Free Six Killer Bodies by Stephanie Bond

nodded warily.
    “So…did your parents leave in the middle of the night?”
    “No,” he mumbled, staring into his scummy coffee. “I
    remember they were dressed up, going out to eat, I think.
    My mom was wearing a red dress. She always looked and
    smel ed great.”
    Meg smiled.
    “She gave me a kiss goodbye and I stood at the door
    waving at their car.” He took a drink from the cup. “And
    they never came home.”
    Meg’s smile disappeared. “Just like that?”
    He nodded. “Pretty much. Carlotta got me ready for school
    the next morning. I thought my parents were sick or
    something. But when we got home from school, I knew
    something was wrong. Carlotta started making al these
    phone calls, and I could tel she was scared.” He gave a
    little laugh. “But she kept tel ing me everything was okay,
    that Mom and Dad would be home soon.”
    “And?”
    “And…nothing. Carlotta took care of me, and eventually
    we just stopped talking about our parents.”
    “So you never heard from them—no phone calls,
    nothing?”
    “They sent a few postcards over the years, to say hi and
    that they were okay.”
    “From where?”
    “From all over. I guess they stayed on the move.”
    Her mouth opened and closed. “But you’ve never…talked
    to them? You’ve never seen them in all this time?”
    He shook his head.
    Meg looked horrified. “But how could they do that to you
    and your sister?”
    Wes could feel his defenses rising. “They knew we’d be
    okay.”
    “But to go all this time and not talk to your kids?”
    He pushed up his glasses, trying to tamp down his anger.
    “What kind of parent does that?”
    “Actually…my sister has seen my dad.”
    Her eyes went wide. “When?”
    “A couple of months ago, someone stole Carlotta’s identity
    and jumped off a bridge. For a while, we all thought it was
    her. The news even reported her death.”
    “How awful.”
    “The D.A. asked Carlotta to play dead for a while, hoping it
    would bring my parents out of hiding.”
    “And she agreed?”
    “Only because the D.A. offered to do something for me,
    which he later reneged on.”
    “But the ploy didn’t work?”
    “My father must have suspected it was a trick. He showed
    up in disguise, slipped a note into my sister’s pocket.”
    Her eyes went wide. “What did it say?”
    “That he was proud of us, and he would see us soon.”
    “And have you heard from him since?”
    Wes hesitated, but he hated her thinking the worst of his
    parents. “Dad came up to Carlotta a few weeks ago at a
    rest area in Florida.”
    “She’d planned to meet him there?”
    “No. He must have been fol owing us. I was there, too, but
    I was in the car. He just walked up to her at a vending
    machine. Right under the nose of police.” He grinned.
    “He’s got bal s.”
    Meg looked less than convinced. “And then he
    disappeared again?”
    “Yeah. But he said he’d been keeping tabs on us.”
    “Did he say what they’ve been doing all this time?”
    “He said my mom had been sick some, and that he’d been
    gathering evidence to prove his innocence.”
    “So he’s going to come back?”
    “I think so.”
    Meg stared at him. “Wow. I can’t believe all these things
    have happened to you.”
    He shrugged, feeling worldly. “Believe it.”
    He could almost see the wheels in her head turning, but
    then she started sucking on the plastic stir stick, and he
    was totally distracted. She glanced at her watch. “I have to
    get going.”
    “Big plans?” he asked casually.
    “I’m committed to help out Habitat for Humanity today.”
    She rol ed the printout and stuffed it into her shoulder
    bag. “What about you, are you moving bodies today?”
    “I’m on call, so maybe. And I’m trying to locate a guy
    named Jett Logan. Do you know him?”
    She squinted. “Yeah—he’s an ATO. Alpha Tau Omega. Big
    party fraternity. How do you know Jett?”
    “Uh…I don’t. But I’m trying to get a message to him from a
    mutual