Ashes to Ashes Read Free Page A

sorry,” I whisper.
    Kat wipes her eyes with her sleeve. “It’s fine. Whatever. I just needed to say my piece.” She grits her teeth and forces a smile, and it looks terrible. In a deadpan voice she says, “I feel better already.”
    I reach out and give her shoulder a squeeze. I’m going tohave to face Mary eventually. I owe her that. I close Rennie’s locker door and hoist up the box of her things. “Let’s go over to Mary’s.”
    We take my car. As we get closer, Kat says, “Here’s what I’m thinking. If Mary’s home and it doesn’t seem like she knows about you and Reeve and what happened on New Year’s Eve . . . maybe you don’t tell her.”
    I draw in my breath. “I can’t not tell her.” Can I?
    â€œBut like you said, it’s over, and it would only hurt her. So there’s no point, right?”
    â€œI guess so.” I don’t want to hurt Mary. That’s the last thing I want. And this thing with Reeve really is over. Maybe Kat’s right.
    I park in Mary’s driveway, right behind her aunt’s Volvo. It doesn’t look like anyone’s shoveled the snow; it’s melting in patches. When I get out of the car, the bottoms of my boots crunch on broken glass. Kat and I look at each other, uneasy.
    We go up to the front door and ring the bell, but no one answers. I have this weird feeling, like someone is watching us. It’s the prickly-back-of-the-neck feeling I get late at night when the whole house is asleep and I go downstairs to get a glass of water. I always run back to my room fast.
    Kat starts knocking on the door, hard.
    â€œThis is creepy,” I whisper.
    Kat keeps knocking until her knuckles turn red. “Shit.” She presses up close to the window. “It looks like a tornado blew through there.”
    I press my nose up against the glass. Oh my God. The dining room chairs are knocked over; the entryway table is on its side. “Kat, Mary could be in serious trouble. We have to call the police!”
    â€œThe police?” Kat repeats. She’s craning her neck, trying to see up the stairs. “Why don’t we just break in ourselves and see what’s what?”
    â€œBecause there could be an intruder in there! Who knows what we’d be walking into!” I grab her by the arm and drag her back to the car, where I take out my cell and dial 911.

Chapter Four
KAT
    I T’S A FREAKING HALF HOUR before a cop car rolls up to Mary’s house. So much for a goddamned emergency.
    Lillia jumps out of the car and walks down the sidewalk to meet the officer at the walkway. I’m a few steps behind her when Eddie Shofull climbs out of the squad car like a damn cowboy.
    â€œYou’ve gotta be kidding me,” I say.
    Officer Eddie Shofull is all of twenty-two years old. He looks way more like a boy dressed up in a cop uniform than an actual cop. He used to be friends with Pat back in high school. Scratch that. Eddie used to smoke weed with Pat back in highschool. After graduation, too. Basically until he joined the Jar Island Police Force. His father is a deputy sheriff. Jar Island nepotism at its finest.
    Eddie glares at me. “What’d you expect, Kat? A detective?”
    â€œUm, yeah. Considering we’ve got a missing-persons case here. Or a possible hostage situation.”
    Eddie rolls his eyes and radios in that he has arrived on the scene.
    â€œOfficer,” Lillia says, and nudges me to the side. “Please. We haven’t been able to get in touch with our friend. Her guardian had mental health issues, and we want to make sure she’s okay.”
    Eddie looks over the tops of our heads at the house. “When was the last time you saw her?”
    â€œBefore New Year’s Eve,” Lillia answers quickly.
    â€œHave you tried calling her?”
    I throw my hands into the air. “Of course we’ve tried calling,