Page 72 of Dying to Meet You

How often do we get the mail?

Every workday, because the mailman drops it through the front door.

Did both of us touch the envelope?

Probably.

“Do you happen to have a sample of your ex’s handwriting?” Fry asks me.

“Why?” Beatrice demands. “A dead man didn’t write that.”

My head throbs. “He means my other ex. Natalie’s father is back in town.”

“Oh,” Beatrice says softly.

I think about it for a second. “No, I can’t think of anything I kept that he wrote. Except...” I feel the first hint of relief since opening the envelope. “He never made many written notes. Harrison is severely dyslexic.”

“Huh,” says the cop with a frown. “All right. You’ll tell us if anything else turns up?”

“Of course,” Beatrice says.

Then Fry takes his leave, wearing a grim expression. Although I think the scowl is standard on that model.

“Unhelpful as usual,” Beatrice grumbles after she shows him out.“This is a damn disaster. I was still holding out hope that the killing was just a robbery gone wrong.”

I put my head in my hands. “So was I.”

“Is Natalie’s dad really back? How do you know?”

I drain my coffee. “Nowthere’sa story.”

26

Natalie

Natalie reads the latest news story a second time just to make sure she didn’t misunderstand.

The PPD has revealed the location of the dumpster where the weapon was found—behind Mick’s Rock Café on Congress Street. Police are still searching for anyone who witnessed the disposal of a gun on or after the night of June 6.

Mick’s Rock Café is an over-twenty-one venue on the west side of town. That’s where her father had played on the night of Tim’s murder. She knows this firsthand, because she tried to get into the club that night, even after he told her she couldn’t attend.

It didn’t work. The bouncer turned her away at the door, and she’d gone back to Tessa’s house.

The gun was found behindMick’s?

She feels sick. Although a hundred people must have seen her dad on that stage with his bass. He wouldn’t be able to play a gig and shoot a guy at the same time.

Except bands take breaks, and the club is on the same side of town as the mansion.

She rubs her bare arms, which are suddenly cold in the school library’s air-conditioning. There’s only fifteen minutes until she has to take her next exam.

Any other week, she would have been outside in the sunshine with her friends. Tessa is out there with a handful of other kids from her class. The problem is they all know what happened last night, judging by the stares she received first thing this morning when her eyes were still gritty from crying.

“Are youokay?” Tessa had asked.

“Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” she’d lied. Because you can’t show fear. Not even to your best friend.

The dumbest part is that she’d brought Tessa along for the express purpose of telling people about their trip to hear her dad’s band. It was supposed to be Natalie’s only badass moment, like,ever. Because nobody else’s dad looks like Harrison or plays the bass.