Forget Me (10 page)

I shrugged. “He only lived here two months. I think his parents probably brought his body back to New Hampshire, where they were from. There wasn't even a funeral or anything here.”

“But if he died here, the hospital or someone would have records, right? I'm just guessing—I don't know how those things work.”

I hadn't thought of that. But I
did
know someone who knew how those things worked. Maybe I could get the truth, once and for all.

I grabbed my camera bag and stood up, dusting off my jeans. “I'm going to look into that.” I hesitated, not really knowing how to end things. “Thanks for . . . showing me the picture.” I knew it had taken a certain amount of trust for him to do that, and I appreciated it.

Evan stood, too, and looked at me, his gray eyes intense. “I don't want this to be the end.”

My neck flushed hot. “What?”

“This obviously involves me, too.
I
got the picture in the mail. The guy looks exactly like me.”

Oh. The mystery of Flynn. That's what he wanted to be a part of. “Give me your number. I'll let you know what I find out from the death certificate.”

“Do you want to meet here again or—”

“I'll call you,” I interrupted. I wasn't sure that I wanted to keep meeting him like this. I didn't want to get too close.

Though part of me wondered if I already had.

C
ooper didn't work at the Town Hall again until Monday afternoon. I lured Toni to my car with the promise of a ride home and a small detour.

“So what's the detour?” she asked, tossing her bag into the backseat.

“Town Hall. I need another favor from your brother.”

“Blergh.” She rolled her eyes. “I see enough of that guy at home.”

I turned the keys and the engine roared to life. “You'll miss him when he leaves for college in the fall. Admit it.”

“Maybe a little.” She pointed a finger at me. “But if you ever tell him I said that, I'll text-blast the shaving cream picture of you from the fifth-grade sleepover to everyone we know.”

“That'll only get me pity. My best friend accosted me in my sleep and kept photographic evidence. What a monster she is.”

Toni laughed. I followed the line of cars out of the school parking lot. When we made it to the road, she said, “Speaking of pictures, did you have any brainstorms over who would send something like that to Evan?”

Toni and I had spent Sunday together at my house, doing homework and watching a movie, and I'd filled her in on everything from my meeting with Evan.

“No,” I said. “It doesn't make any sense. Why would I be a danger to anyone?”

I realized too late that the light had turned red, and slammed on my brakes. My worn tires squealed in protest.

“Your driving is a danger to everyone,” Toni said.

I gave her a look. “You're distracting me.”

“Okay, I won't ask you any more thought-provoking questions for the rest of the drive.” She mimicked zipping her mouth closed.

But as I was watching her, the light turned green. The car behind me beeped its horn.

Toni's mouth zipper busted open with a loud laugh.

Minutes later, we walked into the Town Hall and found Cooper sitting at the front desk. At the sight of us, he stood and grinned. “Two dog licenses it is! That will be fifty bucks.”

He held his hand out and Toni slapped it, hard. “Ha ha. Very funny.”

Cooper looked at me. “Morgan, you know I'm kidding, right?”

Their little sibling squabbles usually entertained me, but I didn't have the patience for it right then. “I need your help again,” I said, getting right to the point.

Toni put her hands on her hips. “And now you
have
to help since you called us dogs.”

Cooper held his hands up in defeat. “I am at your service.”

I took a deep breath. “Can anyone see a death certificate?”

Cooper raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, sure. Death certificates are considered public-domain documents.”

“Can I see Flynn's?”

“We wouldn't have it here. He didn't live here, remember?”

“Would it be filed in New Hampshire, where he was from?”

“First off, you don't even know if that New Hampshire backstory he told you was true. But, no, death certificates are always filed in the state where the person died. He died at the Littlefield Medical Center, right?”

“Yes,” I said, remembering the feeling of his heart beating beneath my hand as they placed him on a gurney and put him in the ambulance.

“Then it would be filed in Littlefield.”

Evan's town. I nodded. “Okay, I'll go there.”

“Wait,” he said. “Let me make a quick phone call. I'll meet you guys out front.”

I shared a look with Toni, but trusted Cooper enough to do what he said. We walked back outside where I'd parallel parked my car. Toni leaned against the hood and crossed her arms while I paced the sidewalk.

“I'm going out with Reece again next weekend,” she blurted out.

