Page 110 of The Bright Lands

Kimbra’s silence over the last hour had spooked him. She was never away from her phone.

Jamal called her. It went to voice mail.

KT sounded stoned when he picked up Jamal’s call a minute later.

“Yo,” Jamal said, dialing down the end of the game on the car radio. “Where’s Kimbra?”

A long pause. “She’s supposed to be meeting me here.”

“After the game?”

“This afternoon.”

“Then where is she?” Jamal stared at the empty road. Mr. Irons gave him a curious look. “Bro, she was asking questions today about that place you and Dylan used to go.” Jamal paused. Why did the words frighten him so badly when they were poised on his lips? “The Bright Lands.”

After a long silence, KT said, “That was dumb of her.”

“She’s in trouble, ain’t she?” Jamal said.

Silence.

“Where are you now?”

“At home.”

“Stay there.”

Jamal lowered the phone. He choked on the smell of cinnamon cologne. Irons’s knuckles were almost white on the wheel. “Change of plans.”

“No,” the lawyer said.

“Please. My friend’s in trouble.”

“And you’re not?”

“Nobody will even know I’m in town. With the game—”

“You’re not that stupid, son. Don’t play me like I am, either.”

“Turn around.” Jamal swallowed, almost couldn’t believe what he was about to say. He felt, suddenly, that he had no choice. “Turn around or I’ll confess.”

“It wouldn’t stand up after we get the security footage.”

“You’re right, I’m not dumb. But if you think Mr. Tanner hasn’t found a way to get that footage deleted—”

Irons spun the wheel of the car. The Mercedes fishtailed as it turned its way back to Bentley.

A silent hour later, Irons slid to a halt outside the dark Staler house, idled with one foot on the brake and said, “Don’t do this, Reynolds. Please. If you get out of this car you’re on your own.”

Jamal tried to smile. “Thank you for the ride.”

Irons said nothing. The moment Jamal stepped out onto the cracked sidewalk, Mr. Irons’s Benz pulled away with a roar.

Jamal Reynolds, he thought to himself.You are a fucking idiot.

He started up the overgrown lawn toward the dark house, shivering in his leather jacket despite the warmth of the night. Before Jamal could make it to the front door, KT called from the backyard. “Around here.”

There was something broken in his voice.