSH ATEROVIS

killed him? And if he isn’t, why would he leave that note?”

“Like I said, the police are working on that. Now that they are taking this case seriously, it’s not up to us to figure it out anymore. As of right now I want you out of this, completely and totally. I want to know where you are at all times and I don’t want you going anywhere alone. You are to come directly home after school and nowhere after dark until this killer is caught.”

“But I...”

“But nothing, Killian. I want you out of this. And I mean out. I must have been crazy with grief when I agreed to let you get involved with this in the first place.”

“I’m already involved, Adam,” I argued.

“This is a cold-blooded killer we’re talking about. He’s already killed two boys, one of whom was my son.

Killian, I have come to love you as if you were my own.

You and Kane are all I have left. I don’t think I could bear to lose either of you at this point. I couldn’t bear it, Killian. Do you understand what I’m saying?” His voice was so thick he could barely even speak, and tears had begun to roll down his cheeks. I sat stunned for a second as the impact of what Adam had just said sunk in.

Then almost without thinking, I was off the couch, on my knees in front on Adam with my arms around his waist as I sobbed into his chest. I felt Adam gently wrap his arms around me, and after a few beats, I felt Kane slide in next to me to complete the group hug.

“We’re a real family now, aren’t we?” I heard Kane whisper.

“Yes. Yes, we are.” Adam answered.

* * *

After I got myself back together, I called Jake to see how he was doing. Todd answered the phone and said that everyone was pretty shook up right then and that I 240