Chapter 7
Without saying a word Courtney hang up the phone and grabbed Duncan's hand. She pulled him behind her to the foyer. She snatched her keys from the glass tray that was placed on the front door's table before she rushed both of them to the garage and to her car.
Rain from the dark clouds that moved over Grand Musko had finally fallen. It was harsh and Courtney could barely see out the front window as she drove out of her driveway.
Her hands gripped the steering wheel as she let out a deep breath. She was about to do something that she had never done in her life. Speed.
50. 60. 70. 80. She wasn't even looking at the speedometer as she went down the main street of their town.
The car weaved around the other vehicles in front of it. Duncan didn't say anything. His mind spiraled out of control. His only focus was to get to the hospital, and Courtney was going to take him there. She would risk getting in trouble with local law enforcement.
They were stopped by a car that had blocked the entrance to the hospital. There was no waiting anymore. Duncan opened his car door and dashed for the entrance. Courtney called out for him. He didn't hear her over the rain and his own fixation on getting inside.
The rain had soaked him to the bone, but Duncan didn't care. He rushed to the emergency room. His voice was loud as he demanded to know where his father was. The receptionist, who dealt with this more than once, remained calm as she told him that his father was put into a room for observation. She couldn't finish her sentence, Duncan was already gone.
He raced down the hall, shoving doctors and nurses to the side if they got in his way. Room 610. The room's door was open. His wet shoes slid over the white floor which caused him to almost fall over. His hand gripped the base of the door as he steadied himself.
There, in the bed was his dad. Tubes covered his face. His mouth, his nose, his arms. His face was covered in bandages and if it wasn't for the receptionist he wouldn't even know that it was Michael Murphy.
His heart heavy and his legs weak he stumbled to the front of the bed. His hands held the footboard's railing of the hospital bed. When did this happen? How long was his Ma trying to reach him? When they were eating lunch? Or when they were in the woods searching? Maybe even on the ride back in Trent's truck.
His legs gave out and he fell to his knees. His left hand still held the footboard's railing, his other limp on the ground beside him. His head rested on the footboard as he ran over what the accident looked like. Over and over, different scenes played.
What was the last thing he said to his dad? He remembered that morning before he went to Courtney's. His dad was drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. 'Where are you going?' asked his dad.
'None of your business, pig.' He had replied before leaving the house.
Footsteps rushed into the room, and a gentle hand touched his shoulder. "Duncan, you're soaked."
He looked up at the person. It was his mom. She looked tired and close to breaking.
"It's raining." He mumbled as his mother tried to dry him off with some of the tissues from the room.
"Ed took Coby to the cafeteria for dinner." She told him as she continued to fuss with his hair. Her voice broke as she asked, "Where were you, I've been trying to get a hold of you for hours."
"Sorry, Ma, I was hanging out with the gang." He told her.
Some black strands of hair clung to his face. He wiped them back as he composed himself. He wanted his mom to only worry about his dad, no reason for her to worry about him, too.
"What happened?"
"There was an accident." A new voice came.
Duncan and Sarah looked over to see Clifton Brown, Michael Murphy's partner at the station.
"No shit!" Duncan snapped.
Clifton looked unfazed, but Sarah gave her son a soft warning. "Duncan, language."
"It was a hit and run at the four-way stop near Greywood park. He was T-boned and the driver's side was smashed into a pole. Witnesses said that the car ran a red light." He told him.
Clifton sighed before he confessed. "However, we haven't been able to find the man who did it. But I promise you that I'm looking into it. I will take care of this, personally."
"So he's still out there?" Duncan yelled at him.
His mother couldn't hold him back. He slipped from her gentle grasp and stalked to the door.
He roughly shoulder-checked Clifton before he ran down the hall again.
He felt rage bubble inside him. He wanted to run outside and scream. To let out a primal yell of aggression before he went out to find who did this to his dad. What coward just hits someone and runs away?
He couldn't wait outside, he needed to let out his aggression. Now. He opened the door closest to him. He didn't care if it led to a closet, office, or a patient's room. He was going to destroy whatever was near him.
Lucky for him behind the door was a supply closet. The light only gave off a soft glow to the room. It was filled with a mop, tongue depressors, toilet paper, towels, and all those little things that a hospital needed. He reached out and grabbed a box filled with something and threw it at the wall. He grabbed something else and started to just make a mess of the supply closet. Things were torn and thrown.
"Duncan?"
Light from the outside flooded in. It was Courtney. She gave him sympathetic, but worried eyes. Quickly, the door was shut behind her as she walked into the closet.
"What are you doing?"
"Breaking, things, what's it look like?" He grumbled.
"Why?"
"Why you ask?" He let out a mocking laugh. "Well let's see some ass hit my dad. We don't know who it is, by the way. Oh! And let's not forget my dear ol' dad's probably going to die!"
He snatched the wooden mop from the wall and lifted it up and slammed it against his bent leg. It hurt. He held the two pieces of the splintered wood in each hand. He stubbled, his back hit the wall. He slowly slid down it. He felt so drained, his breathing labored as he tried to calm himself down. He didn't like Courtney seeing him like this. So pathetic.
She didn't say anything and walked in front of him and sat on her knees. He rubbed his face, he didn't even notice some tears of anger had fallen down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away with the palms of his hands.
"This fucking sucks!" He shouted.
Courtney didn't flinch. She reached her hand out and gently wiped some of the wet strands of black hair away from his face.
"I know."
God. Her voice was so soft. It didn't hold pity, but understanding. Her touch felt nice against him. He closed his eyes and focused on the feel of her gentle strokes, he needed to calm down. For Courtney and for himself.
Soft lips touched his forehead. Eye's snapped open to see Courtney as she pulled away from him. She must have misunderstood the look he gave her because she quickly became flustered.
"Sorry! It's just something my mother would do when I was upset so I.." Her panicked voice trailed off at the look Duncan gave her.
His left hand reached up and touched the back of her neck. He gently pulled her back to him. His lips pressed against hers.
Duncan didn't like the taste of strawberries, but her scented lip balm was like tasting Heaven itself and he loved it. He loved her. He loved how she looked out for him, cared for him, everything.
Her lips left him, but she didn't. Her forehead rested against his. The two sat in the closet as they tried to regain their breathing.
"Sorry," He confessed, his eyes still closed as he focused on calming himself down. "Know you wanted to hold off on that stuff until after everything but I couldn't help myself."
Courtney pulled away from him and looked at his face. She took his hand that still rested on her neck and looked at it.
"It's okay." She told him, her brown eyes inspecting the palm of his hand. "Hey, um, can I ask you a question?"
Duncan noticed the tone in her voice. It wasn't calm like before. She was uncomfortable; hesitation in her words. He wrapped his hand around her own that was messing with his.