I gaped at her. “What?”

She shrugged and a playful little grin lit up her face. “You were right. He's not that bad.”

“‘Not that bad' isn't a great reason to date a guy.”

“Okay, he's more than that. In school he's always been a giant toolface. But it's an act. It's like he pretends to be this character that he thinks everyone will like. But underneath, he's actually really sweet and nice. And, one-on-one, I really like him.”

“Yeah, but what are you going to do? Date him on the weekends and hate him during the week when he's Too Cool Reece?”

“I think he's dropping the act. He was my Reece in school today.”

“
Your
Reece?” This made me a little worried. Toni didn't fall often, but when she did, it was a twenty-story drop.

“Okay, not
my
Reece. Regular Reece.” She beamed. “I think I bring out the best in him.”

I reminded myself not to form an opinion too quickly. After all, I was the one who'd told her to take it easy on him. I just didn't realize that to her that meant ending up crazy for him after one weekend.

“Well, I'm happy for you, then.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

The door of the Town Hall opened and Cooper strode over to us.

“Don't waste your time,” he called.

I blinked. Had he somehow already gotten his hands on the certificate? No. His expression didn't exactly make me feel like good news was on its way.

He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “I suspected this, since everything else he told you was a lie. But I didn't want to say anything until I could be sure.”

The jagged edge of the car keys bit into my palm as I closed my fist. “What is it?”

“I called the Littlefield Town Hall and asked them to look up the death certificate for Flynn Parkman. They don't have one.”

“I thought you said they would have to because he died in their town.”

“That's the law, yeah.”

“So what does this mean?” Toni asked.

Cooper met my gaze. “It can be only one of two things. Either your boyfriend's name wasn't Flynn Parkman . . . or he's not dead.”

I
brought Toni home and collapsed on the couch in my empty house. Nothing was what it seemed. Flynn had done nothing but lie to me, maybe even about his own name. And who'd sent a picture of me to Evan?

A dark, awful thought wriggled into my brain like a parasite. What if
no one
had sent that photo? What if Evan took it himself and wrote the warning to get me to trust him? It was a nutball theory, but it wasn't crazier than anything else that was going on.

My cell rang. I gazed down at the number. Speak of the devil.

I held the phone in my hand, suddenly unsure. My finger hovered over the answer button. I let it ring two more times, then, in one jerky motion, hit the green button and put the phone to my ear.

“Hey, Evan.”

“Um, hey.” He sounded nervous. Not in a suspicious way. More like that adorable “boy on the phone” way. I forced myself to focus.

“I was just calling to see if you'd gotten anywhere with the, um, death-certificate thing. But if you're busy, I can call you back. Or you can call me when you're—”

“It was a bust,” I cut in. I told him what we'd found out, and the two choices I was left with. Flynn was never Flynn . . . or he was still alive.

“So what are you going to do now?” he asked.

“I don't know what I
can
do. I can't just walk into the hospital and start asking questions. They have all those patient privacy rules.”

“What about the cops?” he said. “River's End is where the hit-and-run happened, right? The police would have details, because they investigated it.”

“Yeah, but . . . can I just walk into a police station and start asking questions?” It was probably more public than private info, but this wasn't like bothering Cooper at his after-school job.

“We're in this together, right?” Evan asked.

That awful thought popped up again. That Evan might not have been telling me the whole truth. But what other choice did I have?

“Yeah,” I said. “Of course.”

“Then let me pick you up after school tomorrow. I have an idea that might get us some answers.”

• • •

Evan said he was coming to my house right after school. I knew we got out at the same time, but he had to come from Littlefield. So I had time to drop Toni off first, ignoring her repeated requests to come with us, and then ignoring her accusations that I wanted to go alone with Evan not because it was simpler, but because I wanted to “mack out on his face” in the car.

Now I sat on my front steps, left leg bouncing up and down. I wondered if maybe I should wait inside. If sitting on the steps made me look too desperate. But it wasn't a date. I shouldn't have cared how anxious I looked. Before I could change my mind, his gray sedan turned the corner and slid into my driveway, sunlight glinting off the windshield. Right on time.

I got in the passenger side. The car smelled nice, clean. I clicked the seat belt into place, feeling Evan's eyes on me every second. I glanced over, and it was the first time I saw him and didn't have a rush of Flynn memories. He was completely Evan to me now. A separate person, despite the looks.

