a deadly storm, an unsolved disappearance, and a small town brimming with secrecy;
an outcast girl, a boy who only knows how to hide, and the world against them;
what could go wrong?
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Harry, somehow in the business of always knowing when Boo needs him most, calls just as she reaches Tabitha. Boo fumbles to answer the phone through trembling hands.
"Harry," she cries breathlessly, pulling her car door shut.
"Hey, I'm sorry I've been M.I.A. since this morning," he begins bashfully.
"Never mind that," Boo says hurriedly, keeping her gaze to the window, where she can still see the stranger pacing angstily in front of the mausoleum as he shouts down the phone. "Remember the tape we found at Nana's?"
"Y-Yeah, of course," he answers, sounding confused. "Why?"
"I think I just found out who her other visitor was," she pants. "How fast can you get to the cemetery?"
« • »
"You're sure that's the man we heard?"
Boo bites another jagged piece of nail away from her thumb and flashes Harry a worrisome glance. "Never been more certain of anything."
Harry sighs heavily and turns his attention back to the mausoleum, where the stranger is still pacing out front. His phone call has since ended but his eyes are still glued to the phone in his hands; he hadn't noticed Harry park his car or sneak into Boo's, hadn't noticed the two of them sitting and spying for the last five minutes.
"Who is he?" Harry asks.
Boo shrugs. "No idea."
Harry turns to meet her eyes once more. "We should call Ashton. He needs to know."
She nods, not seeing any reason to argue. Ashton picks up after just two short rings of the phone.
"Miss Taylor, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he greets pleasantly.
"H-Hi, Ashton, I have a favor to ask," she stammers out, her words rushing out over one another due to the adrenaline spiking her blood. "You remember the tape I gave you?"
"Course I do," he answers, his voice going serious. "What about it?"
"Harry and I are at the Brookwood Cemetery, we think we just found the other person from the tape. Is there any way you can get over here?"
"Really?" Ashton hums, sounding intrigued. "As much as I'd love to, I'm afraid I won't be able to do anything except speak to whoever it is. But if you can get me a name, or even a license plate, I promise I'll look into it."
Boo knows he's right but she can't help the frustration that mounts inside. "Ashton, please, this guy was on a secret tape my nana recorded two weeks before she died, I know he had something to do with it. Or at least he knows something!"
"I'm sorry, Boo, but I have no evidence he's committed a crime. If you're right and he does have something to do with your grandmother's death, we want to make sure we nail him with something solid. If I arrest him now, he'll just be released and then he might skip town or do something worse."
