Page 49 of What Happened to Lucy Vale

Five

Rachel

J oaquin Turner, the swimmer from Jalliscoe who’d been questioned by Rockland County deputies after Nina Faraday disappeared, now lived in Ohio. According to his LinkedIn page, he was a middle school math teacher and curriculum expert.

After a bit of prodding, he agreed to speak to Rachel on the phone.

“We were just friends,” he said almost immediately, as soon as the conversation turned to Nina. Even now, sixteen years later, he sounded exhausted by the topic. “We hung out a few times. That was it. Nina was off-limits.”

It was just after nine o’clock on a Friday. Rachel was alone in the house; Lucy had packed off to the Winters Dance. Rachel could hear the clamor of Joaquin’s kids in the background. “Off-limits how?” she asked. “Because of Tommy Swift?”

“Because of all of them.” Joaquin sighed. “Look, I really didn’t know Nina very well. After a few months, she told me that Steeler didn’t want us talking anymore.”

“Coach Steeler?” Rachel was startled. Immediately she felt uneasy. “How did Coach Steeler find out that you two were friends?”

“Oh, he knew everything about everybody. Nina told me Steeler was the reason Tommy dumped her in the first place. He thought she was a distraction. You’ve gotta understand, someone like Tommy was around Steeler more than his own parents.

Nina too. She hung around practices, even tried to sneak onto the team bus to ride to meets sometimes. All those girls did.”

“So what did Steeler think? That Nina was passing on trade secrets?”

“Don’t know,” Joaquin said. “That was the last I ever talked to her. After that, she ghosted.”

The word “ghosted” touched off a shiver in Rachel’s spine. She turned on a light, suddenly aware of the way that the house was accumulating shadows, pooling them in every corner.

“What was Nina like?” she asked. Reading about Nina Faraday in old Rockland and Willard County newspapers was like reading about two different people.

In Rockland County, Nina was flunking biology, on medication for anxiety and depression, an attention-seeker, once suspended for having alcohol at a school event.

In Willard County, she was a member of her church youth group, a talented cheerleader, and third-place winner of a state-sponsored writing competition.

“I don’t know,” Joaquin said. “She was just ... normal. We liked the same kinds of movies. That’s how we first started talking. I was between heats, and she complimented my Harry Potter T-shirt.”

“Did Nina ever talk about other guys with you?” Rachel asked.

Joaquin chuckled. “She talked about plenty of guys. She knew all the team gossip. I remember she told me that one of Tommy’s teammates got some girl pregnant, and Steeler paid for an abortion. That really bothered her. Nina was Catholic.”

Rachel thought, fleetingly, of Coach Jack Vernon. He’d been Tommy’s teammate—and one of Steeler’s favorites. “What about boyfriends?” Rachel asked. “Did she ever talk about hooking up with anyone? Guys who she liked, or guys who liked her?”

“Not to me,” Joaquin said. Rachel could hear the shrug in his voice.

“To be honest, I kind of figured she was just using me to make Tommy jealous. The last time we hung out, she had a new bracelet. Like a tennis bracelet but with lots of little jewels in it. She said it was a present but wouldn’t say from who.

I figured Tommy gave it to her. That’s why when she told me Steeler didn’t want us talking anymore, it seemed more like an excuse. ”

“What about Nina’s mom?” Rachel switched tactics. “Did Nina ever complain about her?”

“Oh, yeah. All the time. Nina’s mom was intense. She hated Tommy Swift. Nina was always getting grounded for hanging out with him. Ms. Faraday went through Nina’s phone to make sure they weren’t talking. It drove Nina crazy. She told me she thought about running away sometimes.”

A spark of energy lit up Rachel’s chest. “She told you that?”

“I didn’t take it seriously. Nina was too smart to do something that stupid. Besides, deep down, I think she knew her mom was right.”

“What do you mean?” Rachel said. “Right about what?”

“Like I said.” Joaquin sighed. “She hated Tommy Swift.”