Chapter Twenty-Nine Naomi

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Naomi

January 2023, four months before her death

It’s Friday night, and I’m alone at my desk, researching the list of Greystone alumni involved in the Hunt scandal to see if any of them are connected to Lila Jones. I’ve started to grow paranoid that they’ll find out what we’re doing. That they’ll find a way to listen to our conversations. Zee is out, Amy is still not back, and I can’t do this anymore. I’ve been helping Amy all week, reading articles, talking to alumni under the pretense of “informational interviews,” and now my head hurts. An hour ago, I texted Liam asking if he wanted to get dinner, but he still hasn’t responded, so instead of waiting, I decide to go for a run.

—

Outside my dorm, the air is so cold I can see my breath, and several feet of snow blanket the ground. Trying not to think about the investigation, I focus on the blood pumping through my veins, the oxygen filling my lungs. I want to forget about everything, forget the article, and most of all, forget the fact I’d failed to do the one thing that might help Amy—talk to my sister.

—

This morning, I’d called Maya. I wanted so badly to ask her about Lila, but the question got caught in my throat. She’d refused to talk about Greystone for my entire life because she didn’t want me to be a part of her world, and because of this, I’d never told her I was in it myself. Why would she help me now?

Instead, I’d asked her if she was coming to the BAC show.

“Of course I am,” she said, somewhat defensively. I heard Dani and Nate in the background getting ready for school. “Why are you asking me that? I told you I was coming months ago.” I hated when she got like this. It probably came from all the times I’d asked her to come to things that she had to miss for one reason or another.

That’s when I got an idea.

I tried to sound relaxed. She could always pick up on even the subtlest tremor in my voice, and I wasn’t ready to deal with her questions. “It could be fun if you stayed afterward. The show ends at eight, but we could get a late dinner? Maybe you could even stay over in the dorms. Go out to the Street?” I thought about how she used to visit Margaret and John’s place over Thanksgiving after I moved in with them, how we’d have sleepovers in my room, and felt hopeful as I waited for her response.

But Maya said something to Nate or Dani, and I could tell she wasn’t listening. “Sorry, what was that? Dinner?”

“Yeah…” I wanted to say Listen to me! To tell her about the investigation. The break-in…See if she remembered anything about Lila. I had so many questions, and I knew that if I could just talk to my sister, this could all be solved.

But…what if she tried to stop me?

I could imagine the raised pitch, the alarm in her voice that I’d heard so often in the years after Mom died: What are you thinking? Why don’t you listen?

“Thanks for calling,” Maya said, interrupting my thoughts. “It’s always nice to hear from you.” Her tone was distant. Nate was saying something to her. It was my cue to let her go.

I sighed. “Yeah, you too. I’ll visit soon.”

“Will you?” Her voice lifted. “Dani’s been asking about you. She wants you to braid her hair again.”

“Yeah?”

“Every time we get a sitter, she whines and throws a fit when she finds out it’s not you.”

Of course she’d say that, because that’s all I am: my sister’s favorite sitter.

A new wave of panic hit me. What if Amy and I were getting ourselves into something we couldn’t get out of? “Hey, wait.” I wanted to tell her that I was scared. That I needed her help. I needed her here.

“Yeah?” She was listening now.

“No, nothing,” I said, my voice pinched. “I’ll tell you when I see you.”

“Okay…” Maya said. “And don’t forget about Cecily. She went out of her way to get you that Hunt internship. I know they’re having some difficulties right now, but you should reach out and tell her you appreciate everything she did to help you.”

“Right.” I closed my eyes. I still hadn’t told her I’d both gotten a job offer from Hunt and turned it down as soon as Liam told me about the Times investigation. Whatever was coming for the fund, I didn’t want to be a part of it.

Dani was crying in the background, and I heard some shuffling sounds on the other end of the line.

“Dani, stop,” she said to her daughter. Then to me: “I’ve got to go, Dani is having a meltdown. Talk soon.”

“Okay. Love you,” I replied, but she’d already hung up the phone.

—

Winded, I slow to a walk to catch my breath. the cold is making my lungs raw—maybe I’ve run enough for the day. Surrounded by mist and unable to see fifty feet in either direction, I suddenly feel nervous. The fog seems to have blocked the sun, closing in on me from all sides.

I’m heading back toward the university when I hear a rustling sound.

I stop, concentrating on the spot where I heard movement. My skin tingles with a horrible feeling. That feeling of certainty, that gut feeling you get when you know someone is watching. Following.

But no. I stare at the empty path. The leaves rustling in the breeze. No one is there.

I hadn’t been sleeping well lately. Ever since I’d begun helping Amy look into the murder. Was I being paranoid?

I’m staring at the empty dirt path, the thick foliage lining the lake’s edge, when a squirrel’s furry head pops out of the bushes and looks right at me.

A nervous laugh escapes my chest. Yep. Paranoid. Get a grip.

I run faster on the way back home, just in case. Overhead, the sky has grown dark. Long, twisting shadows dart in and out of my path, and tree branches reach across the sky like skeleton fingers. I’m slowing to a walk to catch my breath when I hear another sound behind me. Footsteps.

I whip around, my heart lurching with fresh panic— that was not an animal—but when I look behind, no one is there. Nothing but a thick haze.

It’s nothing, I convince myself. Just go home.

But when I’m nearing the bridge, I get the unnerving sense that someone is behind me, their breath tracing the back of my neck. I reach up and touch the skin, shuddering.

I walk faster, but there it is again. The crunch of boots over icy ground. I pause. The footsteps stop too.

I consider my options: I could scream for help, but there’s no one out here. Or I could run. I’m not that far now. Yes. I could run. Or…I could see what he wants.

I turn slowly. Behind me, I think a figure stands in the path, hidden in shadow.

“Hey!” I shout, but before I can get a good look, they slip off the trail. Are they on to us? Have they been following Amy too? What exactly do they want from me? Not wanting to find out, I break into a sprint back toward campus.

After catching my breath, I look back the way I came, unsettled, and wonder if I’d imagined the whole thing.