Free This is Your Afterlife by Vanessa Barneveld Page B

he here now?”
    â€œNo, I left him with his family.” And I kind of miss him.
    â€œThose poor people. They must be devastated. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” She squeezes me tight, and I hug her back even harder. “I bet they have so many questions.”
    â€œSo does Jimmy. He has no idea why he’s dead. Can you imagine how confused he must be?”
    â€œWhat do you think? You said he was at the waterhole. Did he drown?”
    â€œAnything’s possible. What I’m afraid of is that he might have committed suicide.” I can’t verbalize the suspicions I have about Dan. Not until I talk to him. If I can pin him down long enough.
    â€œWhat makes you say that?” It’s a sensitive topic. Mom knows better than anyone about suicide. Both of us do.
    â€œFootball.” I grimace and fill her in on his injury. The one that
didn’t
kill him.
    â€œThat’d be pretty tough to take.” She nods with understanding. “Did you notice any changes in his behavior over the past few weeks?”
    â€œWe were never that close,” I sigh. “But he was highly visible around school. He didn’t seem depressed. He used to clown around a lot. Always happy.”
    Mom’s expression dims. “Honey, some people hide it really well. They don’t want to worry anyone, especially if they’ve made peace with the decision.”
    â€œSo he could have been faking it.” I suck in a breath. “Wait, when he first appeared to me—as a ghost—he was mad about missing a game.”
    Mom nods slowly. “Okay, that’s interesting. He was still thinking of the future.”
    I slap the table. “More importantly, he was mad about being dead. He
couldn’t
have committed suicide. He was far too invested in staying alive.”
    â€œWhich leaves accidental death...” Mom says.
    â€œOr murder.”
    The word hangs in the air like a dirty gray, thunderous cloud.
    Jimmy had everything—looks, brains, talent, money, popularity. Those were the things that drew people to him. They were also the things that make some people insanely jealous.
    And if that’s the case, everyone’s a suspect in Jimmy’s death. My stomach twists at the thought of including his brother as a suspect. The Dan Hawkins I used to know isn’t capable of murder. He’s sensitive and kind. Not cold-blooded and cruel.
    Then again, maybe the Hawkins family isn’t as picture-perfect as they seem. If it turns out Jimmy was killed by his own brother, I don’t know what it would do to him.
    Or to me.

Chapter Ten
    The doorbell rings, breaking the thoughtful silence between Mom and me.
    My stomach clenches. “That’s got to be Deputy Charlie, I know it.”
    Mom’s eyes grow huge. She finger-combs her hair. “Charlie? You’re expecting him? Why didn’t you tell me?”
    â€œI was kind of hoping he’d get totally swamped and forget he wanted to question me.”
    â€œCharlie’s like an elephant. He never forgets,” Mom says. Then she catches herself again. “Hold up, why would he want to talk to you?”
    I clear my throat and talk fast. “Because I found Jimmy’s body, remember? To be more accurate, Jimmy showed me. I didn’t tell Charlie that’s how I found the body.”
    She flinches. “Meaning he suspects
you
have some kind of sinister involvement in all this.”
    The doorbell rings again.
    Squeezing my shoulders, she says, “You stay right here.
I’ll
handle Charlie.”
    Straight-backed, she marches to the front door in her pink, lamb-print pajamas.
    My mother, my hero. I grin.
    Keira!
    I glance around the empty kitchen.
    Keira!
Jimmy moans.
    It sounds like he’s outside. I wrench open the back door. Sure enough, there he is on the stoop, dripping unearthly blood and water. His face is a picture of intense panic, matching his