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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

TATE

Day of Disappearance

I’m itching to check my phone, though it’s still at the office. This time I tucked it into my desk drawer, so Dustin won’t find it.

“We have to move the body,” Dakota says, drawing me out of my thoughts as he picks at the fries on his plate.

It’s the most ridiculous plan I’ve ever heard. “Are you kidding me?”

“If someone knows what we did, if Aaron snitches, if the cops come around asking questions, we have to be able to deny it. If he can point the police right to the body, how on earth are we going to do that?”

“It’s been more than twelve years. How much of a body would even be left?”

“Enough to send you to prison.” His voice is firm and matter-of-fact. It sends chills down my spine.

“How would we even get on to campus without anyone noticing? And then dig up a grave? It’s impossible. No. No way. It’s too risky.”

He dips a fry in ketchup and pops it into his mouth. “Leaving it where we left it, where other people know where it is, is too risky. Anything else is playing it safe.”

I scowl at him, my gaze searing into his. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you wanted me to get caught. That you’re trying to set me up.”

He laughs, rolling his eyes. “Dude, I’m literally offering to help you. I don’t know what else you want from me.”

“Why are you trying to help me?” I ask. “We both know it’s not out of the kindness of your heart.”

He has the decency not to look offended as he says, “I’ve moved on from everything that happened back then. I’ve tried to forget it and build a good life. From what I can tell, you have too. I’ve been the one trying to get us back together. We were friends, and maybe the rest of you don’t care, but I do. That night doesn’t ruin all the rest of it, does it?”

“Of course it does.” I drop my hands flat on the table. “Of course it does. I can’t just pretend it didn’t happen.”

“Fine.” He’s angry now, but so am I. We’re just too different. We always have been. “But either way, we’re in this together. And the only way we can be sure we can leave this behind is if we move the body and hide any last evidence. If whoever is behind all of this doesn’t know where the body is, they have no proof of anything. Just their word against ours.” I know he means Aaron, know he still thinks this is all his doing, but I don’t. I still can’t believe Aaron would do anything like this. I can’t believe he’d kill Bradley, that he’d follow and try to scare Dakota. He may be afraid, but he isn’t a monster. Once, we were his brothers. Even after all this time, that means something.

But either way, and regardless of how I feel, Dakota is right. The only way to know for sure we’re safe, is to get rid of any evidence that could be used against us.

“Okay, I have a plan.”

He leans forward. “Hit me with it.”

“We’re going to swap vehicles,” I tell him.

Apprehensively, he shakes his head. “What are you talking about? Why?”

“Because you’re being followed,” I remind him. “If we take your truck there, someone could follow us and see what we’re doing.”

A muscle in his jaw twitches. “So we’ll take your car and leave my truck in a parking lot somewhere.”

“No. It’s too risky. What if someone sees us both get into my car?”

He leans forward against the table, pinning me with a hard stare. “What if someone sees us swapping cars? It’s the same amount of risk.”

I gesture toward his head. “Give me your hat, then. You’re shorter and your hair’s a different cut, but we’ll cover the hair up with a hat and move quickly. From a distance, I can probably pass as you.”

“Only if you’ve gained forty pounds since we came in here.” He’s staring at me strangely, not sold on the idea, but he isn’t completely shutting it down anymore. I can sell this if I work hard enough.

“It’ll be okay. This is the best way to get this done. I’ll take your truck and drive around, distract whoever is following you. You take my car and go to campus. I’ll keep whoever it is distracted, and you can move the body.”

“Why can’t we just keep our own cars, and you move the body?”

Because I don’t totally trust you.

Because I don’t want to be involved.

“Because you’re stronger than I am, first of all. You’ll be able to get it done faster, and also because I want to see the person who’s following you. If you want me to believe that’s happening, I need to see it. And if you want me to trust that you’re truly trying to help me and not set me up, you need to be the one who moves it. It was your idea.”

His gaze narrows at me. “How do I know you won’t be setting me up?”

Thinking quickly, I say, “How do you want me to prove it?”

He’s always been easily manipulated. I just have to hope he makes this easy on us both. There’s no way I’m going anywhere near that body ever again.

He thinks for a moment, chewing on the inside of his lip as his eyes search the room. Finally, he lights up. “I want your phone. And your wallet.”

“What for?”

“So I have proof you’re coming back for me. If the police catch me out there, I have proof we were working together. I’ll say you were just here and ran off.” He tilts his head to the side, challenging me. “If you’re not setting me up, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You don’t need my wallet and phone. This was your plan, and this is the only way to get it done. And we can’t trust Aaron, or I’d ask him to drive your truck so I could come help you. If you think moving the body is the best way, this is our only chance. Besides, my phone is back at the office.”

“So, we’ll go and get it. I’m not doing this without some sort of show of faith. Your wallet and phone, or no deal.”

I sigh. I have no idea how I’m going to explain a trip to my old college in our location app to Celine, but that’s a problem for later.

“Fine. Whatever. Deal.”

A beat passes, and finally, a smile cracks across his lips and he holds out his hand. “Don’t fuck me on this, brother.”

I dip my head down, taking his hand and shaking it over the table. “Come on. You know me better than that.”