The Broken Lake (The Pace Series, Book 2)

  He looked surprised. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  I stepped closer to him. “Then why aren’t you talking?”

  “I’m just thinking.” He leaned in to kiss me on my cheek and then signaled for me to get in. I didn’t want to. I wanted to stand there until I knew he was okay, but my stubbornness had already caused enough trouble. I got in and he closed the door.

  We drove for a few miles and the silence was killing me. “Wes, please tell me what you’re thinking.”

  Still looking straight ahead, he said, “I don’t know what that was back there. I’m trying to figure it out.”

  “It was just Chase. I’m telling you, he gets off on challenging people.”

  He shook his head. “No, Sophie. He was on something. He was crazy. He was…”

  “He was what?”

  “He was stronger than a normal person.”

  I didn’t understand. “He wasn’t stronger than you.”

  “Trust me, he was stronger than normal. He was almost like...”

  He stepped on the brakes and pulled over. The abrupt deceleration propelled me forward, and without the restraint of my shoulder strap, I might’ve hit the dash.

  “Almost like who?”

  He turned to face me. “He was like Andy. I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection.”

  My heart stopped. “What? No. Wait. You don’t think—”

  “I don’t know what I think right now, but I know you are not leaving my sight for a second. And you are not to go near that bookstore.”

  “Okay, wait. Let’s think about this for a second. What’s happening?”

  “Sophie, this could be bigger than either of us realize. If Andy was on some sort of serum derived from what was stolen from my labs, then who knows who else is.”

  “Andy wouldn’t have spread it around. He wanted it for himself, and for his—Oh, my gosh. His grandson.”

  Wes leaned his head against his headrest and closed his eyes. He started massaging his eyelids in a circular motion with his palms.

  “Wes, Chase can’t be Andy’s grandson. No way. He’s just on regular drugs.”

  He was still rubbing his eyes.

  “Wes, you’re scaring me.”

  He exhaled. “It all makes sense.” He opened his eyes and turned back to me. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it.”

  “See what?” I was getting worked up now.

  “The party. The bookstore. Ms. Mary. Chase messing with you all the time. Chase hating me. Chase challenging me.”

  “Wait a minute. What about Ms. Mary?”

  “Think, Sophie. He approached you at that party you went to in January. Then, after Andy dies, so does Ms. Mary. Then he conveniently has a job at the bookstore. He always provokes you, and now he challenges me in public.” He paused and closed his eyes again. After a minute, he whispered, “He knows.”

  “Knows what?” I grabbed his hands.

  “He knows about the gator blood. He knows about us.”

  I froze. No. It couldn’t be. There was no way. It was just annoying Chase. Or was it?

  He was annoying, but he was also insanely inhumane. I had watched him beat that guy to a pulp without a single ounce of mercy. I watched him laughing as he was being punched in the face. I had watched him overpower that man with superhuman strength. And he told me I had secrets. He told me his hatred was bigger than the book­store. I sank back into my seat. Now I was the one rubbing my eyes and it wasn’t working. I couldn’t settle my nerves with silence or thoughts. I needed facts.

  I sat up straight. “Wes, take me home. We need to get to my computer.”

  He looked at me, confused. “For what?”

  “Research. We need to find out about Chase. We don’t know for sure. We can’t assume. We need details.”

  He nodded, respecting my rationale, and put us in motion and back onto the highway. Once we were in my room, I quickly slid into my computer chair. I typed Chase’s first name then realized I didn’t know his last name. I only hoped it wasn’t Walters. Please, don’t be Walters.

  I turned to Wes, who was pacing my floor. “I don’t know his last name.”

  He stopped in his tracks and started biting his thumbnail. After a minute, he started pacing again. I sensed his frustration building.

  I thought for a moment, my gaze following him. “Wait. I know.”

  I hopped up and grabbed my cell phone. Within seconds Dawn picked up. I didn’t even say hello.

