The Outsiders?
He didn’t know who the Outsiders were or why he kept going back to them in his mind, but just the thought of Joan’s weird little prayer scroll made him uneasy.
Maybe she isn’t who she said she was.
Brian’s words to the detective came back to him, and while Gary didn’t want to give them any credence, he looked at the chaos before him and couldn’t help wondering if there wasn’t some truth there. If Joan was somehow involved with the type of people who would do something like this… He left the thought unfinished.
Should he inform the police?
Of course, he told himself. But instead he phoned Reyn, telling him first about the ransacked room, then about his trip to Joan’s parents’ house. “So what should I do? Call Williams?”
“I don’t know.” Reyn spoke cautiously. “I called the police this afternoon. Checked on the status of the case.”
“And?” Gary prompted.
“You know, I can’t find any trace of Joan online. She’s not even on my friends list anymore. She’s… nowhere.” There was a long pause. “The police still aren’t sure Joan is real. But Kara is definitely missing. And I have the feeling that we—you in particular—are ‘persons of interest.’ ”
“What did they say?”
“It’s what they didn’t say. I talked to Detective Williams. He asked me a lot of questions, didn’t give me many answers, and while he put on this nice-guy, I’m-on-your-side kind of act and was a lot friendlier than he was in Joan’s room, it definitely seemed like he was fishing. I got the feeling he was purposely keeping information from me, trying to lead me into a trap.”
Gary’s heart was pounding. “You think he knows what happened to Joan?”
“No. But Kara? Maybe. Something was sure as hell going on.”
Gary glanced around his room. “So do you think I should call him about the break-in here? Or at least let the campus police know?”
“It’s your call. But my suggestion would be to not tell them, to keep it quiet.”
“But they might find fingerprints, fingerprints they could track down. And this would show that both Joan and I have been targeted.”
“Or they’ll find no fingerprints. They’ll assume you did this yourself to deflect suspicion. And the fact that nothing’s been broken or stolen…”
“I see your point.”
“You’re in a no-win situation.”
Gary stared at his scattered belongings. “There might be a clue here, though.”
“Like I said, it’s your call.”
Gary took a deep breath. “Maybe I’ll ask about the status of the case, feel him out, see how it goes, then decide.”
“You know what?” Reyn said. “It’s no longer your call. I’m making the decision for you. Don’t do it. They’re suspicious already, and if you call up asking about it…” His voice trailed off.
Gary quickly thought it through. “And if they happen to ask where I was all day and find out that I wasn’t at my classes, and I can’t account for my whereabouts unless I tell them the truth—which is that I went up to visit Joan’s parents, who happen to be missing and have a dead dog stuck in their pet door halfway into their kitchen…”
Reyn gave a humorless chuckle. “You know how, in movies, characters can’t go to the police when a crime occurs because some ludicrous plot twist makes it seem like they’re guilty? And so the characters try to solve the crime and end up getting in even deeper shit?”
“That’s us.”
“That’s us,” Reyn agreed.
Gary was silent for a moment. “I’m tired,” he said finally. “I’m going to clean this place up. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Do you have any classes in the morning?”
“None I can’t miss.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you then.” Gary hung up the phone and looked around, wondering where he should start. He didn’t want to do this—there were other things he could be doing, should be doing—but he had no choice. Bending down, he picked up his laptop and put it back on his desk. He gathered up an armload of shirts.
Right now, he thought, the police were probably trying to build a case against him for Kara’s disappearance.
The other students in his dorm were studying or partying, hanging out or hooking up.
And Joan was still missing.
Seven
It was their first and only trip to the beach.
Reyn and Stacy were supposed to have come with them, but unbeknownst to Joan, Gary had called Reyn and asked him to find some legitimate-sounding way to cancel. He and Joan had been dating for only two weeks, and it was the perfect opportunity for him to spend a day alone with her. Reyn and Stacy had been happy to oblige, going instead to the farmers market and the Grove, leaving Gary free to take Joan to the beach by himself.
The first surprise was that she wore a bathing suit. After hearing about her upbringing, he’d assumed she’d be too uptight to be seen in anything that showed off her figure—he’d had her pegged as an oversized T-shirt girl—but she arrived at his dorm wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, and, once on the sand, stripped down to her suit. It wasn’t a string bikini or anything, just a simple peach one-piece, but it showed skin, and Gary was embarrassingly aroused just watching her pull down her shorts.
He spread out the blanket, purposely looking away, and crouched down, sorting through the contents of the ice chest until his arousal was no longer quite so conspicuous. He thought they’d just sit on the blanket, walk along the sand, sunbathe, read, drink, eat, talk, but she actually wanted to go in the water. He’d never swum in the ocean before and was a little wary of the waves, which from this angle looked pretty big and intimidating. But there were kids in the water, and moms, as well as the expected surfers and swimmers, and he and Joan stepped up to the wet sand at the shoreline, holding hands. The water was cold as it swept over their toes and feet, and they both instantly jumped backward, laughing. Gradually, however, one step and one wave at a time, they became used to the icy temperature, and, still holding hands, they ventured farther out into the surf, first ankle high, then knee high.
One wave, larger than the rest, broke closer to shore, almost upon them, and water rolled over their midsections, splashing as high as their chins. As the wave receded, Gary saw that Joan’s bathing suit had become see-through. It had been close to flesh-colored already, and now that it was wet, it looked as though it wasn’t there at all, the light, thin material revealing dark nipples and a black triangle of pubic hair. Even from this close, she appeared to be completely naked.
Joan did not seem to notice, but he knew that when she did she would be mortified. So he left her in the water, rushed back to their blanket, grabbed a towel and held it out to her as she confusedly walked out onto the sand. It wasn’t until she saw where he was looking and glanced down at herself that she saw what had happened. Immediately, she snatched the towel from his hands and wrapped it around herself, face reddening as her eyes scanned the beach to see if anyone else had noticed. No one had, and they walked back to the blanket without speaking.
Gary wondered if she wanted to go after that, but although she remained wrapped up, she made no mention of leaving. In fact, she acted as though it hadn’t happened at all, and while he tried to think of something to say that would break the tension, she casually asked him to hand her a can of Diet Dr Pepper. It wasn’t until later, after her bathing suit had dried and she’d taken off the towel, after they had strolled along the shore looking for shells, as they were eating their lunch of sandwiches and chips, that she said, “I didn’t know that would happen.”