“Tyrant.”

  * * *

  Auri drew in another deep breath, the mountain air still cool enough to fog when she breathed out. She could do this. And she would do it without getting anyone hurt. Especially Chloe.

  She stepped inside and was instantly greeted by two of her favorite people on earth.

  “Hey, pumpkin head,” they said almost in unison. Richard and Ricky had opened up a Caffeine-Wah shop in Del Sol. They’d opened the first two in Santa Fe, and they were so successful, they’d opened one here. They said because of the tourists coming off I-25, but Auri knew it was because of her and her mom. They were like the impeccably dressed uncles she never had. They pulled her into a huge hug.

  “Where’s your mom?” Ricky asked, feigning ignorance.

  “You do not want her in your store right now. You should see what she’s wearing.”

  Richard made a face, his dark hair glistening with freshly applied gel. “Is it bad?”

  “Only if you’re not keen on post-apocalyptic attire.”

  He laughed. “What can I get you, honey?”

  “I guess a caramel macchiato?”

  “You got it.”

  She slipped a quick smile to Zee and then to Poetry, who sat at different tables, and gestured a greeting to Chloe, who sat in the farthest corner from the door. This was like a real sting and she was a principal player. She felt giddy. “Hey,” she said to Chloe before sitting down.

  “Hey.” The upperclassman wore a watermelon wraparound shirt that looked amazing with her olive complexion and hot pink sunglasses perched on her head. “First,” she said, getting down to business, “how did you know I was the one found on the highway last year?”

  And that was the ten-million-dollar question. “I cheated. If it makes you feel better, I almost got arrested because of it.”

  “Right,” Chloe said with a soft scoff. “Because sheriffs’ kids are bound by the same laws as the rest of us.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Is that girl, the one they found at the canyon, is she going to be okay?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “They don’t know yet.”

  Ricky set her drink down. “Here you go, love. Enjoy.”

  “Thanks, Ricky.”

  “Aren’t you going to pay for that?” Chloe asked, her resentment still throwing Auri for a loop. Clearly there was something more behind it.

  “They just put it on my tab.”

  “Is that a sheriff’s perk, too?”

  “No, it’s an I lived in their garage in Santa Fe for years perk. They’re like family. Even so, my mom insists on paying them every month.”

  “Oh.” She looked down and played with the handle of her mug. “Sorry. I’m a little jaded.”

  “It’s okay.” In Chloe’s defense, Auri did get that kind of resentment occasionally. Even in Santa Fe, one kid accused her of using her mom’s influence to get him kicked out of school. She did, but he was a volatile jerk and should’ve been locked up, not just expelled.

  “Look, I get where you’re going with this. You think the girl they found is somehow connected to what happened to me.”

  Auri took a sip of her macchiato and barely suppressed a moan of ecstasy, feeling it wasn’t the time. “Am I wrong?” she asked when the moment passed.

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter either way. I can’t talk about it.”

  “Okay,” Auri said, her voice soft with understanding. “Can I ask why you agreed to meet with me then?”

  “So you wouldn’t get me killed.”

  Auri pressed her mouth together in regret. If there was one thing she was good at, it was putting other people in danger. But since Chloe refused to talk to her at school, that meant she was afraid of a high school student. Or a teacher. Someone who could see them talking and get the wrong idea. Or the right one. “Chloe, my mom can protect you.”

  A bitter laugh escaped her, and she started to stand. “I’m out of here. You’re sweet and all, Auri, but don’t try to talk to me again.”

  Auri followed suit. “Chloe, please. You don’t have to give me any details you don’t want to give. I just have a couple of questions.”

  After gritting her teeth, she sat back down. “Does your mom know you’re doing this?”

  She thought about lying, but that was the last thing Chloe needed right now. “Not at first, but now she does.” She didn’t miss the infinitesimal widening of Chloe’s lids.

  “Then why isn’t she here instead of you?”

  “I was afraid you’d leave if I brought her. Also she was dressed hideously. Can you run through what happened to you that night?”