  “Dawn, this is Sophie. What’s Chase’s last name?”

  She was silent for a second. “Chambers. Why?”

  “Thanks!”

  I hung up the phone, realizing that I’d been rude, but was too concerned to call her back. I went back to my computer and typed “Chase+Chambers” into a search engine. Apparently there were a lot of people named Chase Chambers out there. It would take too long to sort through all of them, so I decided to try Facebook.

  I didn’t have an account, but my best friend in Virginia did. Kerry had given me her password because there were a few times she wanted me to go in and peek at some profiles of students at my old school.

  Once I logged in, I searched for Chase Chambers. He was easy to find once I narrowed down the city. His thumbnail was a picture of him, shirtless, with a tattoo of a snake slithering down his abs.

  I opened his wall and there were a bunch of comments from other guys with buzz cuts.

  Nothing stood out linking him to Andy. I was reading through his profile when I realized Wes was now looking over my shoulder, reading intently.

  I quickly scanned the posts and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I closed out, trying to think of something else. Andy, I thought. As creepy as it sounded, I had heard of people’s pages still being active after they died, so I took a shot.

  Sure enough, Andy’s page was still active. Wes quickly knelt beside me, reading the information on the computer screen. We opened Andy’s profile photos and found several pictures of his family, most of his son in military fatigues, but only one of his grandson. The picture was old. It was taken in front of a Christmas tree. In it were Andy’s son, a woman who I took to be the mother, and between them was a boy. He looked to be about ten years old. His hair was dark, unlike Andy’s, and although it was hard to see his face clearly, it was easy to tell he was not Chase.

  I relaxed instantly. So did Wes. Both of us exhaled. Wes looked at the floor and then stood up. He walked over to the bed and plopped down silently. I turned back to the picture for further confirmation. I looked closely, feeling relieved, but like I had seen the boy somewhere before. I looked even closer. The names under the picture read: Sally, Johnny, and Timmy.

  I started to feel sorry for them. I had remembered Andy telling me that his son died in combat and his daughter-in-law died of cancer. That meant Timmy was the only one still living. I wondered about him. I remembered Andy saying he had wanted to make him the new Wes. What is he doing now?

  I closed out the webpage, trying to block it out. I felt sorry for him in a way, but was so glad it wasn’t Chase. Chase was just a messed up, attention-seeking, wannabe tough guy. I lay down next to Wes. He put his arm around me and gave me a gentle squeeze.

  “What do you think?”

  He let out a built-up sigh. “I don’t know what to think. I still don’t like how I felt around Chase. I still don’t like you being around him. And I still don’t like not knowing who else is out there.”

  I understood that. I felt the same way about everything he said, but I didn’t want it to affect us.

  “But you do feel better, right?”

  “Much better.” He definitely seemed more relaxed than he had been moments before, but still not completely himself.

  I had an idea. “You know what?”

  “What?”

  “I think things are going nuts around here. My mom is locking me in once this alarm is activated. My job is really not fun any more. And Chase is a weirdo. I think it’s time for us to have another
getaway.”

  He pulled me closer. “I think you might be right.”

  “Good. Now where to?”

  He started stroking my hair. “Wherever you want.”

  “No. It’s your turn to pick, remember?”

  “That’s right. Let me think.”

  He was quiet. I tested him about how far he was willing to go. “Maybe the Bahamas? Hawaii?”

  “You can’t go that far. Your mom will never go for it.”

  “Yes, she will. I’m eighteen. I can do what I want. Okay, well, she will if I tell her it’s a spring break getaway with a friend.”

  “You don’t need to lie to your mother.”

  I kicked one leg, like a spoiled child. “Oh, come on, Wes. I want to go far away from this place. We need a real break.”

  “You’re right about that.” He was silent again. “How about Virginia?” he finally suggested.

  “Virginia?”

