Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Apparently, I am pretty low down on the list of people who knew Brandi Healey.

I spend the entire morning at school listening to names called out over the loudspeaker. The first twenty names or so are Brandi's friends. She sure had a lot of them. And then some of the guys in our class who were spotted in a liplock with Brandi at one time or another.

By the time I hear the name Thomas Brewer called over the loudspeaker, it's late morning and I've worked myself into a complete panic. I'm so freaked out that I can barely manage to get out of my seat, and I nearly trip over my own two feet on the way to the door.

"Are you okay, Tom?" Mrs. Anthony, our English teacher, asks me.

Before I can answer, a kid in the back of the room blurts out, "He's just scared Daisy will think he was dating Brandi on the side."

And then a bunch of assholes next to him start laughing. If they think it's funny to joke about it, that means nobody thinks I was dating her. So maybe I'm working myself up over nothing.

Between the door of my third-floor English classroom and the principal's office on the first floor, I almost manage to convince myself that I have nothing to be worried about. I practice a confident, easy smile that I plan to use when I talk to the police officer. This is not a big deal. They've already talked to at least two dozen kids. I'm just one of many.

But then when I see Chief Driscoll sitting in the principal's office, his large body stuffed into the wooden chair, all my confidence flies out the window. I had no idea Daisy's father was going to be the one questioning me. As much as I'm intimidated by my father, I'm much more terrified of the police chief. Being interrogated by Chief Driscoll is my worst nightmare.

No, he's not interrogating me. He's just going to ask a few questions. I need to calm down.

Calm down for Christ's sake, Tom!

Chief Driscoll smiles when he sees me in the doorway. Instinctively, I freeze, and he waves a large hand to usher me into the room. He points at the small wooden chair in front of the principal's desk. "Hi, Tom," he booms. "Have a seat."

I don't so much sit in the chair as I collapse into it, my legs unable to hold me up.

"Hello, sir," I say, keeping my voice slow and respectful.

"Now, Tom," the smile vanishes from his face and his expression turns grim, "do you know why we called you in here?"

"I…I heard about Brandi."

He nods. "Terrible stuff. Truly terrible. And we need to catch the monster who did this to her."

"Right. Of course."

"So…" He rubs his big, thick hands together. My own hands are covered in sweat. "I hear you used to tutor Brandi in math?"

"Yes, just for a few months. And honestly, she skipped a lot of the sessions."

That's not entirely true. Brandi never skipped our sessions. I don't want to miss out on seeing you, Tom.

"How well did you know her?" the chief asks.

"Not very well."

"Uh-huh." He rubs at the slight stubble on his chin, even though I suspect he shaved this morning. "Do you know if she had a boyfriend?"

"A boyfriend?"

One corner of his lips quirks up. "She told some of her close friends that she had a crush on a boy in your class, but she didn't say who it was. It sounded like he liked her too. And according to a couple of her friends, she and the boy had plans to meet the night she disappeared. But like I said, we don't know who it was."

I fight to keep my voice even. "I have no idea, sir. I was just the dorky kid tutoring her in math. It's not like she would have confided in me."

"Right. I guess not." He sighs and leans back in his chair, which lets out a scary sounding groan. "Such a terrible thing about Brandi. Makes me want to keep Daisy under lock and key."

I nod, trying to look sympathetic.

"Of course, I trust you , Tom." He manages a smile. "I said to Helen last night, ‘Thank God Daisy is with Tom and not one of those other wild boys. He's one of the good ones.'"

I try to swallow, but it feels like my throat has closed off. "Thank you, sir."

"When are you coming over for dinner, by the way?" he asks. "My wife keeps asking me."

The dinner invitation calms me down. If he suspected me of anything, he wouldn't be inviting me to his house for dinner. Or would he? I don't know for sure, but he definitely wouldn't be okay with me hanging out with his only daughter.

I'm safe. For now. But if he finds out…

"Let me ask my mother if it's okay," I say. "But, um, yeah. That would be great."

I will never, ever come to his house for dinner.