Page 38 of Watch Me Burn
Something in Anna’s body tensed.
“Yeah, you are,” she grumbled after a long pause. I couldn’t understand why she said that so seriously, as I was kidding.
We got into my car and headed for her mom’s. Along the way, she dialed her brother’s number. I listened in on their call to see whether there’d be any new information.
“Hey, Nathan. Ethan and I were just meeting an old friend of Dad’s. Actually, you might remember Mr. Lautner. Yeah, the guy that always sweats. Anyways, we pretty much ran into a dead end.” Anna sighed. Her brother took some time before responding.
“I remember good ol’ sweaty Lautner. Looking back, it was pretty cruel to tease him for that. Kids can be assholes. What did he say?”
“He was talking about Dad traveling to Florida.”
“I remember that. He got me a magnet for the fridge.”
I butted in. “So you remember him going there?”
Nathan reluctantly replied, “ . . . Yeah. I . . . do.”
Why was his response so hesitant?
“Nathan,” I said, glancing at Anna, “do you remember any rumors about that Florida trip? Anything at all?”
Silence.
“I mean,” I said, “Mr. Lautner was talking about some female students talking about it, and one of them was crying.”
Anna propped her phone up in the middle of the car so we could both hear Nathan’s answers on the speaker.
“No. I had no idea,” Nathan admitted. A bit aggressively, compared to his other answers. “I was so busy with my grades to prepare for med school. The last two years of high school are crucial for admissions to college.”
Anna nodded. “He studied a lot and had only a few friends,” she leaned over to whisper into my ear.
Nathan had been seriously open with our investigation, but time in the slammer had made me a pro at spotting sketchy vibes. His weird silence and voice change was kind of . . . strange.
“So, you got no memory of rumors about the Florida trip or anything that could explain why the girls freaked out?” I asked.
“Like I said, I was living in my own bubble back then. Barely saw my dad at school. I’d catch up with him at dinner, same as Anna,” he replied.
Catching my look, Anna cut through the awkward silence. “Thanks for your help, Nathan. We’ll touch base soon.”
They traded quick goodbyes and she hung up the call.
“I can’t believe it,” I grumbled, sliding my car into a spot down the block from Anna’s mom’s house. Anna stayed quiet as I turned off the engine.
“Nathan gave us zilch,” I said, “and who knows if we’ll ever find anyone in the faculty as tight with your dad as Mr. Lautner.”
Anna chewed on her lip. “Maybe he made up the stuff about the girls crying. Or he heard something else not related to Florida.”
I raised an eyebrow. “The bit about the girl and Florida felt real to me. I can’t shake the vibe that he’s keeping something under wraps.”
“I felt that weirdness about him too. Something’s off here.”
Anna darted out and back quickly with the necklace.
“Got lucky. My mom was in the yard with a bush, so I could sneak in.”
She held up the shell necklace like it was a cool find, then clutched it briefly to her chest.
“I liked this necklace, but Dad got much fancier ones, so I didn’t wear it as much.”