"Go for it."
"You know how you thought Grant's death wasn't a suicide? What if your dad thought the same thing? He might have been too close to the truth that the killer might have.. But then again Ted did warn me that there were reports of a tourist who did a hit and run early today." She told him. Her voice showed the doubted herself.
He gave her hand a light squeeze as he replied. "Who knows. It's a possibility that the hit and run was made by the same guy who got to my old man. Let's say it was by the killer, he could have done the first to make it look like a regular type of accident, so it wouldn't be so out of character for another tourist to hit and run."
"If that's the case then I think it would be best to drop the Grant case for now."
He let go of her hand and glared at her. "Hell no!"
"Duncan," She reached out and cradled his face in her hands. Her voice was soft as she tried to reason with him. "If he finds out that you are also looking into it then that means he can and will come after you. I'm not saying to drop it forever, just for a while. Two days, I don't care, but you have to be careful.. For me, please?"
He stared at her for a few seconds. Her eyes showed how worried she was over him which made it hard for Duncan to fight her.
Duncan let out a loud sigh. "Fine."
"Good." She smiled before she looked around them. "You should probably apologize for messing up the supply closet though."
"Would rather vomit." His sarcastic comment caused her to roll her eyes.
She retracted her hands from his face and crossed her arms before she challenged him. "Well, how you feel if someone came into the Cursed Castle and messed things up?"
"Probably laugh."
"You say that now but remember last summer? You threatened to beat up whoever poured a slushy in one of the carts because that meant you had to stay an extra 10 minutes."
He stayed silent. "I don't remember that."
"Liar." She sighed.
Duncan shrugged his shoulders. He watched Courtney get up and begin cleaning the closet. He leaned his head against the cold wall. She probably wasn't giving him a lot of crap because of what was going on. Which, he was thankful for because he didn't want to explode in front of her again.
"You didn't have to do that, you know." He said after she finished putting the last thing up.
"They're already overrun enough around here, it's the least I could do." She told him before she turned around to smile at him. "You know besides a certain mohawk sporting teen who could apologize."
"Or, hear me out, I say nothing and we act like this never happened."
"Well, that sucks because I thought the kiss was pretty nice." She teased as she reached her hand out for him to take.
He took her hand and stood up. "I can just kiss you again later."
"Come on." She said, her hand still held his as she walked to the door. "I want to check on your mom."
Duncan didn't know if he wanted to go back into his father's hospital room. His outburst and Courtney distracted him for a minute but he knew he'd break down if he saw his dad in the hospital bed again. Still, the tanned hand that held his gave him a sense of comfort, and in that gave him confidence that maybe he could deal with the situation, for at least more than 10 minutes at least.
Courtney poked her head out and did a small sweep of the hallway. Duncan waited for her to open the door when the coast was clear. Calmly, she walked out and brought Duncan with her. Just in time Ed and Coby walked around the corner. Duncan let out a curse, he knew his older brother would say something to piss him off.
"Stay calm." Courtney encouraged.
"I'm cool." His tone was apathetic as he watched his brothers walk up to them.
Ed had a smirk on his face, while Coby had a half-eaten candy bar. Coby had only turned 8 that February so Duncan knew he was aware enough to know how bad it was. His tear-stained face had calmed down, the splotches almost gone.
"The closet? Shit, man, you might be my brother after all." Ed gave his brother a soft punch on the shoulder. "Little Miss Sunshine wouldn't be my first choice but I guess she has the virgin slut thing going on."
Duncan let go of Courtney's hand. The anchor for reasoning was gone as he shoved his brother. Ed stumbled back against the hospital's wall.
"Dad's in critical condition and all you do is spout that kind of bullshit?" Duncan's voice was loud and it caused Courtney to walk over to Coby and cover his ears.
"Children are present." She reminded him.
"He's heard worse." He tried to reason, his glare not leaving his older brother who glared back at him.
"Me?" His brother sneered before he reached out and grabbed Duncan by his collar. He jerked him closer as he yelled at him. "Where the fuck were you when Ma got the call! Or what about when Coby kept crying 'cuz they told us that Dad might not make it! Huh? Well, I was and it pisses me off that you stand there thinking you have any right to bitch at me. Shit, I had my friends out there looking for your ass because Ma wouldn't stop worrying about you."
Courtney watched the anger and frustration in Duncan's eyes leave him. He must have known that in some way his brother had a point. His grip on Ed's wrists were hard, but Courtney felt like he wasn't going to do anything.
Courtney moved in front of Coby and spoke calmly to the two. "Listen tensions are high, we just need to calm down."
"Shut up! You're nothing but an outsider right now." Ed snapped at her.
Still, she did not back down. Her words were carefully chosen as she talked his brother down. "I know, but I understand what it's like to be in a situation such as this. Now, let's all just calm down before we say something we don't mean, shall we?"
"Understand?" Ed laughed, his grip on Duncan's shirt tightened as he sent his anger her way.
"Listen, sweetness, you need to learn how to keep your mouth shut because you're starting to piss me off too. Understand? Daddy left before you could even walk so no you fucking don't know!"
Duncan was brought out of his own mind at the verbal abuse Ed sent Courtney. He wanted to yell at his brother to shut up, but he knew Courtney would want him to stand down, she was right tensions were charged and he needed to calm down.
He felt his blood boil as he watched as Courtney quickly brought her hand to her face. She swiftly wiped a tear away with her long sleeve, however, she was too late and the Murphy boys noticed the tears start to fall from her cheeks.
"You're lucky we're in a hospital because you're fucking dead." Duncan gripped his brother's wrists and pulled his head back and rammed it into his older brother's.
Duncan was able to get free from him. He could hear Courtney and Coby pleading with him to stop. His anger was getting the best of him as he reached out and grabbed Ed's shirt. He wanted to hold him in place before he punched him.
His punch didn't seem to bother Ed as he tackled his torso and forced the teen's body to slam into the wall. Duncan let out a pained grunt as his head hit a picture frame. Whatever old hospital art was put on the wall would have to be replaced. He and his brother brawled for only a second longer before a familiar voice called out to them.
"Boys."
For a moment he thought he heard his mother. Then his brother was pulled away from him. There, between the two was the Murphy matriarch. She held her hand against Ed's chest to keep him at a distance. She didn't want him to hit Duncan again or Duncan to hit him.
"Both of you stop it." Sarah seethed.
"But he-,"
Before either of them could make excuses she stopped them.
"Enough! Would it kill you two to act like actual brothers? Your father is in critical condition and here you two are wanting to join him."
No matter how much the two would fight and piss each other off, there was an unspoken rule amongst every male in the Murphy household, 'Do not, under any circumstances, make Ma cry.' She was trying to hold it together and by the look in her eyes, she was about to break at any second.