“Ready to go?” he asked with a grin. And there was that feeling again. His smile kick-started a butterfly convention in my stomach.

“As soon as you tell me where we're going,” I said, trying to keep my voice even.

He carefully backed out of my driveway and turned onto the road. “The River's End Police Department.”

“We're just going to march in and start asking questions?”

“Nope. I told you I could help. I know somebody there. Or, rather, my family does. We can ask him anything. He won't mind.”

I nervously ran my hand up and down the seat belt. I wasn't completely comfortable with the idea, but whatever got us answers. “Okay, let's do it.”

Minutes later we were downtown, parked, and walking into the station. The building was small and quiet, not like those loud, busy police stations you see on TV. A receptionist sat behind a heavy glass window.

I hung back as Evan approached her. “Can I speak with Officer Reck, please?”

She barely glanced up. “Your name?”

“Evan Murphy.”

The receptionist lifted the phone to her ear, muttered a few quick words into the receiver, and then placed it back down. “He'll be with you in just a moment.”

I busied myself by staring at the memos and flyers posted on a bulletin board. There was an out-of-date winter street parking ban, a trash-dumping notice, pedestrian street-crossing safety guidelines, and a sheet with the FBI's top ten most wanted, including thumbnail photos. As if any of them would be in River's End.

The door to the lobby opened, and an intimidating-looking man in police blues entered the room. Evan was tall and athletically built, but this guy dwarfed him. He was the size of an NFL linebacker. His head was shaved. The lines carved into his face placed him in his midforties. And, at the sight of Evan, he broke into a huge smile. I had the feeling it was something most people didn't get to see.

He gave Evan a pat on the shoulder that probably would've knocked me over. “How's it going, little man?”

“Great!” Evan said. “It's good to see you.”

“I probably shouldn't call you little man anymore, though, huh? You're bigger than your dad now, I bet.”

“I am.”

“Still hitting those balls over the fence?”

“Every game.”

“Atta boy.” Officer Reck glanced over at me. “Who's the beauty? Your girlfriend?”

Evan blushed. “Um, no, this is—”

“I'm his friend,” I cut in.

“That's too bad.” He gave Evan a meaningful look. Evan's face turned even redder.

“We're actually here for me,” I said, wanting to end Evan's torture. “I was hoping to find out something about a death that happened about three months ago?”

He slid a palm over his giant dome of a head. “What death is that?”

“A hit-and-run on a teenaged boy. On Lincoln Road.”

Nodding slowly, he said, “I remember that. Follow me.”

He turned and led us down a narrow hallway. Evan and I followed closely. He pointed to a small desk that was strewn with Styrofoam coffee cups and papers. “Have a seat there. Don't mind the mess. Maid's day off.”

I sat stiffly in a hard plastic chair while Evan settled into the one beside me. “So he's a family friend?” I whispered.

“Yeah. He and my dad go way back. I thought he could help.”

A moment later the cop returned with a file in his hand. He sat down on the other side of the desk, the chair groaning beneath him. He opened the file and read quietly for a moment, I assumed reacquainting himself with the case. Then he snapped the folder shut.

“Okay, what are you here to find out?” he asked.

Only everything,
I thought. My throat tightened as I prepared to ask the question.

Evan leaned forward in the chair and asked before I could. “Did the boy die?”

The officer looked from Evan to me and back. “Can I ask why you want to know?”

I exhaled hard. “He was my boyfriend.”

“And you don't know if he's dead or alive?” he asked skeptically.

“I thought he was dead . . .” I stopped myself. I didn't want to get into every little detail. “But, long story short, either he's alive or he gave me a fake name.”

Officer Reck tapped his fingers against the folder. “What did he say his name was?”

“Flynn Parkman.”

He looked at me differently then. With pity, perhaps. He opened his mouth, and before the words came out, I knew what they were. I could feel them slithering around me, tightening across my chest.

“I'm sorry to be the one to break the bad news,” he began. “The boy
is
dead. He died at the Littlefield Medical Center. And his name wasn't Flynn Parkman.”

