Between Love and Murder by Chris Bedell

Author:Chris Bedell
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781950502226
Publisher: Willow River Press
Published: 2020-04-21T04:00:00+00:00

AFTER

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2019

I sat at an empty cafeteria table before first period, finishing homework from my Algebra 2 class. Apparently, some things escaped me no matter how diligent I was—I could’ve sworn I did the assignment last night.

Someone tapped my back.

I lifted my gaze off my textbook and notebook. “Excited for the weekend, Mallory?”

“Yeah.” She twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “Mind if I sit?”

The constricted feeling returned to my throat.

Being at school didn’t mean I forgot about my scheming with Gemma—I hadn’t. So, a conversation might give me guilt pangs. Yet I couldn’t do anything to Mallory. Tipping her off was the last thing I needed. Gemma was probably more dangerous than Mallory—her hatred for Mallory was palpable. If I hadn’t agreed to help Gemma, then she might’ve resorted to violence for punishing Mallory. In a way, I looked out for Mallory. Even if Mallory would never see it that way if she discovered the truth.

“Well?” Mallory asked.

I nodded. “Sure. Company would be nice.”

“Thanks.” Mallory shifted her posture after sitting down next to me. “Anyway, I owe you an apology.”

“For what?”

“That day in the hallway when I chatted with Archie. I didn’t realize it at first, but it looked bad.”

Shit. Mallory’s contrition didn’t help me. If anything, I would’ve been able to sleep better at night if she did something even worse than her indecent proposal. At least then I wouldn’t have had any doubts about working with Gemma.

“Don’t worry about it.” I scribbled the question’s answer down in my notebook. “You can talk with Archie as much as you want.”

“That’s kind of you to say, but please don’t make excuses for me. My therapist says honesty is the only way for me be emotionally healthy.”

“You like your counselor?”

“Yes, I do. He’s neither condescending nor too blunt.”

“As long as it helps.”

“It is—I’m gonna have a great life, and there’s nothing that bitch Gemma Drake can do about it.”

Gemma. If a conversation or event didn’t return to Mallory, it came back to Gemma. I didn’t have my head stuck up my ass, and I’d have to tell her how I’d get the proof she needed to destroy Mallory—like how Kelly stored the flash drive and Tommy’s gun.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mallory asked.

“Just school stress.”

She patted my hand. “You’ll be fine.”

Wait. Not gloating to Mallory about my intentions with Gemma’s didn’t mean I couldn’t alleviate some guilt. Like with how Detective Garrison and Jones tried getting information from me. The revelation might even make Mallory trust me more, which might help my scheming with Gemma.

“I haven’t been honest with you,” I said.

She giggled. “Don’t tell me you and Gemma are secretly best friends?”

Creepy. Her joke shouldn’t have been closer to the truth than she realized. There was good intuition and then there was the freaky kind of sixth sense.

“I didn’t wanna alarm you, but the detectives assigned to Tommy’s case recently chatted with me,” I said. “I just said I didn’t know anything apart from how you and Tommy seemed content.

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