Harrowed (The Woodsview Murders #1)

Chapter Four

Despite Tommy's newfound title as lead suspect, Beatrice's candlelight vigil was going normally—or as normal as one could be. One hour in and Avery had several notes typed in her phone that could or could not ever add up to anything. She hadn't really gathered any leads other than Tommy, but she did get a text—and an angry one at that.

WHERE ARE YOU? YOU PROMISED YOU'D HELP. It was from Quinn. She'd gone into all caps mode.

Crap, crap, crap, Avery thought. Quinn was right. She'd completely ditched the tent and hadn't been back. She'd gotten too caught up in playing detective that it hadn't even occurred to her that she'd be missed. Then again, Quinn hadn't texted until just then so maybe she'd only just noticed.

Avery headed back to the far edge of the quad where the tent was set up. Quinn was there. The refreshment table was a success. The once full counter was now mostly empty.

"Hi," Avery greeted Quinn as she approached the stand.

Quinn answered silently, shooting her a dirty look. She laid out more plastic cups.

"What are you mad about? I'm here, aren't I?" Avery said exasperated. She pulled the zipper up higher on her jacket. The fall air was crisp and as time passed, the temperature dropped. Or perhaps it was the ice of Quinn's glare that had gotten to her.

"Your turn," Quinn huffed. She darted out from the tent before Avery could argue and disappeared into the crowd with her candle.

"Whatever," Avery grumbled. Didn't Quinn realize she had an obligation to answer the questions that were on everyone's mind? Questions like: What happened? Was it murder? Who did it? These were the questions that good journalists lived for.

She finished unpacking more plastic cups and filled them with water. There was a carton of lemonade on the side that she hadn't noticed before. She picked it up. It was ice cold. Avery figured that it must have been brought by one of the people who showed up.

The table that Avery and Garron had used for the candles was no longer a candle table. Instead, the table was overflowing with baked goods. It looked like most of the people who came to the vigil had brought something to share. Avery smiled at the generosity. People could be pretty great sometimes. She grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and finished filling as many cups as she could with lemonade before the carton was empty.

"Hey," a soft voice spoke.

She wheeled around and found herself staring into Jason's blue eyes.

"Hi." Suddenly, Avery felt shy. Though she'd known Jason for ages, it was as if they were in those first awkward weeks of dating. There were so many mixed messages between them, and last night had done nothing but confuse things even more. When she first kissed Jason, it felt right and it seemed like he had been just as lost in the moment as she was. That is, before he pulled away. She couldn't figure him out.

"You look nice," Jason said, low enough so that only she could hear.

Avery looked down. She was in her jeans, her dirty jeans that she hadn't washed in a few days. No make-up. She wasn't even sure she'd run a brush through her hair before tossing it into a ponytail and coming down to the school. She didn't look nice, not really. Not compliment nice. This was exactly the kind of mixed messages that sent half of her brain screaming in frustration, and the other half squealing in joy.

"Thanks. You do too," she mumbled back. Her eyes met with his electric blues. His eyes were a familiar ocean that she wanted to lose herself in forever. She hated that they were doing this awkward tango. She bit her lip before saying something that she knew she shouldn't. "I like that uniform on you. It's kinda...sexy."