Free Killing Ruby Rose by Jessie Humphries Page B

words.
    “Well, I don’t want to come across as a creepy stalker kind of guy.” He played with the damp sand in his hands. “But yesterday at the art fair … I noticed this guy. Well, a man. He was watching you.”
    “What?” I sat up taller. “What kind of man? A teacher?”
    “No, I don’t think he was a teacher. I would’ve seen him around school before. He was definitely out of place. He was watching you in an intense sort of way, and it was weird. I didn’t like it.”
    Had he seen Martinez, too? Maybe I wasn’t going crazy.
    “What did he look like?” I asked, heart racing in a new way now.
    “He was wearing a dark suit. No tie or anything, but a sort of athletic build, good-looking—like an older George Clooney kind of look.” He grabbed a piece of kelp and crushed a bulb between his fingers.
    “Was he Latino?” I asked.
    “No, he was definitely a white dude. Sort of light, graying hair and stubble. Anyway, do you know someone like that?”
    “No, I don’t.” If he wasn’t talking about Martinez, then I had no idea who he was talking about (and I was officially crazy). None of my Filthy Five fit that description, unless one of them had hired a stylist and hit the gym like crazy for a few weeks. My fingers ached to open the notebook in my lap and write it all down.
    “Then you passed out and he disappeared,” Liam said. “Do you think this guy has anything to do with the text you got that night?”
    His question caught me off guard. No one, not even Alana, had dared ask me about that night. Even though most of the details had been leaked to the media—including the fact that I thought the text was from Liam—I’d successfully given off the don’t-talk-to-me-about-it vibe. Even without strict orders from Jane Rose, Esquire, I knew it wasn’t wise to discuss the investigation with anyone.
    “You know, the night you…” Liam paused, and I prayed he wouldn’t say shot that dude. “ … saved that girl? You think it might be him?”
    I breathed a sigh of relief. “I have no idea.”
    “I was going to ask you to Homecoming—just so you know.” He crushed another bulb. “I bought the flowers and everything. And I was on my way over to your house when Alana called me to tell me about—”
    “Uh-huh.” I didn’t need to hear the end of that sentence. I knew what had happened next. I went into seclusion, and he’d gone to Homecoming with Taylor instead.
    “I would’ve done the same thing.” He turned to face me. “I would have pulled the trigger on that Charlie LeDouche, too. You did the right thing. No matter what anyone says, especially that Bill Brandon dude. I think you were brave.”
    I squirmed a little. He was sneaking past too many of my carefully constructed boundaries with his charm and sincerity. This is what I admired about Liam from afar—his ability to make people feel better about themselves.
    “Obviously, I don’t know exactly what happened,” he continued. “Only what I’ve seen on the news or read in the papers, but it seems to me you were put between a rock and a hard place, and you ended up saving a little girl. That’s totally amazing.”
    I felt for the picture of the girl hidden in The Cleave. Next to my other important stuff—cell phone, lip gloss—she was there.
    Then I did something totally unexpected. I pulled her out to show Liam.
    “She sent me this,” I said, holding up the small picture.
    His first reaction was shock—possibly at me reaching into my bra. Then his look changed as he wiped his hands on his wet suit and took the picture.
    “Wow, this is her?” he asked.
    “She sent me a letter, too, thanking me, telling me I’m her hero.” I looked out at the ocean and the frothy waves crashing in. “But I haven’t contacted her. The thing is, I don’t feel like a hero. I mean, I don’t regret killing him, because he deserved to die. He’ll never hurt anyone again,” I said, trying to stop the swell of truth gushing out of me,