Free Dead Girl Moon by Charlie Price

reputation…”
    He tried one more time. “Think one of the Cassels killed her?”
    If Grace heard him, she gave no sign.
    Mick remembered JJ and scanned the crowd. Spotted her sitting out by the highway on the concrete block that anchored the drive-in’s sign. Waiting for the sliver of moon to clear the clouds, watching traffic, the kind of thing she usually did. JJ was right. She was almost invisible. She didn’t usually join in and nobody paid her any attention.
    A quick movement at the edge of the parking lot drew his eyes. Younger kids, squirreling around among the trees in the nearest yard. Mick could see the flash of Jon’s face darting in and out among five or six others. He didn’t tell Grace. She would think she needed to do something about it, grab him and haul him home or something. Mick knew that wouldn’t work. Jon would hit her and run off until she gave up trying to deal with him.
    In a corner of Skinny’s in the same direction, Mick saw Tim Cassel and his lineman buddy, Cunneen, talking with some other ballplayers and a couple of cheerleaders. He and Grace continued to comb the crowd but avoided that bunch. Nobody at the drive-in seemed to know who the dead girl went out with, or what her dad did for a living. After another fifteen minutes, they collected JJ and went back home, knowing that they’d hear a lot more in the days to come.
    Not telling Grace or JJ about seeing Jon was another mistake, one more little thing that caught up with him.

 
    25
    JJ LIKED TO WATCH the night traffic, follow the patterns of moving lights. More, she was happy waiting for the moon to clear the clouds, sneaking around like it had a secret. The evening sky had a washboard look, clouds thin, stretched by high winds. The moon made a soft glow traveling above them, peeking from time to time through small rifts. This moon … Banana? No, it was more special than that. A bright curve, pointed on both ends … like sideways horns. Longhorn Moon.
    Her concentration was interrupted by something stinging the side of her thigh. Horsefly? She brushed her leg. Felt it. Inside. In her pocket. She drew out the dark jewel she’d found by the river. What could it have come from? A necklace? A ring? And how long had it been lying by the river? Who lost it? A fisherman? A rafter? Did he even know it? Could it be a woman’s? Didn’t seem like that kind of jewelry.
    She looked at the stone more closely but the light wasn’t really bright enough. Square, dark, glossy, the silver inlay a “V” with a small sparkly gem in the very middle. The pattern reminded her of a logo, or a crest, like in her castle. Or Egypt, that god-eye shape. She didn’t think she’d seen this exact design before. She’d have to ask Gary.
    Another thought. When she’d seen the body, it looked like a girl she’d seen Larry Cassel talking to three or four times. Once, basket to basket in the grocery store. Another time the girl looking in his car’s passenger window as if he’d just honked at her. Last week, him smiling at her as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the café. That’s why she’d said Cassel’s girlfriend, but she had no idea whether it was true.
    She held the jewel up in Skinny’s neon illumination. Sell it? It looked valuable, exotic. Too beautiful to trade for cash. A wedding ring? No. Nobody had such a dark wedding ring. That was probably bad luck or something … and in that moment she had another thought. Could the jewel belong to the dead girl? Upriver, right by the water. But if she took it to the police, she’d have to tell them the whole story. No, she’d better ask Gary.

 
    26
    W HEN THEY GOT BACK TO THE COMPOUND , Mick was too restless to sleep. His dad was still gone. Mick lay on his bed, tried to read. Gave up and went to look at the river. Once in a while at night you’d see otter playing in the current. None tonight. Just JJ. Mick sat on the ground near her and stayed quiet, imagining that she never spent time