Free Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3) by Joy Elbel Page B

minutes to Rachel was apparently more like five
hours. “Sorry, Rachel. You know how it is when Zach and I
are together. We lost track of time.”
    Rachel gave
me a
wink
and
a
knowing
look
but
actually she had no idea. Zach and I weren’t late from making
out. We were late from arguing. Arguing about Lucas. Again.
    In the end, Zach was happy to hear that Lucas would
be gone for the weekend. So happy, in fact, that he told me he
had a special date planned for me.
He was
taking
me
somewhere we’d never been before—to a place he’d wanted
to take me ever since we started dating. He wouldn’t tell me
where we were going but I didn’t care. This date would be
some much needed alone time for the two of us.
    Boone and Drake were waiting in the living room with
matching looks of skepticism on their faces. I pulled Rachel to
the side and whispered to her, “How much do they know
about me? Did you tell them about—”
    “Nothing,” Rachel interjected, “I told them nothing.
Boone doesn’t even know about what happened this summer.
That’s why they’re both looking at us like that. They think
we’re just two silly girls playing detective or something.”
    “Thanks, Rachel,” I said, already feeling more at ease.
“You, Zach, Rita, and Mr. Raspatello are the only ones who
know the whole truth. I’d like to keep it that way.”
    “Wait? Did you just say Mr. Raspatello knows?”
Rachel scrunched up her face and cocked her head to the side.
“Never mind—you can tell me that story later.”
    Rachel plopped down on the couch between Boone
and Drake and I snuggled up close to Zach in an oversized
chair. We all just sat there looking at each other until Rachel
got things moving.
    “Okay, Drake. I can’t explain any more to you than I
already have but Ruby and I have a plan to help find Crimson.
But first, we need to know all of the
details
about your
relationship with Allison and the circumstances surrounding
her disappearance.”
    Sad Rachel was now gone but replaced by an even
more confident Rachel than she was before this whole mess
started. If this didn’t work, she was going to be epically
disappointed. Epically disappointed in me . I was starting to
understand what they meant by the phrase “performance
anxiety”.
“Look, Rachel, I know you want to help but….” Boone
trailed off when Rachel shot him “the look”.
     
“Go ahead, Drake,” she replied sweetly, pretending
that Boone never interrupted. “Tell us how you met.”
    Drake ran a hand through his thick brown hair. “Well,
I met her my senior year.
Me and my buddies snuck into one
of the big college parties over at the campus. We just wanted
to get drunk and run with the big dogs for the night, you
know. We weren’t even there five minutes when we heard
sirens and somebody yelled ‘COPS!’.
The whole place went
nuts.
They were telling everyone underage to run out the
back so I just did what they said and ran for it. I got separated
from my friends and I didn’t have a ride home so I started
walking. That’s when I met Allison.”
    Something about his voice changed when he spoke
her name.
In that moment, I knew that Drake had been in
love with her. She wasn’t just some girl he dated—she meant way more to him than that.
Knowing how strongly he felt
about her made me want to find out what happened to her
even more.
I knew what it was like to lose someone you
loved. How much worse would it be to know that person was
tortured and killed so sadistically?
And that you were the
only suspect? Zach wrapped his arms around me just a little
tighter and I returned the sentiment. Out of the corner of my
eye, I watched as Rachel and Boone did the same.
    Drake went on without displaying his emotions but I
knew they were still in there just below the surface. “I was
walking past that little park in front of the campus library
when I heard this couple arguing. It was getting pretty heated
so I thought I would check to see if she