  “Yeah, you’re always talking about visiting Kerry again. That’s pretty far away, and I’m sure your mom would approve.”

  I was sure she would too. I went every summer to visit Kerry.

  I sat up in the blue glow of my clock, looking at him. “You forgot one thing.” I leaned closer, waiting for him to acknowledge it. He just stared back at me. “It’s cold in Virginia,” I said.

  It was early March, and that meant it could still get really cold there. In fact, two of the biggest blizzards I remembered had been in March.

  “I’m not afraid of the cold, Sophie.”

  I rolled my eyes and plopped back down. “Well, it can snow there in March too.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.”

  He was quiet.

  “I haven’t seen snow in I don’t even know how long.”

  I was quiet.

  “I think it would be nice,” he continued.

  “Are you joking? Come on, Wes. You can’t get cold.”

  “I can’t get hot either, so Hawaii is out. Plus, it’s a lot easier for me to keep warm than it is to stay cool when it’s burning up outside.”

  “I am not taking you into the snow.”

  “Sophie.” He turned to me now, and I was glad I couldn’t see those chocolate browns in the darkness. “I’d really like it. You’re the one who says we need to take the future on a detour. Try new things. What’s more new than that? And I wouldn’t go if I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

  I shook my head. “Then why can’t you remember the last time you’ve seen snow?”

  “I didn’t have a reason before. Now I do. I want to take you to see your friend and I want to go somewhere new.”

  I didn’t say no, but I didn’t say yes either. It was insane. Was he kidding? Visions of him in hypothermic shock after he jumped in to save that drowning girl last November flashed through my brain. I shuddered.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “How can you say that when you almost died just by jumping into cold water? No way. I’m not going there again.”

  He moved my hair away from my face, and made me look up at him. He kissed my forehead. “That’s because I wasn’t prepared. Once you got me warm, I was fine.”

  “Wes, it’s probably going to be forty degrees or lower, the whole time. No way.”

  He chuckled. “They have coats and hats and scarves. I can go out in the cold. Just not for long periods. They do have houses in Virginia, don’t they?”

  “Stop it. Of course they have houses.”

  “Then it’s settled. You’re taking me to see some snow.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but he kissed me first. I pulled away, but he pressed further, rolling himself on top of me. I felt his wide shoulders hover over me, making me feel small and protected. Making me feel good.

  He was so not playing fair. My eyes rolled back in complete bliss as I let him kiss me. His lips traveled down my neck onto the bare skin that was peeking out from the neckline of my tunic.

  I shoved him. “Stop it.”

  He lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”

  “I know what you’re doing and it’s not working. I don’t want to go to Virginia.”

  “Yes, you do.” He kissed me again. Same spot.

  “Wes, please. This is serious.”

  He stopped. “Don’t you trust me?”

  Catching my breath, I said, “Of course I trust you.”

  “Then believe me when I tell you I can go to Virginia. I’ll be fine. I want to go away with you. Please.”

  “Well, get off of me then.”

  Taken aback by my request, he responded in a shocked voice, “What?”

  “I need to think straight. And I can’t with you seducing me.”

  Without argument, he rolled over so that no part of his body touched me.

  I pondered the details. Okay, if he had a heavy coat that held in the warmth, and we stayed indoors most of the time, then maybe. Kerry’s family had a nice ski chalet in Wintergreen. Wes would actually like it there. It reminded me of his place. We could stay nice and toasty in there, and the view was to die for. Well, not literally.

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m sure. Does that mean we’re going?”

  As unsure as I could possibly sound, I answered, “I guess.” It was almost like a question.

  He quickly rolled back over and gave me a big kiss. I must say it was nice seeing his mood change. I no longer felt his worry, frustration, anger, or concern. He seemed much better. More relaxed, for sure. I only wished I felt the same.

