“Just so you know, I don’t actually know if ghosts are real.” Logan fidgeted, placing a hand on her hip and then down again at her side. Her eyes were sunken with exhaustion, trained on the lakefront highway that stretched beyond the parking lot. “I don’t know if that’s what you were gonna ask. But yeah.”
“The thing I saw last night wasn’t a hallucination,” Ashley said.
“You think it was something paranormal?”
“I don’t know. Have you ever seen anything paranormal?”
Logan grimaced. “No. Never.”
“Oh.”
“But you don’t want it to be paranormal,” Logan said. “You wanna find this Tristan dude, right? Alive?”
Ashley nodded.
Logan mulled over it for a moment. Her expression was difficult to read, both pensive and worried. She rubbed her palm over the back of her neck, eyes trained on the pavement.
“The F-word wasn’t the only thing on my dads’ door last night.” Logan closed her eyes and exhaled. “It said you killed him, too.”
Ashley sucked in a breath. John and Paul were the ones who’d done the graffiti. Writing you killed him meant John and Paul thought Tristan was dead. Anger boiled up in Ashley’s chest. All the searches, all the vigils, all the times they said we’ll find him soon … they didn’t believe any of it. It was all for show.
Logan cleared her throat. “Do people think my dads hurt someone?”
“I don’t know who put that on—”
“I’m not saying you know anything,” Logan said, hands raised in surrender. “I’m asking about what it said. Do people think my dads hurt that guy, or is this how you guys greet all gays?”
Ashley blinked, briefly staggered by how casually Logan said it. “I don’t really have an opinion.”
“Oh my god. I’m not asking your opinion. I’m asking if everyone in this town thinks my dads killed someone.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
Logan exhaled. “Why?”
“Tristan went missing in January. A week after your dad got here.” Ashley cleared her throat. “You have to admit, it’s kinda…”
“I don’t have to admit anything,” Logan said. “Where did people see him last?”
Ashley closed her eyes. “I was the last one who saw him. He was over at my place. And then he disappeared.”
“Oh.” Logan’s eyes widened. “Were you two—”
“Dating. Yeah.”
“Yikes.”
It was the most inappropriate reaction to the disappearance that Ashley had heard so far. And somehow, it was the most refreshing. Logan bundled her arms into her sweater sleeves and crossed her arms. “You’ve been looking for him?”
“Yeah,” Ashley said. “It’s weird, but it’s like I still feel him here. I have these flashes of him, like he’s right next to me. And then last night…”
Logan pressed her fingers to her lips, considering. Warm wind buffeted along the highway, warmer than it should be this early in the morning. Beads of sweat pricked at the back of Ashley’s neck. After a moment, Logan exhaled.
“You want help finding him?”
Ashley paused. “Why would you help me?”
“Because if we find him, he’s not dead. And everyone will know my dads didn’t do anything.”
Ashley nodded. “That makes sense.”