  Chloe rubbed her brow, her gaze darting around the room, and Auri tensed, worried she’d realize they were surrounded by her mother’s deputies. “Are you going to tell your mom?”

  “Only if it’s okay with you.” The surprised look Chloe gave her caused hope to well in Auri’s chest. “And, for the record, we’re safe here, but Richard and Ricky have a really cool back room if you’d feel better talking in complete privacy.”

  After a quick shake of her head, Chloe said, “No, thanks. I want to see who drives by.”

  “I understand. Can I ask what you were doing, going up to Copper Canyon, if you were supposed to be on your way to prom?”

  Her lips flattened into a sad smile. “That’s the question, right? Would I have been found had things gone differently?”

  “Chloe, are you telling me the same person who hurt you is the one who hurt the woman they found?”

  She shook her head. “No one hurt me, Auri. I jumped out of that truck all on my lonesome, five-hundred-dollar prom dress and all.”

  Auri lunged forward. “You jumped?” she asked, her whisper rising an octave. “Wait, your dress cost five hundred dollars?”

  Chloe laughed at that. “It did and I did. Have you ever known something was off but you couldn’t put your finger on what?”

  “Several times.”

  “Well, there was just something … wrong that night. Something I felt like a punch to my gut. He said he wanted to make out before prom, but we were going up to the pass where there was nowhere to park. Not really. When I asked him about it, he got squirrely.” Her gaze slid away as she thought back to what had to have been a very traumatic night for her. “When I asked again, he got mad. He did that a lot. But this was different. This was … focused. He seemed very determined, like he was in another world. Like … like I wasn’t a person anymore.”

  Auri resisted the urge to shiver. “Chloe, who was it?”

  She shook her head. “No way am I telling you that, Auri, so you may as well stop while you’re ahead. This is all you’re getting.”

  “What happened next?” she asked, taking her advice.

  “I asked him to pull over. I told him I was going to be sick, but he wouldn’t. He said we were almost there.”

  “You were almost to the pass.”

  “Yes,” she said with a thoughtful nod. “I just thought, it’s now or never. I undid my seat belt and jumped when he had to slow down to take a curve.”

  “Chloe, those are hundred-foot drops up there.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said with a soft scoff. “But that’s how I got away. He thought I went over the side. By the time he got turned around, I’d ripped my dress off and thrown it down to the bottom.”

  “Even with a broken arm?”

  “How did you— Never mind. Yes, I broke my arm. But at least I was alive.”

  “Chloe, that is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard in my whole life.”

  She laughed and shook her head, her dark hair falling forward with the motion. “I was afraid for my life. There was nothing cool about it.”

  “We are going to have to agree to disagree. You are amazing. I don’t think I would’ve had the guts to do that.”

  Chloe flashed her a mischievous smile. “No, I think you would’ve tossed him out and taken the truck back to town without him.”

  Auri laughed.

  “I just can’t believe this.” She took another sip. “I’ve never told anyone, Auri. Not a soul. I was too scared it would get back to him.”

  “Thank you for telling me. You could be saving another girl’s life. Maybe lots of girls’ lives.”

  “If I’d come forward in the first place, maybe the girl they found in the canyon would never have been in that situation.”

  “You can’t think like that,” Auri said, wanting to take her hand. To reassure her. She held fast. Not everyone appreciated physical contact.

  Chloe slipped her a conspiratorial smile. “I’ll say this, he was more than a little surprised to see me at school the following Monday.”

  Auri gasped softly, in absolute awe of the guts this girl had. Since she was on a roll, she decided to go for the gold. She figured she had a 50/50 shot. Chloe could be talking about someone in the office or a counselor or, heck, even a custodian, but she took a chance with, “I bet. So, he’s a student?”

  Chloe’s smile went from conspiratorial to sly. She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing Auri as though she was impressed as well. “Fine. I’ll give you that one. Yes, but I’m not saying who.”