Ed pulled away from Sarah and ran his hand through his dark hair. "I'm cool. Need a cigarette
anyways."
"Don't forget to apologize to Courtney and Coby." She told him.
He let out an annoyed sigh before he passed the two. Courtney, tears from her earlier breakdown still on her cheeks, was bent down. Her hand on Coby's back as she tried to calm
him down.
"Sorry for making you cry or whatever."
Such a Murphy response, thought Courtney as she gave him a small nod of acceptance. That was all he needed before he walked away from the three.
Sarah gave Duncan space, wanting him to cool off, and walked to Courtney and Coby. "You must have been really worried."
"Those aren't from the fighting," Duncan grumbled as he wiped away the small bit of blood from a cut he got on his cheek.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Courtney reassured Sarah, her hand still made soothing circles up and down Coby's back. "I'm really not the one to worry about."
Sarah gave her soft smile before she moved her attention to Coby. "How's it going little man. Your two brothers were being such knuckleheads weren't they?"
Courtney stood up, she knew that her time comforting Coby was over and left it to his mother. She walked over to Duncan as he still seemed to be getting over his rage.
"I should be scolding you for fighting in a hospital." She reached out to check his cheek.
"He was being a jackass," Duncan told her, not swatting her hand away from his face. "He used to spout that shit about not making a girl cry and there he was, opening his mouth for shit to come out."
Courtney didn't scold him for the language he used like she normally would and instead went to dusting some shards of chipped wood from his shoulders.
"I only cried because tensions were high, usually I never think about it." She reassured him.
A smile of satisfaction came to her lips as she finally fixed his messed-up clothes. "There we are."
She looked up to tease him. "Plus, I can't be so mad since you stood up for me. Getting all angry over me because you looove me."
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. His chin rested against the top of her head. Her small laugh made his lips twitch into a smile, her voice coming out muffled from his shirt.
"You're still so wet." She told him.
His smile left him as he had to come back to reality. He wanted to desperately stay in the hallway and act like everything was okay but he knew it would end eventually. He might as well decide when it was going to happen, right?
"Come with me to see my dad, yeah?" He mumbled into her hair.
She let out a small okay. Duncan gave her head a kiss before he pulled away from her. He grabbed her hand and took a deep breath. He needed to see his dad and be there for his Ma, and with Courtney there for the support he knew he could be able to support the rest of his family.
Nirvana softly played in Trent's bedroom. He sat at his desk, his lamp directly pointed over his fingers to give him a good look at the ring. His eyes focused as he gently swapped the age-old dirt away from the crevasses of the ring. He dipped the end of the Q-Tip back into the warm, soapy water before he went back in to wipe away more.
Gwen sat on his bed, back against the wall as she read one of his science fiction novels from the 1960s.
"Don't know how you can like this stuff." She commented, flipping to the next page.
"Hm." He took a quick glance her way before he looked back at his work with a smile. "That one's good, though."
"No. It really isn't. These books are always the same, they start depressing and end the exact same way, depressing."
He laughed before he argued. "It's about the message, Gwen!"
"And what's the message, exactly?"
"That under a Totalitarian government no one can be happy?" He joked before he looked at her. "The future is unknown and these books are a good example of what the outcome of the dark underbelly of society would be if it isn't stopped."
She stared at him for a moment before she looked back to the book and laughed. "De-press-ing."
"Whatever goth girl." He chuckled before he went back to working on the ring.
Gwen peeked over at him. She was so used to taking quick, secret, glances at him that she always found herself staring for longer than she should. At school when he's studying in the library. When he played his guitar when they hung out at The Cove. Her favorite face of his was when he was focused. So concentrated that sometimes she wondered if he would ever stare at her like that.
To have all his focus on her like he did with the things he had interests in. The thought caused her to blush. She couldn't even think about him giving her such a look, that would be way too embarrassing!
He placed the Q-tip down and reached over for his notebook and scribbled something down. Gwen arched a dark brow.
"Find something?"
Trent didn't say anything. Gwen assumed that he was so far in the zone that he didn't pay attention to anything that made noise. The pencil was being tapped against the notebook so fast that she thought it would fly out of Trent's hand. He was frustrated that he couldn't remember something. He acted the same way during a math test.
"Take a breath, dude." She called over to him.
Her words didn't calm him down as he placed the lead against the paper.
"This pretty little thing was made in 1975." He told her, his back slinking against the chair.
Gwen closed the book and got off his bed. She walked over to him and placed her hand on the desk to steady herself.
"You sure?" She eyed the ring that he was playing with.
"You know when I said that I might be able to know when it was made? That's because all I could go on was the cut of the diamond and the metal of the ring." He told her, his index finger gently ran over the diamond. "Emerald cut was brought in during the 1920s, but soon died out, however eventually it made a comeback in the 70s. Now silver was used in the 20s, whereas in the 1970s was popularized with gold and rose gold. But it's not like I could just say, 'hey this is from the 1970s.'"
Trent continued to ramble as he eyed the jewel. "Now it wouldn't be impossible for this cut and metal type to even pop up before the 70s. Luckily for us, the ring maker left us a hallmark. Normally North America won't hold the same standards as say, Europe, so most rings don't have them. Because this one does though, it was easy for me to know the exact year it was made."
"Oh, man, I was talking too much wasn't I?" Trent looked up to Gwen, ready to apologize.
"Don't worry about it. It's cute when you're in the zone like that." She told him, her body now sat on the desk as she looked down at him.
He threw the ring up and caught it again as he looked at her and mused. "So you think I'm cute?"
"D-don't get carried away." She blushed. Her and her big mouth!
She snatched the ring midair when he gave it another toss. She ignored his amused smile, her blue eyes looking over the ring. 1975.
"So we have a ring from 1975. How exactly did it get in the well, and by who?" Gwen mumbled.
She paused and looked at Trent. "We talked about how Grant and the random guy could be a related killing? What if this rings the connection."
"That's a reach."
"Hear me out," Gwen spoke. "Grant got the job at The Boardwalk in 1975, right? This ring was made in '75."
"Many rings were made in '75, Gwen." He pointed out.
"But it was shining so brightly, as if to say, 'Hey look at me, aren't I clever clue!'" She made the ring dance. "Why wouldn't someone go down there and get it? Why would someone hole up a well that has their ring in it! It's weird."
"Counter, the ring feel in, and they didn't notice. Years go by and the well is boarded up as a hazard. Lost ring stays lost."
"Okay," she breathed before she snapped her fingers. "Counter! Why would this well, that probably predates '75, be uncovered for so long! It's against city code to leave a well uncovered for fear of endangerment. The city wouldn't open itself up to being sued."
"Government does love its money," Trent mumbled in agreement.
Gwen laughed at a thought, "Unless it was uncovered to bury a body or something."
