Page 58 of Soul So Dark

Then he pauses, his eyes going darker as he speaks through clenched teeth.

“Just like what happened to Syd.”

???

The last time I was at Palomino Park was when I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the soccer team, walking in a straight line through the woods, searching for Evie.

Look up, look down, look side to side…

Now I’m back, in the same park, with the same people, searching for someone else. It looks much different than the last time we were here. It’s dark now, but people are still jogging the path with their dogs, teenagers are mingling around the picnic tables, and the skate park looks like a buzzing hive.

I thought it would be more deserted after what happened. But then again, Evie’s body wasn’t brought out of the park. We searched the park, but they brought her out of the woods days later, off Grisham Road. Nobody in Canaan or Hellbranch associates this park with anything nefarious.

Aiden parks his Lexus in the space between Mason’s Avalanche and Colson’s Civic. The guys are sitting on Mason’s tailgate, surveying the scene. As soon as we get out of the car and approach them, Aiden tips his chin, nodding at someone in the distance. I follow his line of sight to two guys sitting on top of a metal picnic table, shrouded in the shadow of a gnarly oak. They’re roughly the same size; stocky and wearing square-toe boots and camo hats, one with a messy bun pulled through the back.

“See? I told you,” Aiden chuckles as one of them raises an arm and waves to him.

For the record, I don’t know Brantley and Wesley Rhoden personally. None of us do except for Aiden, and the details of why are pretty murky. They live in Hellbranch, presumably out on the compound where their family’s airfield is. They’re probably here doing what they always do, which is recruit high schoolers because they either need the money or think that getting in with the Rhodens will give them some kind of clout. But Aiden doesn’t need money or clout, so he has different motives for being involved with them, which even I have yet to find out.

Mason, on the other hand, has his own reasons for the death stare he’s giving both of them right now, and that’s not a secret.

“Relax, Mase,” I give his elbow a nudge, startling him out of his trance, “they’re not the ones we’re here for.”

“Notyet,” he mumbles, casting them another loathsome glare.

“I don’t think you give Tyler enough credit,” Colson chimes in. “I don’t think she’s as innocent as you’re led to believe.”

A smile tugs at Mason’s mouth. “Iknowshe’s not. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to letthemcome near her ever again.”

“Driving Miss Daisy, over here,” Aiden mutters with a roll of his eyes.

“Leave him alone,” I wave Aiden off, “this is his entire excuse for driving her home from school every single day. It’s pretty genius.”

“Is that him?” Rory squints in the direction of the skate park.

We all turn, peering across the grass to scan the concrete obstacles. Two familiar figures stand just on the other side of the brick perimeter, illuminated underneath one of the light poles. Bowen and Jay linger there a bit longer before gliding back across the concrete.

Seconds later, we’re strolling across the grass toward the skate park. Everyone seems to pause, looking our way as six guys who no one knows make a show of jumping up onto the brick wall and taking a seat in a neat row to watch Bowen Garrison pop off a few tricks.

Our presence is stifling and unwelcome, as though they know we have more insidious reasons for being here. Scanning the rest of the scene, I spot Hildy and Hannah sitting on the wall around the curve next to another girl with long brown hair that I don’t recognize. Their eyes dart back and forth, eyeing us with both fear and contempt.

We sit in silence, just watching Bowen and Jay. So long, in fact, that the tension begins to fade and the normal sounds of the park resume. The dull roar of yelling, laughter, and the buzz of skateboards on the ramps lull everyone back to a false sense of security. But it only lasts a short time.

“You’re killingit, Bo!” Aiden’s voice cuts through the night air.

Bowen glances our direction, choosing to ignore him at first. Jay, however, has kept one eye on Aiden the entire time. He follows Bowen to the funbox, further away, saying something to him out of earshot. Bowen replies, and then jumps and slides down the rail on the other side.

“Yeahhh, Bo!Murder that rail!” Mason calls after them, eliciting more than a few chuckles from the rest of us.

But the next thing that comes out of Colson’s mouth gives us pause. To anyone else, it would seem benign, albeit out of place, but tonight, it’s a fucking declaration of war.

“My name is Colson and you know what I got?”

There’s a brief pause before Aiden answers. “What do you got?”

“I got a batter that’s hotter than hot…”

Then me. “How hot is hot?”