The Thrashers(52)
Jodi slid through the April pages, trying to find something about Emily wanting to kill herself in that month. A knock on the bathroom door jarred her. She dropped her phone.
“Jodi?” Maureen said. “Are you alright?”
She grabbed her phone, turned off the video, and said tightly, “Yeah, I’m just … I got overwhelmed.”
“Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay.”
Glancing at Emily’s cell phone, Jodi made a choice. She came to find out what was on the cell phone. She shoved the journal back into the hole in the wall and jerked to her feet. “Give me just one second to finish up.”
She opened Emily’s phone—Mr. Mills wouldn’t let them have passcodes—and went to her texts. The phone buzzed again with new notifications, and Jodi hurried to turn off the sound. Six voicemails. All from Hannah in the past few months. Jodi ignored them and scrolled through the texts.
She found her thread with Zack, checking just the last few messages. All from Emily. Sending him memes or “this made me think of you.”
Jodi’s fingers were shaking as she searched for Julian. Nothing.
She typed Julian’s name into the search—
Maureen knocked again.
“Sorry. Just washing my hands.”
Nothing turned up for Julian. Jodi knew the first three digits of his number, and typed that in.
Nothing.
She switched on the taps, closed the messages on Emily’s phone, and powered it down. She didn’t wait for it to turn off before shoving it into the wall and replacing the tile.
She pushed her fingers under the water, dragged them down her cheeks, and opened the door.
“Sorry,” she said weakly, and then her words choked off.
Robert Mills was standing at the door, staring at her over the rims of his glasses. His eyes flicked behind her into the bathroom. “My wife went to make you tea.”
“Yeah,” Jodi squeaked. “I just got emotional, thinking about Emily…” Jodi let her staggered breathing and shaking limbs tell the lie for her.
He didn’t respond—didn’t move. He examined her like she was a problem to solve. Jodi’s heart pounded as he stepped to the side and let her out of the bathroom.
“Are you staying for dinner?” he asked. There was no kindness in the offer. Almost like he didn’t want her to accept.
“Thank you, no. I have to get home.” She stumbled toward the stairs. Maureen was calling for her from the kitchen.
She extricated herself and thanked them, glancing up to Robert Mills, still at the top of the stairs. Maureen hugged her goodbye, and Jodi left as fast as she could without running.
Darting to the bus stop, she couldn’t stop thinking about Robert Mills’s expression when she opened the door. Like he didn’t want her there at all. It wasn’t until she was on the bus that she let herself think about what she’d found.
If Emily’s journal was hidden in the bathroom wall … then what did the police have?
Case No. 4512420
Excerpt from the journal of Emily Mills
Entered into evidence 6.08.2024 by Det. Chelsea Harding
Nov. 11, 2023
ZACK THRASHER INVITED ME TO HANG OUT WITH THEM!!! OMG I CAN’T STOP SMILING!!!
I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN!! I JUST NEEDED TO BE PATIENT AND I WAS. OMG. WE’rE GOING TO THE ROSE GARDEN IN THE PARK BY MY HOUSE—AFTER MIDNIGHT. I GUESS THEY LIKE TO GO THERE TO SMOKE AND DRINK. I THINK IT’S REALLY DANGEROUS THOUGH BECAUSE THERE CAN BE DESTITUTE PEOPLE AND DRUG ADDICTS, AND A LOT OF HOUSES ARE AROUND THE PARK, SO ANYONE COULD CALL THE COPS. BUT I GUESS THEY DO IT ALL THE TIME? I DUNNO. ISN’T THAT WEIRD? THAT I’VE BEEN LIVING IN THIS HOUSE SINCE I WAS BORN AND ZACK THRASHER HAS BEEN HANGING OUT PRACTICALLY ACROSS THE STREET FOR YEARS? I FEEL LIKE THAT’S FATE OR SOMETHING.
HE ASKED ME TODAY IF I COULD SNEAK OUT OF MY HOUSE AND MEET THEM. I’VE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE, AND MY DAD WOULD ABSOLUTELY KILL ME IF HE CAUGHT ME, BUT I TOLD ZACK THERE’S A TREE NEAR MY WINDOW. AND THEN
AND THEN
AND THEN HE SAID, “OH, I DON’T WANT YOU TO HURT YOURSELF. WHY DON’T I COME HELP YOU CLIMB OUT?”
MY FACE TURNED BRIGHT RED. LIKE ZACK THRASHER WOULD KNOW WHERE MY BEDROOM WAS????? OMG. SO I WAS LIKE, “YEAH COOL.” SO I’M SITTING HERE IN MY BEDROOM, AT 11:30 JUST WAITING FOR ZACK THRASHER’S FACE TO POP UP IN MY WINDOW LIKE FREAKING PETER PAN. OH GOD I’M SO EXCITED.
I’M GOING TO MAKE LUCY REED LIKE ME TONIGHT. THAT’S MY #1 GOAL. (BESIDES GETTING ZACK TO “TAKE ME SOMEWHERE PRIVATE” OF COURSE HA). IF THEY OFFER ME WEED, I’M GONNA TAKE IT. I DON’T WANT TO LOOK LIKE A DORK. OMG I CAN’T WAIT TO WRITE ALL ABOUT IT TOMORROW.
Chapter Fifteen
Jodi sat on her bed that evening going through the pictures and video she’d taken of Emily’s journal.
Emily’s real journal? Could she be sure of that?
Even as she looked over what was clearly Emily’s handwriting, Jodi still couldn’t be positive that the police had a fake. Maybe this one was the fake.
Jumping off her bed, Jodi sent the pictures and video to her computer so she could examine them better. She had been flipping pages so fast that a lot of the entries were too blurry to make much out of them.