The laughter fell flat as her and Trent gave each other a look. Both understood that the past two weeks showed them that anything could be in the realm of possibility. Trent pushed himself up and walked out of his room, Gwen right behind him.
"What are you doing?"
"Calling Duncan, we have to compare notes." He told her as he made for the phone in the living room.
He picked it up, dialing up the number before the scene on the News stopped him.
Kelly Sully, the local reporter talked in front of the four-way stop that was near Greywood Park.
"Micheal Murphy is still in critical condition after a hit and run that took place at 5:45, early this afternoon. This would be the second hit and run today. Eyewitnesses say that the car seemed to be a black van, paint-chipped at the hood. We advise those in Grand Musko to watch out for the cars around them." Kelly told her audience.
"Jesus Christ." Trent gasped. Gwen was still staring at the screen in shock as he began to finish putting in the numbers. "Duncan, hey man, saw what happened. Summer project can be put on hold if you want, but we just had a breakthrough, and- Listen, man, it doesn't matter anymore, just..don't do anything stupid."
"He was home?" Gwen was shocked.
"No. Got the machine, but he needs to hear that because knowing Duncan he's going to investigate no matter what. We have to make sure he doesn't go at this alone."
It was hitting close to 10 in the morning. Duncan sat in the back of Mocha Joe's. The lighting was dim, and the walls were made of brick. It made him remember an underground train station. He took another chug of his second cup of black coffee. The others were late.
The chime of the door caused him to look up. Trent and the rest of his group walked inside. Well, almost all of them. He didn't exactly let Courtney know that they were meeting.
Trent raised up five fingers before he pointed to the table Duncan was at. Being regulars let the workers know their usual orders.
"You look like shit." Gwen pointed out as they all sat down in the booth.
Duncan ignored her as he eyed Trent. "What'd you find?"
"The ring's from '75." He told him.
"The exact year Grant took the manager position at The Boardwalk!" Gwen explained, she wanted to get to the point as quickly as possible. "You said the death was on an anniversary, right?"
"He never mentioned someone like that over the years we've known him," Bridgette told her.
The waitress walked over to give them their cups of coffee. Besides the small 'thank you's', the teens remained silent until she left.
"Well, what if he threw it down the well?" Geoff pointed out. "I mean imagine it, some chick breaks his heart he throws the ring in the well. It's symbolic and stuff."
DJ took a sip of his coffee before he brought his own theory in. "What if she died?"
"Morbid, but possible." Trent agreed. "Could be this anniversary angle. But what about the murder angle? Duncan, what do you think?"
All eyes were on Duncan as he stared down at his cup. The theories were getting absorbed in that teenage brain of his. He tried to think of ways everything could be connected. The ring, possible girlfriend, the well, the murderer, and the dead body in the woods. However, there was a mental block. He couldn't come up with shit.
He dipped his index finger in the hot liquid. He ignored the pain and the stares from his friends as he placed his finger on the table. In the dim light he began to make serval circles, each had an initial in them. R, G, M, D, L, and in the middle was Grants. GM.
"Gun," He mumbled as his freshly dipped finger made a line from the G to GM.
"Murderer, dead body, girlfriend, ring."
As he mumbled each word he would put his finger back in the coffee. Like a fresh coat of paint on a brush, he would move his finger over the table. He brought all of them together. Line after line he would try and make connections with the new evidence.
His finger went back for the cup but was stopped by a hand. He looked up and saw Geoff. He held his hand over the cup.
"Dude, your finger." Geoff was calm as he brought the cup away from Duncan.
"Huh?" Duncan looked at his finger.
He had grown used to ignoring the pain. His finger was red, most likely a first-degree burn from the constant abuse he caused it.
"I can't think straight. We need to go to Grants." He told them as he wiped the still wet finger against his black jean jacket.
"Thought you promised Courtney that you'd keep your hands off this thing for a while." Bridgette brought up as she stared him down.
"Fuck." He grumbled, he didn't mean to sound exhausted. "Forgot you guys talk."
He leaned against the booth and lazily moved his eyes to her. "You gonna tell her?"
Bridgette was quiet as she thought it over. "No. Knowing you, you would still do it even if I said something. We might as well all go to make sure you don't do something stupid."
"Thanks." He moved his body as everyone was ready to leave.
"Don't."
Duncan knew the look she gave him. It was the same one that his mother would give him when he did something he wasn't supposed to. Disappointment.
Coffees in hand, everyone was ready to leave. Duncan looked at the payphone that was stuck on the back wall. He tapped his foot as Bridgette finished her hot tea. She was the only one who didn't want to be responsible for a Styrofoam cup when they got to the now abandoned house.
"Gotta make a call." He told DJ before he made his way to the back.
He fished out a quarter from his jacket pocket. He put the number in and waited for the familiar voice to pick up.
"Flores residence, Courtney speaking!"
"Hey." He tried to stop himself from smiling. He didn't want to be the guy who smiled by just the sound of someone's voice.
"Duncan, everything okay?"
"Yeah, um, you know that favor I asked you to do?" His arm was against the top of the payphone.
"Actually that's something I was about to do!" She seemed proud of herself.
He let out a tired chuckle. "Lay it out, Nancy Drew."
"I was thinking instead of using our textbook for information I might actually have a better chance if I were to look at newspaper clippings from the library."
His smile left him when she said textbook. Someone was there with her.
"Is it the Major?"
"Yep! There are actually a lot of historical newspapers that can be viewed by the library."
"That dickhead is really starting to piss me off," Duncan grumbled into the phone as he glared at the picture of a group of teens drinking coffee from the 1960s.
Courtney continued to have her voice be excited. "I know, right! Did you know they even have clippings from the 1970s?"
"Yeah, look up 1975. Trent says that's when the ring was made." He told her, her code not being lost on him.
"Well, that is a rotten thing to think about. The deadline isn't until the beginning of senior year."
Rotten. Dead.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Give me a call at 5, you can fill me in if you find anything."
"Will do."
"Before I let you go I just want you to know that I think it's really hot when you speak in code," Duncan smirked into the phone as he thought of her face.
Blush on her cheeks as she tried to not snap at him.
"I'll see you later." She said after a moment.
"Is that code for make-out session? I'm in."
She hung up after that. He knew she was probably glaring at the phone or a wall as she tried not to scold him.
"Duncan, let's go!" Geoff yelled over to him as everyone else walked out the door.
Duncan placed the phone down and walked over to where Geoff was. With a slap on the shoulder, Geoff led Duncan to his van.
Grant's house was nestled on the edge of town. It was a small home with only 2 bedrooms. It felt weird for all of them to be there without Grant. Trent was the first to get out of the car and walk to the front door. Duncan watched him from the window of the car.
