Page 20 of Into the Dark, We Go

He looked at me, offered a small, inward smile, and shook his head.

"You could find out what happened to your mom," I baited. We needed him. His mother could be the missing link that would ultimately tie everything together.

"Alright," he agreed too easily. "You friends won’t mind?"

"Why would they?"

"Absolutely not,"Mitchell cut me off the next morning when I met them to tell them about my night’s adventures. "And seriously, Foster, what the fuck were you thinking, going to meet with a stranger alone? He could’ve murdered you!"

I gave a noncommittal wave of my hand, imagining he’d freak out if I told him how dating apps work. We all crammed into Mitchell’s hotel room, which was surprisingly tidy. He had even made his own bed while June and I left ours messy, our clothes and toiletries scattered all over.

"And he lied to us," June chimed in, immediately siding with her brother against me.

"He didn’t know who we were! All he knew was that his mom was killed, and then random strangers came knocking on his door. How would you feel in his shoes?" Frustrated with Mitchell’s sudden reluctance, I resorted to my mother’s guilt-tripping techniques. "And, by the way, we weren’t exactly forthcoming with him from the start."

"Wait, did you tell him anything else?"

"Yeah, everything." I flashed my palms up at their dropped jaws. "I know, I know, I will never make it as a spy."

Mitch rolled his eyes. "Good grief, Foster."

"How do we know he didn’t kill his mother himself?" June asked, playing with the trim on her Psycho T-shirt. "What if he’s a serial killer?"

I was running out of arguments, but deep down, I felt that Mitchell was just upset because I hadn’t included him when I went to talk to Nick, and June had simply sided with her brother out of loyalty.

To be fair, I had asked myself all the same questions, but Nick didn’t give off a serial killer vibe. And, for once, I trusted my instincts.

I sighed. "Well, if it helps, there are three of us and one of him. I’m pretty sure we can overpower him if it comes to that." I turned to Mitchell. "And didn’t you say that the more coincidences, the better our chances of solving this?"

June raised an eyebrow, taking on a judicial air. "You did say that."

"Alright," Mitchell reluctantly agreed, "But no more wandering off before checking with the team. This applies to everyone. Got it?"

I gave him a mock salute and sent a text to Nick, letting him know what time we’d pick him up.

June, however, wasn’t done. "But just to be clear, I don’t like him." The look she gave me was all-knowing.

"You don’t like me, either," I blurted, immediately regretting it.

But somehow, she seemed flattered and gave me a smile.

"At least we’ve now established you’re not a serial killer," she said.

"How can you tell?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Well, for one, serial killers are organized, and you travel with an Ikea bag."

7

Chapter Seven

September, 2018

We wereat my place after spending a lazy day together in bed, getting dressed to go out for dinner, when I asked Lucas, "When will you be back?"

Something had been bugging me about his camping trips, even though there hadn’t been any issues since the last incident. We had been together for two years, longer than most couples we knew. But lately, I was scared he was slipping away. He’d had one bad game a while back, and ever since, he hadn’t quite been himself. He was distant and evasive, disappearing on random weekends.

"I don’t know." He didn’t even turn to face me.