She nodded.
He stared down at the toes of his sneakers-new ones, since the police had taken his old ones for "investigative purposes."
"About my locker..."
Avery c.o.c.ked her head and pointed to her ears, wagging her head. "Outside," she mouthed, pushing him.
"Sorry, I couldn"t hear you," he said once they were out the door.
"Look, Fletch, I"ve been thinking about it, and we need to figure this out. I know you don"t remember much from the escape, but do you remember anything? Like other cars in the parking lot when you arrived? Anyone you saw on the trail?"
The thudding started again in his head. Why wouldn"t she just leave it alone?
"I don"t know, Avery. Your dad and the cops, they asked me a million times and I can"t-"
Car tires grinding over gravel. Fletcher getting out of the car. Adam coming around and s.n.a.t.c.hing up a McDonald"s bag from the ground, crushing it with his fists. "People are such freaking slobs."
He did a jump shot, the wadded-up bag landing smoothly in the trash can near the trail"s entrance.
"Probably that guy"s lunch." Fletcher shook his head at the other car in the parking lot, a red something or other. Racing stripe down the side. Busted fender.
"There was another car in the lot, but I never saw who drove it."
Avery"s eyes were saucers. "You remember that?"
Fletcher blinked. "Yeah, yeah I guess I do."
"Fletch, this is a clue. A huge clue! We have to tell my dad. Oh my G.o.d, this could blow the case wide open." Avery was very animated, like one of those kids overacting in the school play. She stopped. "Fletch, do you not realize what a major breakthrough this is?"
He swallowed, not feeling an ounce of Avery"s excitement. "It was just a car."
"But it means someone else was out there on the trail with you guys and-"
"Avery-"
"Come on, Fletch. Come on. Do you remember anything else? Did you notice if it had California plates? Anything decorative around the license plate?"
Fletcher closed his eyes just to get Avery off his back. The moment he did...
"Fletch, Fletch, what the h.e.l.l, man?"
The sound of flesh on flesh. Bones cracking.
An arc of blood.
"I can"t see! I can"t-where are you?"
Whose voice? Whose voice was that?
Blood on his hands, blood gushing from his lip.
"Fletch!"
Adam. Where was Adam?
Swing. Hit. Connect.
Swing, hit, connect.
"Fletch..." a croaked whisper.
"What if I did it?"
Nineteen.
Avery stepped back as if Fletcher"s admission had physically shoved her. "Fletch, what are you talking about?"
"I can"t remember. I"m trying, but..." He stared at his hands, clenching his fists, feeling the skin pull against the crisscross of scabs and st.i.tches that remained. "What if I did it?"
Avery shook her head, a tremor going through her. "That"s stupid, Fletch. That"s just dumb. Adam was your friend. You wouldn"t do that. You wouldn"t! I know you."
Fletcher wanted to agree, but he could feel the dark inside him. It sickened him. It scared him.
"Why would you do it? There"s no reason." Avery crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Don"t be dumb."
"I remember Adam saying, "Stop, stop."" He shook his hands, which suddenly felt as if they were covered in the dirt and debris from the forest. "What if his blood was on me?"
Avery stood up straighter and gripped Fletcher by his forearms. "Listen to me, Fletch. You didn"t do this. Your memories are all jumbled up, and yeah, you had blood all over you. But you also had cuts all over you. The blood was yours."
"No, Avery."
"You"re a good guy. You probably were trying to help Adam. Or it could be survivor"s guilt. You read about that all the time."
A knot formed in Fletcher"s chest. He didn"t want Avery to defend him. He didn"t want her to want to defend him. Somehow he felt like he didn"t deserve it.
Students streamed out of the building around them. Most walked straight past, but a few slowed and eyed Fletcher and Avery.
Kaylee and Stacey came out with Tim. Kaylee coughed the word "socio" into her hands. Stacey exploded into giggles. Tim laughed too but tried to turn his face away.
"Don"t make him mad," one of the girls said. "We don"t know what he"s capable of."
Fletcher gritted his teeth.
"Fletch." Avery grabbed him by the arm again but he shook her off.
"Just stay away from me, okay?"
Avery yanked out her phone and dialed her father.
"What"s up, kiddo?"
"Dad, why is everyone accusing Fletch of murder?"
"Avery-"
"It"s all over school. Someone graffitied his locker, and people are calling him a sociopath. He"s not a real suspect, is he?"
There was a long, uncomfortable pause, and Avery knew exactly what her father wasn"t saying.
"I can"t believe you."
"Avery, look. We have to examine-"
"I know, I know, all the angles," she spat.