The plan was to see if they could get in through the front door without breaking and entering. Trent reached up, his hand went over the top of the door. Its ridge was covered with years of dust and dirt. He looked back to the van and raised his hand up. The key was visible to teens inside. Now it was time to move.
Bridgette and Gwen were assigned to look in Grant's room. DJ and Trent were in the guest room, while Geoff and Duncan were in the large room that was shared between the kitchen, dining, and living room.
No one knew what they were looking for. An old photo of a former girlfriend? A receipt from 1976 by a jeweler? Duncan said anything could be evidence for them so it broaden the theories of what and how everything was connected.
Duncan was at the bookshelf. He flipped through the pages of each book, thinking that maybe something was hidden between them. Secret note? What about a secret picture? He truly was trying to pull something out of thin air to make this whole engagement ring angle to match up with everything else.
"You okay?" Geoff called to him from his spot on the floor.
He was looking through the trunk that held old junk. The trunk had been used as a coffee table. It could be a good place to hide something, thought Duncan as he put another book up.
"This whole wedding ring thing doesn't make any sense. He would have brought it up as a life lesson or some shit." He told him as he went to the fridge and looked inside.
No one had come to clean it out. Duncan's spotted three beer bottles at the back. He reached inside and pulled one out as he decided to help with clean up. The fizzy sound of a bottle being opened caused Geoff to move his head to see Duncan taking a sip.
"Whoa, man, what are you doing?"
"Not like he's going to be drinking it any time soon." He told him as he opened up random drawers. Nothing but old coupons and silverware.
"That's cold, man," Geoff said before an idea came to him. He let out a sigh. "Good thing Courtney's not here right? She was gushing about you hard last night."
"Bullshit," Duncan called his bluff as he made his way back to where the blond sat.
"For real man! I was over at Bridges last night and she called her up and she just talked about you." He said as he stopped looking through the trunk.
Duncan sat down and put his hand over his mouth. His foot was tapping, he wanted to know really bad. Against his hand, he mumbled. "What, uh, what'd she say?"
"Oh, you don't want to hear that girly stuff!" Geoff waved him off before he looked back to the trunk.
Geoff knew Duncan enough to know he wasn't the type to beg. But he was the type of guy that would get silent as he stewed in annoyance though. His blue eyes looked over at Duncan. He brought his hand down from his mouth to take another drink of the beer. He looked at the wall that was scattered with random pictures that documented Grant's life.
"Well, besides that one thing."
Duncan looked over to Geoff, now hanging on his every word.
"Said she liked the way you kissed."
Geoff watched Duncan smirk. A smirk that wasn't smug but almost giddy.
"Dude, I had to hear that mess from Bridgette. You really need to learn to share!" Geoff said as he playfully nudged Duncan's knee with his elbow.
"Well, with all that happened to my old man I haven't been thinking straight."
Geoff nodded. "Must be hard. Don't worry, everything's going to turn out fine. Your dad's stubborn as hell."
"Yeah. I know." Duncan paused before he eyed Geoff. "Never knew you could be cunning. Makin' me spill my emotions and junk."
"I'm only cunning when my bro won't say anything. Like DJ's mom says, 'It's bad to keep those negative feelings in.'" He stated before he looked over to Duncan. "So you and Courtney?"
"We almost kissed yesterday but were stopped by your stupid lunch call. So thanks by the way." Duncan's sarcasm was met with Geoff giving him a salute.
"Welcome."
"But last night at the hospital we kissed. She wants to wait until all this is settled so now it's kinda.." Duncan trailed off before he took another sip.
"Gotcha." He let out a sigh. "Like me and Bridgette. I get it."
"You and Bridge? Really?"
"No, but I'm close!"
"You have to talk to her, man!"
"But what if she says no?"
"I just found out that I'm in love with Courtney, like, yesterday. I made my move and look how it's going for me." Duncan stopped drinking as he noticed the look Geoff gave him. He glared. "What?"
"You love her?"
Duncan's eyes went wide as he realized just what he had confessed. The look Geoff was giving him pissed him off.
"No, I don't. I didn't say anything."
"I always knew you had a thing for her, but holy shit. Love?"
"Well, what do you want me to say, I like like her?" Duncan's voice had a bite to it, but Geoff ignored it.
"Did you tell her?"
"Why, in the ever living hell, would I tell her?"
"But you said-,"
"I said I made a move!"
"Why are you so embarrassed! This is great!" Geoff cheered which caused Duncan to snap his eyes over to the hall the led to the bedrooms.
He leaned in close and through gritted teeth whispered. "Dude, shut it."
"Aw, fearless Duncy doesn't want people to know that he has a gooey inside." He teased as he reached back inside the trunk. Just more junk.
"I'll kill you where you sit."
Geoff laughed. "With what weapon, tough guy?"
Duncan remained silent as he took a sip. An idea came to him.
"This beer bottle."
"No, don't. That'd be a waste." Geoff pointed out.
"Yeah, this beer didn't do anything." Duncan agreed as he drank.
Duncan and Geoff looked through the trunk and came up with nothing.
"Hey," Geoff spoke as he put everything back up. "What if the ring isn't Grants, but like Grant adjacent?"
Duncan leaned against the couch. "Elaborate."
"What if Grant knew the person who got the ring. Not a lover, but a friend who wanted to ask someone to marry them?"
"And this friend committed suicide when their girl refused?" Duncan continued as his mind started to put things together.
Geoff shook his head. "But that won't explain our whole murder idea."
"It explains that someone used it as a cover-up."
"Still, now we're back to square one." Geoff sighed as he closed the trunk.
Duncan finished off the rest of the beer. Geoff was right, they were back to square one.
That was until another imaginary string appeared in Duncan's mind. The string led to a picture. It was of three, four, maybe even a larger group of people.
"What if it was a friend? A friend who was there when all this went down? No one's been saying shit about this, right?" Duncan pointed out.
Geoff was quick to help this train of thought. "Yeah, there's only a limited amount of people who know this little piece of gossip, because we would have heard something about it by now."
"We find out who Grant was friends with in the 70s and we find who our killer might be," Duncan said before he stood up, now invigorated. "We need to find who his friends were! Search this place from top to bottom! Now that we know what we're looking for, it'll be easier."
"Yes, sir!" Geoff saluted before he got up to let the others know what they had come up with.
The hands on the clock over Courtney's fireplace showed her that it was close to 10. She had been going over the documents from The Boardwalk. There was nothing that could be any indication of the anniversary that could be used as a cover-up for Grant's supposed murder.
Courtney wanted to find at least something! She knew Duncan was probably going stir crazy because he promised her that he wouldn't do anything about the case.
In her mind, she would find something and the two could come up with an idea or something in his basement. She'd find clues and they would come up with theories and Duncan wouldn't be in trouble, and he would be safe! Well, until he would throw his hands in the air and say that he would do the rest himself.
