Page 16 of A Sublime Casualt

“No way. Lizzy wasn’t sharing that with no one. She got caught, though.” He sits up straight while craning his neck at a few boys catching air on the half-pipe. “Good job,” he howls and whistles so loud my eardrum sizzles.

I’m losing him.

“May I ask what she was doing?”

“Aw, Lizzy? Nothing bad. Just you know. Underwear shots. Tits out. No one was getting hurt. It’s still up there.” He motions to the sky. “You can’t get rid of that once it’s out. The dirty dudes loved it.” He starts rocking at a manic pace, his eyes still glued on the legion of boys putting on a show.

“Nude pictures,” I whisper, trying to process it. Up there as in the internet?

“Nope. Never nude. Those dudes wanted to be teased. Little did they know they had an expert on their hands.”

“Who werethey?”

Miles lets out an arduous yawn, his mouth stretching wide as an elevator. “I don’t know, man. But she got what she wanted, lots of green, and I don’t mean this.” He rolls the joint between his fingers. I bet his kisses taste like fresh dog shit. His brain has clearly left the building. Maybe it’s time to get down to brass tacks.

“What do you think she was doing with you?” It’s as close as I’ll get to asking what the appeal was because frankly I don’t see it.

“Me? Lizzy and I have known each other for years. I went to Wriggly High. She was at Wakefield. She’d make the trek across town because I had the good stuff.” His fingers unfurl, revealing the stubby white doobie before concealing it again with the lithe ease of a magician.

And just like that, it hits me. “You were her dealer. It all makes sense.”

“You got it. She cozied up for the goods.” He sniffs the air with pride, and his beard bounces. Everything about him reeks two steps from homelessness. But apparently, Lizzy had her financial challenges, too. I guess if you’re not budgeting your paychecks, you end up rolling them up and smoking them. Before long you have to do a little quasi-nude modeling to make the joint ends meet.

“So, the day she disappeared, where were you?”

“Who the hell remembers? I was at home.” His shoulders jump. “It was my day off, and that’s all I got.”

He’s lying. My bullshit meter just jumped into the stratosphere. It takes a bullshitter to know one.

I take a deep breath and catch the clean scent of jasmine bushes doing their best to clear the air.

“You’re a smart, down-to-earth guy.” Roll him in butter. “Who do you think took her, Miles?”

His lips pull into a straight line, his eyes averting to the sky. “If I had to guess—God, it could be anyone. The dirty dudes for sure. Maybe that nutcase that came after her. She was seeing someone. He could have done it.”

“Seeing someone? One of the dirty dudes?”

“One of them for sure. But she kept him hidden from me. I was cool with it.” He shrugs it off. “We were open. She wouldn’t bring him around, though.”

“How long would you say she was seeing him?”

“Month? Two? I don’t really know. Lizzy loved her secrets.”

“How about Thomas? She ever talk about him?”

“Thomas.” His entire body goes slack, typical theatrics of a thirteen-year-old boy. “The dude is miserable without her. It’ll probably kill him. She knew it, and she loved it. That girl was vicious.”

“Why? Why did she leave him?” My entire body shakes at the prospect of gleaning yet another bit of vital information.

He shakes his head, those crystal eyes of his locked over mine. “Ask me something else.”

Thomas is a no-fly zone. Interesting. Maybe he doesn’t know enough? Lizzy did love her secrets, he said so himself. Maybe he knows too much, but then he didn’t list Thomas as a person of interest. Or Ashley—and I still haven’t ruled her out.

“Is she really sending you messages from the grave?”

“Yes.” He doesn’t miss a beat. “Look.” He pulls out his phone and takes me straight to them. Lizzy’s avatar is cute—her hair in a fuzzy ponytail, her nose wrinkled hard, two fingers in the air making a peace sign. Huh. I guess they have that in common. I remember seeing it in him. “There.” He hands his phone over.

It’s a direct message.It’s so hot. So very hot! Help me Miles! Tell my family I’m suffering. I die every day here. They’re hurting me. So much pain. So very cold. Tell my mother. Tell my brother.