  Score. One more piece of the puzzle. “I understand. Thank you for that, but I have to ask. Did he confront you about that night?”

  “That’s the thing, Auri.” She leaned closer again.

  Auri followed suit, taking note of the fact that Chloe smelled like Obsession and cherry ChapStick.

  “He didn’t. He acted like nothing happened. Like we were best friends. It was so weird. No threats. No ultimatums. Just radio silence on the subject for a year.”

  “That is really strange,” Auri said, her brows cinching together.

  “Isn’t it? But I’m worried with that girl being found up there that—”

  “Maybe he’ll try to tie up loose ends.”

  “Yes.”

  “And that’s why you’re so jumpy.”

  “Can you blame me?” she asked, her question sincere.

  “Not even a little. Either way, you need to tell your parents.”

  She shook her head. “No. No way. Don’t get me wrong. My parents are the best, but telling them would only put them in danger.”

  “From a high school student?” Auri asked, astonished.

  “You don’t understand. His reach is long. And he’s about as crazy as they come if that night was any indication.”

  Auri started to ask her about the kid’s reach, but her gut told her not to. She was getting good intel. No need to bring it to a screeching halt just when things were getting good. “Did you see any signs leading up to that night?”

  “Besides the kink? No. But the kink was enough. I should’ve known better. He was like a matador with all the red flags he waved.”

  “The kink?” Auri lowered her voice. “What kink?”

  “Auri,” Chloe said with a soft grin, “there are some things you’re too young to hear.”

  “Chloe, my mom is a sheriff. I’ve heard it all.”

  “A bit jaded yourself, huh?” she asked almost sadly.

  “Maybe a bit.”

  Chloe took a moment to fill her lungs, then admitted, “He used to give me hickeys when we had sex.”

  “Oh,” Auri said, a bit let down.

  “On the insides of my thighs.”

  “Oh,” she repeated, only much more enthusiastically.

  “And a couple of times he bit me. Hard enough to leave bruises.”

  Auri sucked in a soft breath. “I’m sorry. That must’ve … Are you okay?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Chloe said, waving a dismissive hand. “I mean, that girl in the canyon got it a lot worse than I did. If he had anything to do with it, that is,” she quickly added. “Auri, this could all be a horrible coincidence. That’s another reason I just can’t say who it is. What if I’m wrong?”

  Auri leaned in and gave in to her baser urges by taking one of Chloe’s hands into both of hers. “What if you’re right?”

  “I’m sorry, Auri. I’ve said too much already.” She squeezed Auri’s hand, then withdrew her own before checking the time on her phone. “And we’re going to be late for class.”

  Auri tried not to be disappointed. “Thanks for meeting with me. Can I share this information with my mom?”

  “Yes,” Chloe said, raising her chin a notch. “It’s important.”

  “Thank you.”

  Chloe pointed to Auri’s head. “I heard about your concussion. That seems to happen to you a lot.”

  Auri straightened in her chair, her heart swelling with a triumphant kind of joy. “You remember?”

  She laughed softly. “How could I forget? I’ve envied that coppery hair of yours ever since.” When Auri smoothed her hair, basking in warmth of her idol’s praise, Chloe smiled graciously, and said, “I’ll leave first.” She stood, then added, “You’re pretty cool, Auri.”

  Auri felt tiny hearts burst out of her eyes as she watched Chloe leave.

  Poetry and Zee walked to her table.

  “You did good,” Poetry said.

  Zee nodded in agreement. “You’re a natural. You need a ride to school?”

  “My mom’s coming. She wants a report.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Her phone chimed with a text. “She just pulled up. Thanks for being here,” she said, grateful beyond measure.

  “You did fantastic,” her mom said when she got into the cruiser.

  “Thanks,” she said, plopping her backpack on the floorboard. “Wait, how do you know?”

  She tapped on her phone. “We were listening. We recorded the whole conversation.”