She smiled as she thought of him. He was annoying but stubborn. Arrogant, but smart.
"Okay, Courtney, focus!" She told herself as she continued to organize the files.
A knock brought her attention to the foyer. She got up from her couch and walked to her front door. Was it Bridgette? The night before she seemed worried about Duke not coming home. Courtney promised to help her look for him. It was her fault that the dog got out after all.
She opened the door, a smile on her face. "Hello?"
It was Ted. Her smile almost left her.
"Ted, what are you doing here so early?" She tried not to sound annoyed.
"I heard about what happened to the Murphy family yesterday. You took Duncan to the hospital, right? That must have been hard." He welcomed himself inside.
Courtney didn't hide her glare this time. "I think it was harder for Duncan. My dad isn't in the hospital right now."
"That's not what I-," he tried to convince her otherwise but Courtney had enough of adults.
"It's fine. Was that all?" She kept her hand on the doorknob. She wanted the door to remain opened, ready for Ted to leave.
"No. Your mother wanted me to make sure you ate breakfast. She said that when you get stressed you don't eat." He told her.
Courtney didn't know where to stare, so her brown eyes were on the newspaper Ted held. Her mother knew that she didn't eat when she was stressed? Courtney wanted to laugh. A mocking laugh that let Ted know that that little knowledge was the bare minimum. Everyone didn't eat when they were stressed, it was not that hard to guess.
Her brown eyes read the headline to try and focus on something else. It was about Michael's accident from yesterday. An idea popped inside her mind. Newspapers were always the first to report things! So obvious! If she found a newspaper clipping around the anniversary she could find who or what made Grant commit suicide.
That was going to be a lot of newspapers, but who said detective work was easy?
Instead of laughing Courtney just sighed. She relaxed her shoulders. She knew how to play adults. Adults that wouldn't leave her alone.
"I actually just finished. Do you want some? I have some leftover eggs." Courtney told him as she walked to her kitchen. "Hope you like scrambled."
Play nice and he'll go away she told herself.
"I actually like them scrambled." He smiled down at her as he followed behind her.
Courtney made small talk as she waited for him to finish his eggs. She wanted to just say that she was going to the library and then go get dressed but she feared Ted would realize that she wanted to not talk to him. That would just make him want to offer to drive her there. His need for quality time was starting to bother her.
The phone rang. She thanked the heavens above as she was now free from talking to him.
"Flores residence, Courtney speaking!" She smiled into the phone.
"Hey."
It was Duncan. His voice sounded weird. Tired, but almost happy? It was hard to figure out from just his voice alone. She wished she could see his face. She wanted to have a better idea of how he was feeling.
Her finger twisted around the cord. "Duncan, everything okay?"
"Yeah, um, you know that favor I asked you to do?"
Courtney had to be careful. Lucky for her she fixed the volume on the phone. She glanced over at Ted. He was paying attention, great she had to speak in code!
"Actually that's something I was about to do!" She beamed. She didn't know if she was happy for having a code that wasn't too difficult or for the fact that she was already ahead of him.
He let out a tired chuckle. "Lay it out, Nancy Drew."
She blushed, him and these stupid nicknames. They never bothered her before but now it was as if everything he did caused her to become a giddy mess.
"I was thinking instead of using our textbook for information I might actually have a better chance if I were to look at newspaper clippings from the library."
Duncan was smart as he quickly caught up on her message. "Is it the Major?"
"Yep!" She agreed. "There are actually a lot of historical newspapers that can be viewed by the library."
"That dickhead is really starting to piss me off," Duncan grumbled.
Courtney continued to have her voice be excited. "I know, right! Did you know they even have clippings from the 1970s?"
"Yeah, look up 1975. Trent says that's when the ring was made." He told her, her code not being lost on him.
Could there be a news article about the well being boarded up, along with an article about if someone lost a ring. What if it was someone's death that was connected to ring and the well?
"Well, that is a rotten thing to think about. The deadline isn't until the beginning of senior year." That code might have been too hard.
Courtney needed to have more faith in Duncan because he was again quick with her wording.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Give me a call at 5, you can fill me in if you find anything." He agreed.
"Will do." She had to calm down because for a moment she found the two speaking code hot.
God, how lame was she?
"Before I let you go I just want you to know that I think it's really hot when you speak in code." He said.
She glared at her wall as a blush came to her cheeks. She just knew he smirking over the phone! Probably thought he was cool for getting under her skin. Was she being hypocritical because she thought that same thing? No! Because she didn't say it because who just says that stuff?
"I'll see you later." She said after a moment, she didn't want him to get any satisfaction from knowing he got to her.
"Is that code for make-out session? I'm in."
Okay, that comment did it. She quickly hung up. The heat from her cheeks went to her ears as her heart pounded in her chest. Why could he act so damn cocky all the time? Next time she'll say something flirty and have him all red in the face!
"Courtney?" Ted brought her back to the situation at hand.
She turned around to smile at him. "So sorry! That was Duncan, I'm going to go to the library to look up some articles on a summer project we have to do."
"Really, who's it on?"
"The owner of The Boardwalk. We were assigned to do research on a historical figure and as a little contribution to Grant we decided to do it on The Boardwalk, and what better way than the person who started it all?" She smiled at him. It was almost shocking to her how easy it was for that lie to come out.
"Do you want me to take you?"
"Oh no! It's best if I just take my car. What's the point of having a car if I don't drive it, right?" She left no room for him to argue as she said goodbye and ran up the stairs to get dressed.
She had hours to pour over every article she could find. She had to find something! She got dressed in an oversized green sweater dress before she finished up her routine and left. She went past him in the foyer and waved at him. Luckily for her, he was on his oversized mobile phone that it left him with only being able to wave back.
The library parking lot was being repaved that weekend and she had to park her car across the street. Even when the street light signaled for those to walk she still looked from left to right before she quickly walked across the street. She didn't want to risk being hit by a car. That was becoming a common threat in Grand Musko after all.
She went into the archives of the library. Lucky for her the library kept most of the local newspapers from 1975. However, it was also unlucky because that meant she wouldn't be seeing the outside for a while.
She looked at her pink wristwatch. She had time before five, she would be able to find something, right?
Hours went by as she skimmed through the pages of the papers. Nothing was interesting or at least not what she thought she needed to be looking for. Opening of a Mocha Joe's bakery and cafe by one of the jewelry shops in town. It was the owners smiling at the camera. She let out a soft laugh as she saw a man leaving the jewelers. He was behind them, not knowing he bombed their photo.
Courtney sat up and stretched. Sitting hunched over a desk and skimming through the papers was starting to hurt her back. Her hands went up and rubbed at her tired eyes. She looked at her wrist watch. 4 o'clock.