A hole opened in my heart. Grief, betrayal, all the emotions I'd felt over the last few days rushed through me. He was dead
and
a liar. Evan kept glancing at me, as if to make sure I was all right. I didn't want to lose it. Not here, not now.

I forced the words out of my throat. “What was his real name?”

The officer glanced down at the file. “James Bergeron.”

James, I thought. So classic, so ordinary. It sounded wrong in my mind. But the Flynn in my mind wasn't real. James was real. That's who he was whether I liked it or not.

“Is his family still living in town?” I asked.

Officer Reck shook his head. “He was a runaway.”

My head rocked back. I knew his family life had been bad; he'd told me as much. But to run away? “Does his family know that he's dead?”

A dark look crossed the officer's face. Not pity, something worse. “He had no family.”

My breath caught. “What?”

“He lived in a foster home in New Hampshire and—for unknown reasons—left and settled somewhere in the area here.”

A thousand possibilities ran through my mind. Had he stopped here on his way to somewhere else, met me, and stayed? Was he always planning to move on? Is that why he'd broken up with me? He was ready to go on to the next town and keep running . . .

Or had he chosen River's End on purpose and I was merely a complication? If so, why had he been here?

Officer Reck crossed his meaty hands on top of the desk. “When you and this boy were together, where did he bring you? What was his address?”

I chewed my lip. “Um, he was . . . private. He said his family life was bad. So he only came to my house. I never went to his.”

“Where did you meet?”

For some reason, I didn't want to share that. I wanted to keep one thing for myself. And a gut feeling deep down told me to lie. “At Happy Time Mini Golf,” I blurted.

I could see Evan looking at me out of the corner of my eye. He was probably wondering why I hadn't mentioned that when we were sitting there on the bench Saturday. I could see the distrust start to creep back into his expression.

I didn't like how this had changed from me asking questions to me being questioned. I'd gotten what I came for. There was no reason to stick around.

I stood and held out my hand. “Thanks for your help, Officer Reck. I'll let you get back to work now.”

He stood slowly, as if reluctant to let me go. He took my hand and shook it, gently, but I still felt like I was facing off against a bear.

I started walking back toward the lobby, not even waiting for Evan. He caught up with me outside, halfway to the car.

“Sorry,” he said, slowing his jog to a walk. “I had to say my good-byes.”

“No problem. I just wanted to get out of there. I know the truth now.” I stopped by the passenger side of his car, but Evan made no move to unlock the door.

He stared at me, through me. “You lied to him about the mini-golf place.”

I answered simply. “Yes.”

“Why?” He didn't ask where Flynn and I
had
met. He only wanted to know why I'd lied to the cop.

“I don't know, fully,” I answered. “I just wanted to keep it to myself. That memory.”

“Is it true that James refused to ever bring you to his house?”

I winced at the name. “Can we keep calling him Flynn? James just sounds wrong.”

“Whatever you want.” He hesitated. “Is it true? He never told you
anything
?”

It made Flynn sound terrible. And, yes, Flynn was broody and negative and all those dark things, but—until that horrible night—he seemed to adore me. He made me feel special. Who doesn't like feeling special? But I couldn't explain that to Evan. It made me feel stupid. Like a dumb girl with a crush who accepted whatever scraps her boyfriend was willing to toss her.

“Yes, it's true,” I said softly.

Surprise registered on Evan's face. “And you put up with that?”

“What?”

“Well, it's just that you don't seem like the type to put up with any bull.”

I liked that he saw me that way. I tilted my chin up a little higher. “Maybe I was then. Maybe I'm changing.”

“Good,” he said, nodding. “You deserve to be treated better than that.”

I snorted. “Now you sound like Toni.”

He raised his eyebrows. “She didn't like him?”

I smirked. “Not at all.” But it was clear now that she'd been right not to trust Flynn all along. I should've listened to her.

I gazed up at Evan. He was staring at me with an expression so intense, it made my knees tremble. He wanted to kiss me. I could see it in his eyes, in his slightly parted lips.

But I couldn't give that to him, even after everything he'd done for me today. Instead, I slipped my arms around his neck and gave him a hug. I'd expected Flynn's outdoorsy scent, but Evan smelled like soap and shampoo. Clean and fresh.

The two of them were different in every way.

I pulled back, and the look in his eye was gone.

“Come on,” he said. “I'll drive you home.”