  Chapter 13

  PLANS

  I was so glad Wes had stayed the night, because Mom had the alarm activated the next day. No more sneaking in at night. At least, not until I could figure out a way to bypass my zone. It sucked. But it caused me to dive right into making plans for the trip. The more I felt locked in at my house, the more I wanted to get out.

  I called Kerry on Sunday to feel her out about a visit, and she was stoked. She said we could use her parent’s ski chalet for sure. She and her boyfriend Rich went up there with friends almost every weekend in the winter. I’m sure they all had a great time, but I honestly didn’t want to mingle with anyone from my old school.

  I had to ask. “Is it just going to be you and Rich or are you bringing others?”

  “Oh, no. We barely hang out with anyone anymore. There’s so much drama going on. I’m so over it. You can bring friends, though. I’d love to see a bunch of people with California tans.”

  We planned the trip for the following weekend, and once I finished talking to her, I moved on to Mom. It was surprisingly easy. I had gone skiing with Kerry several times, so she was fine with it. She didn’t even ask me if I was taking anyone, so I didn’t have to go there. She was used to me flying back there alone, and just assumed it was the same old, same old.

  The next morning, I called Mr. Healey and told him that I couldn’t work with Chase anymore. I didn’t mean to get Dawn in trouble, but I told him that if Dawn was going to be out and Chase was filling in, then I’d have to take off. He agreed, but asked why. I didn’t go too far into detail, but I did tell him that Chase purposely distracted me at work.

  No offense to Mr. Healey, but I thought it was the smart thing to do. I couldn’t stand the tension between Chase and me anymore, and there definitely didn’t need to be any more encounters between him and Wes.

  While I had him on the phone, I requested Friday and Saturday off, assuring him it was only because I was going out of town to visit my friend in Virginia. Not that I was avoiding work altogether. He had no problem with that.

  By the time Wednesday came around, Dawn was already in on my request off. I guess her dad was trying to find coverage. She called me first thing that morning.

  “Why are you sticking me with him?”

  “Who?” I asked, barely awake.

  “Chase.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, don’t play dumb. I know wh
at happened last weekend. Chase told me that Wes attacked him.”

  “What? Dawn, please. Wes wouldn’t attack anyone.”

  “Well, that’s what Chase said.”

  “Well, he’s a liar.”

  “So what happened then?”

  “Chase was being Chase and purposely trying to get on my nerves. He was flirting with me in front of Wes, and then told Wes he should put me on a leash before someone steals me.”

  “No way.”

  “Yes, way. And when Wes and I tried to leave, he still kept egging him on. Then he sucker punched Wes in the back and grabbed my hair. Wes had no choice but to put that little punk in his place.”

  “Oh, my gosh. That is so not what he said.”

  I really didn’t care what he said. I was over it. All I wanted to do was avoid him.

  “Well, anyway, thanks to you, he’s all over me now. Messing with me. Asking me what your problem is all the time. Ugh.”

  Sorry to hear it, but he isn’t my problem anymore.

  “So where are you going anyway?”

  “Skiing.” I answered, still not quite believing it myself.

  “Where?” She shot back.

  “Virginia.”

  “Oh, cool. You’re so lucky.”

  There was a moment of silence.

  “Well, the real reason I’m calling is because I was hoping you could give me a ride to work. My car’s in the shop, and Jackson has to work.”

  “Sure.”

  I picked her up at 3:30. She usually arrived at work at 4:00.

  She wasn’t in the car two seconds before she started up with our earlier conversation. “So who’s in Virginia?”

  “My friend Kerry.”

  “Cool. Are you going alone?”

  “No…”

  “I knew it! That is so not fair. I want to come. And Jackson. Please take us with you. Please.”

  I looked at her and she had her palms together, like she was praying.

  “Please?” she pleaded.

  I did not plan on bringing anyone but Wes. I really didn’t want company, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that she and Jackson just might provide more company for Kerry and Rich than we could. We were going to a ski area, and I wouldn’t be able to ski. Wes and I would mostly be holed up in the house.