"Crap." She grumbled. She told herself that she would find something and she did not want to fail her goal point.
She didn't want to fail Duncan. He wanted answers and she needed to help him find them. The thought of disappointing him caused her eyes to almost let out some tears of frustration.
She knew Duncan would just tell her she was stupid for crying, and she knew it was stupid. But still, she wanted to make Duncan still have confidence in her. For him to have that smile of his as he softly told her thanks for helping out.
"Get it together!" She slapped two hands against her cheeks to wake herself up.
Just as she was about to give up something inside her told her to continue. That small hint of stubborn pride coming through at her time of need.
She reached for another newspaper and skimmed through it. 'Local man has gone missing!'
Her energy came back to her tenfold. The man was named Frank King. She knew that name! How'd she know that name, and why did he look so familiar?
She read more.
'Frank King was formally known to those in Grand Musko as 'King of The Boardwalk,' the former manager was believed to be last seen at the edge of town talking to three individuals. Gabriella Flores had this to say, 'He's a good friend. He wouldn't just leave without notice!'
Courtney stopped reading. "Mom? She never mentioned.."
She stopped as she remembered where exactly she saw his face. It wasn't in the office of Grant! She reached over to one of the papers and brought it back to her. There! The photo bomber from Mocha Joe's! Frank was walking out of the jewelers.
"Ring?" She noticed the small image below the jeweler's sign. The image was of a ring. A ring that was similar to the one that they found in the well.
Her body was buzzing at the realization that she had found something. Brown eyes looked around. Librarian around? No. It was just her in this dark area of the library. She took a deep breath as intense guilt came over her.
She tore both pages from their respected issues. "Sorry sorry."
She kept apologizing to the library as she shoved the papers into her black purse. Fearing that she would be stopped by someone and have her bag inspected like the untrustworthy library going she was, she hid the papers in a pocket of the purse only she knew about.
Courtney put the newspapers back up before she left. She got to the main entrance to the library when she was stopped by Mrs. Dolras, the head librarian. Oh God, she knew! Courtney swallowed.
"Have a good night." She gave Courtney a wave before she went to be behind the front desk.
Courtney gave her a smile and walked out the front doors. Still, her anxiety did not leave her.
What if the murderer saw her inside? What if he found out what exactly she knew? She couldn't risk calling Duncan at 5, she needed to go see him right now!
She was in such a hurry she did not see the men that were walking past the steps to the library. When she bumped into one of the she quickly apologized.
"Flores?"
She wanted to take her apology back. It was Ed and his friends.
"What are you doing at the library? Thought school was out." To her shock he actually seemed to sound, dear she even think, concerned?
"My guess is no friends to hang out with." One of his friends laughed.
"I always did wonder what losers did over break." Another piped up.
"God, both of you shut the fuck up." Ed snapped at the two.
Courtney, like his friends, was shocked into silence. Ed wasn't known for sticking up for others.
"I'm all right. I just needed to do some light reading." She told him, her hands tightening around the strap of her purse.
"You sure? You look tired."
"Wow, looks like Ed gots a little crush." The two teased before Ed glared back at them.
"Do not, she's dating Duncan." His voice held the same bite Duncan's did when he wanted a situation to be dropped.
"You don't have to look out for me, I'm fine." She told him before she turned around to walk to the streetlight.
She looked both ways before crossing the street and walked across. She took a deep breath, her anxiety was on alert. She feared that she was seen outside the library talking to Ed. She knew she was probably giving this murderer too much credit in the smarts department, but what if he knew why she was there?
Was she being too obvious? Did he see that she gripped her purse strap in fear of being noticed? She shook her head, imagining those negative thoughts emptying out of her.
She pulled out of her parking spot and drove to the stop light. It was green, letting her know she didn't have to stop and go right ahead. She heard the sound of screeching tires over Madonna's singing.
Then she herself jerk to the side and her head hit down on the steering wheel.
She blinked, her eyes couldn't focus. The people outside sounded so far away. She moved her head. Her purse. She needed her purse.
She felt her car door being jerked open. Someone was calling her name. They seemed worried.
"My purse." She tried to explain to them.
"Someone call 911!" the person shouted. "I got your purse. You're going to be okay."
Her purse was safe. That was good. She needed to tell Duncan about what she found.
Courtney felt herself drifting away as she blinked. It worried the stranger as he shouted at her to focus. She couldn't, she tired. So tired. Her world became dark.
Duncan was late. It was 5:15 and he knew Courtney would be wondering just why he didn't answer his phone at 5 on the dot. It was his fault for saying that Geoff could just drop him off at the coffee shop. He wanted another cup before he got home. The Murphy house was running low after all.
He opened his door and walked to the kitchen. He passed his mom as she was watching the news in the living room.
"Hey, Ma, did Courtney call?"
"No one called you," Coby answered for her.
He was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal.
"Wasn't talking to you," Duncan stated as he look inside his fridge.
It was weird though. Courtney would have called. She liked being on time for everything, even phone appointments.
"Duncan," his mother's voice came from the entrance of the kitchen.
She held a tissue and her eyes were red.
"Ma, what happened? Is dad okay?" Duncan was quick to place his hands on her shoulders. He wanted to give her some comfort and to steady himself if he got bad news.
"No. Your father's still the same."
"Then what?"
"It's Courtney, she's in the hospital. Apparently, she also got-," before she could finish Duncan moved past her and made his way towards the front door. "Hold on, I'll give you a ride."
Duncan didn't listen, he already grabbed her keys from the holder. She couldn't stop him from getting in her car and peeling off down the road. He was too far gone that he didn't see her run to the front yard to try and stop him.
He ran inside the hospital and saw Geoff making his way down the hall. The others must have also been informed.
"Where's she at?" Duncan as he ran to be beside Geoff.
"Room 205, but they say we need to let her rest." Geoff tried to explain but was ignored.
"Fuck that," Duncan told him before he ran to her room.
This was not happening. He was not going to witness two people in his life hooked up in a hospital two days in a row. He refused to believe that. Courtney was fine. She had to be fine.
Duncan would walk in her room and she would scold him for running in the halls. For causing a ruckus when he was told to let her rest.
He opened her door. His heart dropped and he felt himself grow cold. Courtney wasn't awake. She wasn't scolding him for being too loud. She silently sleeping.
Like a zombie, Duncan walked over to the side of her bed. Her looked at her body. She didn't have as many wires as his dad. The gauze was wrapped around her head. He reached out and wrapped his hand around hers.
It was warm. That was good, he had to tell himself as he looked at her face.
The same anger from the night before came into him. This time nothing was going to stop him from finding the person who kept hurting those close to him. That son of a bitch needed to face the retribution that came from the teenage Murphy.
"They said she's going to be okay."
