Four Letter Word by Gretchen McNeil

Author:Gretchen McNeil [McNeil, Gretchen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Published: 2023-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

IT WAS ALMOST DAWN. NOT THAT IZZY COULD TELL FROM THE dark sky outside her dormer window. Heavy clouds crowded upon each other, stretching as far as the horizon, a warning that the Storm of the Century was almost upon them, and the only reason Izzy knew it was five o’clock in the morning was because the grandfather clock in the corner of her room told her so.

Izzy hadn’t slept. She sat up with Parker in the living room until well after two while he binged the new season of Only Murders in the Building. A questionable decision, given the news of Kylie’s death, but Parker was a scientist, and his left-leaning brain had always compartmentalized emotions in a way Izzy envied. Nothing to be afraid of if you kept your feelings at arm’s length.

Alberto had discreetly excused himself to bed soon after they’d gotten home while Parker filled Izzy in on what he knew. Which wasn’t much. He’d been downstairs helping their mom clean up from dinner while Riley packed upstairs. The knock at their door had been sharp and unapologetic, as were the three officers who stood on the porch when Parker answered.

Riley was wanted for questioning in regard to the death of Kylie Fernández, whose body had been discovered earlier that evening. He wasn’t being arrested or charged with anything, but he needed to accompany the officers to the station, they told him, whereupon they handcuffed him “for his safety and theirs” and led him out to a waiting squad car.

Izzy’s mom had shifted into Mama Bear mode, peppering the officers with questions as she followed them outside. Because Riley wasn’t a minor anymore, she wasn’t allowed to accompany him in the squad car, so she’d hopped in the minivan and raced off behind them.

The texts and voicemails her mom had sent over the next hour had confirmed both what Parker knew and what Izzy suspected—that Riley was being questioned, not arrested; that her mom’s mood was manic; and that Kylie’s death was being investigated as a homicide.

Izzy’s mind immediately flew to Greg Loomis, Kylie’s ex who had threatened her at Woodley’s. He seemed like the right brand of entitled, emasculated white dude who would murder his ex-girlfriend simply because she refused to get back together with him, and she hoped that the police were questioning him as well. Definitely a better suspect than her sex-obsessed yet slightly prissy brother.

She told her mom as much during one of their thirteen conversations over the next few hours. Parker’s phone never so much as lit up from a text.

“Greg Loomis,” her mom had repeated slowly, as if she was writing down the name with pen and paper.

“Yeah, he’s a fisherman, I think,” Izzy said. “Alberto, Pey, and I saw him threaten Kylie at work.”

“How’s Alberto?” her mom asked, ignoring the rest. “I hope he’s not disturbed by all the police activity.”

“No.” But he will be if Hunter’s dad presses charges.

“Good.” She let out a slow breath, then launched into a fast-paced monologue.

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