Without turning around, I’m like, “Well, you have my address. Send them on. I’m sure they’ll want to hear all about Gangland.”
Practically my whole body was shaking when I stepped onto the front porch. I’d never been through something like that, and truthfully, if someone had told me I’d talk back to the big banker man the way I did, I wouldn’t have believed them. But somewhere along the way you get tired of being bullied.
My mind was so wired as I passed the swimming pool, I didn’t notice someone sitting in the dark on the far side, but I nearly jumped out of my shoes when a girl’s voice called my name.
I’m like, “Who’s there?”
The girl stood and walked into the light. “You are Dylan Jones, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” I said.
She was wearing a white sweater, blue jeans, and sneakers, but what really stood out as she walked toward me was the stunning combination of black hair and blue eyes.
“Brett?” I said. “Brett Seagreaves?”
Then I realized I was wrong. I was staring straight at Ashton Browning. The sight of her made me feel like Chuck Norris just kicked me in the chest.
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t recognize you. You dyed your hair.”
“It seemed like a good idea,” she said, reaching up to touch her hair. “Too many pictures of me in the news. I thought it might buy a little privacy.”
I’m like, “Uh, it looks good.” After all the times I’d thought of meeting her face to face, I couldn’t think of anything better to say.
Next to the swimming pool, we stood only a couple of feet apart. The pool had finally been covered for the off-season. Ashton smiled shyly. An extra dab of makeup covered what was left of the bruise under her right eye, but none of the photos I’d seen of her had prepared me for how beautiful she was in person. I asked her how she knew who I was, and she explained her brother told her about me and how I tried to find her.
“He even gave me your articles for the school paper,” she said. “It means a lot to know that someone cared so much. That’s why, when I heard you were coming to visit my father, I had to talk to you.”
Looking into those blue eyes, I could almost forget what had just happened inside the guesthouse. Almost.
“I’m glad that’s how you feel,” I told her. “But I don’t think your dad agrees. I was just talking to him. You’d think he suspects me of being involved in what happened to you somehow.”
And she goes, “Oh, don’t let him scare you. I’m sure he doesn’t really think that. He’s just upset. We’ve all been through so much.”
“I know. I can’t even imagine the stress your family’s been under.” I looked across the covered swimming pool. “But I’m pretty confused about this whole thing with Beto Hernandez.”
“Why? What did my father tell you?”
I looked back into her eyes and thought I caught a trace of worry, like maybe she was afraid of her father. “He didn’t say a whole lot at first. But I think he ended up saying more than he wanted to.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he mentioned something about you seeing Beto.”
“Seeing?”
“I’m guessing he meant like romantically.”
“And you don’t believe that?”
“Not really. I was thinking more along the lines that you were actually involved with Hector Maldonado maybe.”
I could tell she hadn’t expected that name to come up.
“So you did know Hector,” I said.
Nervously, she glanced over my shoulder. “I can’t talk about that right now. My father might be coming back from the guesthouse soon.”
“Just tell me real quick—what was going on?”
She backed away. “I will, but not now. Not here.”
“Why not?”
“Too dangerous. You know that place Gangland, right?” I nodded.
“Okay, meet me there tomorrow afternoon, say at four o’clock. It’s closed then, but I can get my brother’s key. We can talk without anyone else around.”
“I don’t know if I want to go there. Can’t we meet somewhere else?”
She was getting more nervous. “No, that will be the best place. I can’t be seen in public right now. It’ll be safe—no one goes there in the daytime. Please, say you’ll come.”
I told her okay, and she started away but turned back, grabbed the front of my T-shirt, and kissed me on the cheek. “Thanks again for caring so much,” she said, and then she dashed down the stone path into the dark.
CHAPTER 43
“You’re not going to believe this,” I told Audrey as soon as I scrunched down into the front seat of her car.
“Oh no,” she said. “You think you have another clue.”
And I’m like, “More than that.”
As we drove away, I filled her in on what’d happened, starting with the prickly conversation with Mr. Browning. She had to admit she was pretty impressed with how I stood up to him, but she was more impressed by my surprise meeting with Ashton.
“Wow,” she said. “You know what? I would never have thought it, but you might actually be on to something this time.”
“Yeah, I’m sure I am. You should’ve seen her. She was definitely worried someone would see her talking to me, someone who is making her keep quiet about what really happened.”
“Like her father?”