"For now, it"s probably a good idea for you to give Fletcher some s.p.a.ce."
Avery"s mouth dropped open. "Stay away from him? He"s my friend! He needs me!"
"Just for a-"
"Whatever, Dad."
She hung up, knowing she was in for several choice evenings staring at her bedroom ceiling without her phone or computer, but she was miffed. How could her father believe that Fletcher could kill Adam? Or put her in danger?
Livid, her fingers flew over the lock combo on her bike. She shoved the lock in her backpack and started pedaling.
The sun was beginning to dip behind the trees, and the few weak, remaining beams of sunlight shaded and mottled a deep gray. It made the chill in the damp air heavy, and Avery shivered even as sweat beaded at her hairline. She pumped her legs harder.
This was one of the winding stretches of the Redwood Highway that lacked a bike lane. In the summer, it made for an agonizing, thigh-burning series of switchbacks. In the fall it was a beautiful, canopied ride, the lush trees keeping the road cool. With the roads slick and the weak streaks of light, all Avery wanted to do was get home and into a hot shower.
That was what she was thinking about when she heard the purr of the engine behind her, approaching from one of the switchbacks. She flicked on the bike"s front and back lights, her two wheels blinking like a beacon, the reflectors her father insisted she attach to her backpack bouncing back headlights as the car crawled up behind her.
Avery edged herself as far to the right as she dared, casting a glance at the narrow shoulder and the slope of mountainside beyond. She hated this part of the ride and gripped one handlebar tightly, while using her other hand to wave the car around her.
It stayed a good thirty feet behind. The vibration from the motor wobbled her tires all the way through her feet. She pumped a little harder, trying to put some distance between herself and the car.
It caught up.
"Go around," she said, waving. She craned her neck to see around the bank of the next switchback, then turned toward the car, yelling, "Clear!" The gray sky was settling in, the last of the sunlight bouncing off the windshield, obscuring the driver. "Clear!" she said again.
The driver maintained his speed behind her and Avery sighed, rolling her eyes. "If you want to go ten miles an hour behind me, suit yourself, dude."
She continued pedaling, wishing she could pop in her earbuds and listen to anything other than the hum of the engine and the voices in her head. She was trying to focus on the list of phyla she was supposed to memorize for bio when the driver gunned the engine. Avery glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the car"s grill kissing her back tire.
"Hey!" she yelled, wobbling on the bike. "What the h.e.l.l?"
The car sunk back, but her heart slammed against her rib cage. "Jerk!"
The thunk of a heavy ba.s.s blasted from the car. The music grew closer.
Avery edged toward the outside white line, a little closer to the edge of the road, keeping her focus directly in front of her rather than on the drop a few inches from her fat, hybrid tires. A bead of sweat trickled down her back as she lifted herself from the seat to pedal faster.
"Go around, jerk!"
The car didn"t pull back.
Avery cut hard to the left, whizzing over the double yellow line.
The oncoming headlights of another car nearly blinded her as it swung around the turn.
"Oh my G.o.d!"
Avery resisted the urge to let go of the handlebars and cover her face with her hands. Instead, she swerved. Her heart was ready to explode in her throat. She had no choice but to cut in front of the car that had been trailing her while the other one sped by. She prayed the driver of the car trailing was just some jerk trying to mess with her. She prayed that the long honk and the flood of headlights scared him too, and that he would hang back.
He didn"t.
The car tagged her bike"s back tire. Avery wobbled for what felt like an eternity, her whole body tense as she tried to keep her bike upright. If she fell or stopped, the psycho driver would surely run her over. She had to put distance between them. She sped up. So did the driver. The next sound was the crack of her wheel against the car"s fender as it folded in two and snapped free of the bike frame.
Pain exploded in her chin and palms as she scudded along the roadway. Her breath was gone. She was still sliding, still moving from the force of the hit when she saw the edge of the roadway coming up on her fast. She tried to kick out her legs, to grip the concrete to stop herself, but the remains of her bike hit her hard on the back of her head. She was airborne. She slid and rolled, then stopped a few yards down the incline.
Above her, there was a weighted silence that p.r.i.c.ked at the back of her neck. A car door slammed, followed by the slow, loud sound of boots.
Avery tried to move her head but everything hurt. She had just enough energy to cut her eyes toward the roadway, toward the figure who rounded the car and stared down at her.
A tremor went through Avery. Would the figure approach her? There was no way she could defend herself.
Slowly the driver turned on his-or her-heel and got back in the car. Avery heard the car door slam, the rev of the engine, and the blaring radio fade as the car disappeared around the bend.
Twenty.