Duncan looked up to see Trent and Clifton Brown. The anger caused something to click inside Duncan. He put a final piece to this ever-growing puzzle. In his mind, he knew he needed to remain calm but it was too late. His rational side was gone as he ran at Clifton. He grabbed Clifton by his white button-up shirt and slammed him into the wall.
"I'll kill you!"
"Duncan!" Trent was ready to get Duncan off the man but was stopped by the glare he was given.
The glare went by to Clifton who gritted his teeth throw the pain. "Don't you find it a little interesting that you were involved in both my old man's and Courtney's little accidents? You were also the one that told the girls that they didn't see jack shit in those woods when we both know they did. My dad was looking into Grants' case because he didn't think it was a suicide. Two's a coincidence, three's a crime, ain't that right you piece of shit?"
Trent moved his body and wrapped his arms around Duncan to try and pull him off. "Calm down."
"Get off me, Trent." He warned, the glare never left Clifton.
"Listen to me! What proof do you have? Clifton was put on this case because of his involvement in your dad's. Your right, Duncan, two's a coincidence, three's a crime. A crime Clifton says he'll figure out." Trent told him through gritted teeth as he tried to get Duncan's death grip off of the man.
Duncan, thankfully, listened to Trent instead of his anger and let go of Clifton. He coughed, Duncan must have cut off some breathing. Good.
"Duncan? Trent? You're being loud." Courtney spoke up from her spot in the room.
Duncan's anger melted away as he, and everyone, moved their bodies to face Courtney. She was looking at the IV in her hand when Duncan ran back over to her side.
"You okay?" He asked as he grabbed the hand she was looking at.
"I'm fine."
"Hey Courtney. I know you went through something traumatic but do you remember anything?" Clifton asked her, his smile comforting.
Duncan's soft eyes became sharp again as he stared at the detective.
"Everything's still so fuzzy. I think I saw Ed? I know I went to the library for our little project but after that nothing." She told him, her hand tightening around Duncan's.
"That's all right. Don't try and force yourself, okay?" Clifton told her before he looked at Duncan. "The reason you might remember Ed is because he's the one to shout for people to call 911. He even helped her try and stay conscious."
Clifton left and Duncan cursed.
"What's wrong?" Courtney asked as she eyed him.
"Well, now I have to thank my brother, which is the freaking worst." He told her as he sat down in the chair that was placed beside her bed.
Courtney giggled at his dramatics before Geoff and the others walked in. Bridgette ran to her side and hugged her.
"So glad you're okay!" She told her.
Gwen, not having any room to hug her, sat at the end of the bed. "You had us all worried."
"I'm okay." Courtney laughed as her free hand patted Bridgette's shoulder.
"Hey, Ed gave me your purse. Said you seemed pretty intent on making sure it was safe." DJ told her as he gently placed it on her lap.
Her eyes became sharp as she nodded her head. "Good. Now shut the door."
Her tone was serious. Life-threatening serious. Trent reached over and shut the door, but not before he made sure no one was eavesdropping.
"What's wrong? Why wouldn't Ed just give it to the police?" Bridge asked as she pulled away from him. Still, her arms were still lazily around Courtney.
"Because for once in his life, he was smart," Courtney told her as she reached inside.
"Murphy boys don't really talk to the cops," Duncan told Bridgette as he watched Courtney pull out two ripped pages from a newspaper.
"Thought you said you didn't remember." Trent chuckled as he sat on the other side of the bed.
"I woke up when you Duncan was yelling. He's right though. I'm not saying Clifton has anything to do with the car accidents but I'm not trusting any more adults. Not until after this whole thing is solved." Courtney told him as she placed the papers down on the bed.
"If you had no shame I'd make out with you right now." Duncan praised as he put his lips on the palm of her hand.
"Down boy, we have things to discuss," Courtney told him.
She didn't make eye contact with him, her brown eyes too focused on the task at hand. Duncan felt a tingle go down his spine. Courtney was always at her most attractive when she was focused and determined to get something done.
Courtney filled them all in. About Frank King's disappearance in 1975, about how he was shown to be leaving jewelers that same year. How her mother knew him but never brought it up.
Geoff and the rest then filled her in on what their theory was. How Grant knew this Frank character, and someone from their friend group used the disappearance as a cover-up.
"Good. Now, we are all going to go home. Act like nothing happened. Tomorrow I'm getting dismissed at 3 in the afternoon. Lay low until then." Courtney told them.
"Understood." Gwen nodded before she got up. She smirked as she tapped her fist against DJ's shoulder. "You heard the boss, let's go."
Bridgette had to be convinced to leave by Geoff and DJ.
"Come on we still have to find Duke." Geoff tried to coax her.
"But," Bridgette looked back to Courtney. "You sure you're okay? I can stay. You want me to stay?"
"I'm fine. Let Geoff drive you back home. Duke might be waiting for you." Courtney smiled.
Bridgette looked at her. Confliction in her eyes before she let out a sigh. "Fine. But if you need anything you call me!"
"Will do." Courtney laughed as the two boys brought her out of the room.
Duncan stood up but Courtney didn't let go of his hand.
"You stay." She told him.
He sat back down. "Okay."
"Do you mind staying with me?" She put the papers back inside her purse. She wasn't making eye contact with him.
"You must have been scared. It's okay, I'll stay here with you." He told her, his calloused thumb running over her smooth fingers. He leaned his body forward and kissed her cheek. "Get some rest, Courtney."
Bridgette sat in the front of the Van. Everyone had agreed to help her find Duke, but that ended up being nothing but a wild goose chase. Duke was nowhere to be found and it was already dark. They pulled up to her house, they thought Duke would return by then. Nope.
Her parents were on a date and wouldn't be home still late. However, they seemed to have turned off the lights and locked the front door by the looks of it.
"I'll go unlock the door and turn off security," Bridgette said as she got out of the van.
She wrapped her arms around her body. Even in her blue jacket, the chilly weather was starting to get to her. She reached inside her pocket to unlock the door. She missed the keyhole not once but three times because the front porch was so dark.
Bridgette reached her hand inside and turned on the porch light. Something on her door caught her eye. It was a picture of Duke. Weird.
She reached out, ready to grab it but stopped as she noticed something else. Dark red surrounded the picture. She took a step back to get a better look.
Duke's picture was placed in the middle of this message. Big, red letters oozed into the bright blue color of her door. It read, 'Have you seen me?'
Brigette screamed.
Author's note: Hey everyone! Fort he past month I've been reviewing my Boardwalk series and making small corrections. Just little touch-ups because I noticed spelling mistakes and whatnot.
I also apologize for this chapter being so long, lol. I think it might be close to or the exact length as chapter one. I'm hoping that since I'm more free now that I can get chapter 8 out soon!