  Auri gaped at her for a very long time. When her mom pulled into traffic, she asked, “Why would you do that?”

  “Not for use in court, if that’s what you mean,” she said with a suspicious scoff. “I just wanted to hear what she had to say for myself.”

  “You should’ve told me. I feel like we violated her trust.”

  “The fact that we didn’t tell either one of you technically makes it illegal to use in court, hon. At least one party of a conversation must be privy to the fact that it is being recorded.”

  “I still would’ve liked to know.”

  “I know. We didn’t want to risk you feeling self-conscious and losing her.”

  Auri sank back into the seat and crossed her arms over her chest to give her mother visual confirmation of just how angry she was. But she wasn’t too angry to ask about Cruz. “Can we check on the boy I have wrapped around my finger before school?”

  “Only if you want to be really, really late.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  “I do, so, no.”

  “Man.” She uncrossed then recrossed her arms. That’d show her. Since the drive to school was, like, two minutes, she didn’t have a lot of time to pump her mother for info. She needed to work fast. “Since you heard anyway, is he our guy?”

  “He is most definitely our guy, and I hate to be the one to break it to you, bug, but if we don’t figure out who it is soon, I’m going to have to bring Chloe in and talk to her myself.”

  Auri straightened in the seat. “Mom, I promised!”

  “Auri, people’s lives are at stake.”

  “But no one has died.”

  Her mom pulled the cruiser up to the school, and said almost reluctantly, “Actually, that may not be true.”

  Taken aback, Auri stilled and let the words sink in before asking, “For real?”

  “For real, bug. At least we suspect. I’ll try to keep Chloe out of it, but if it comes down to the wire—”

  “I understand. I just hope I haven’t gotten someone else hurt.”

  Sun put the cruiser in park and then turned to offer her a smile like that of a coach whose team had come in dead last but they still won nifty participation trophies. “You said it yourself, that’s your specialty.”

  Auri patted her arm. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Just keeping it real, bug.”

  “And I appreciate it.” She didn’t, but who was she to argue with statistics?

  She bit her lip, wondering if she should tell her mom her latest plan or just give it a shot and, if it bore fruit, present the results to her afterward in a PowerPoint presentation complete with pie charts and sound effects. She decided on the latter. It probably wouldn’t work anyway, but if it did, if she could figure out who Chloe went to prom with, her mom would be able to get the scumbag off the vaguely mean streets of Del Sol.

  She crossed her fingers as she got out of the cruiser, tossing out a quick, “Love you, bye!”

  But she stopped short when she saw Principal Jacobs standing there waiting. She realized the tardy bell had already rung. She groaned. Not, like, aloud. It was more of an inward groan of despair as she waited for the lecture that was sure to come.

  “I got your message,” he said to her mom instead. “Here you go, Auri.” He handed her an excused tardy slip, and Auri resisted the urge to do a fist pump.

  “And as to the other thing, go right ahead.”

  Auri frowned and looked between the principal and her mom. “What other thing?”

  “Your mom wants to search my bushes,” he said, giving her mother a quick wink.

  Auri turned an astonished expression on her mom, leaned back into the cruiser, and asked in a harsh whisper, “Mother, is that a metaphor?”

  Her mom’s face flatlined. “No, bug.”

  “Oh, right!” she said when realization dawned. “The world’s tiniest boy band. Well, have fun.” She gave them a quick wave before hurrying off.

  17

  If your potted cactus died and you are literally

  less nurturing than the desert, we can help!

  —SIGN AT DEL SOL NURSERY

  After watching the redheaded Tasmanian devil tornado her way to class, Sun booked it over to Mr. Jacobs’s house to rummage through his bushes. Sure enough, she found not only a sewing tin—presumably Wanda’s—but some official papers, a man’s grooming kit, and an Elvis-shaped bottle opener. Either Mr. Jacobs was a pig, or those kids did indeed toss half of their take, probably figuring it wasn’t worth anything on the black market they were surely hooked up with. Them being criminal masterminds and all.