Lights Out by Hart Kipness Elise

Author:Hart Kipness, Elise
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2023-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

I sit at my kitchen counter, still smarting from Liam Murphy whiplash. I can hear my brother’s voice in my brain. Fool me once . . .

Yvette calls to say she found a garbage bag in Gene’s gym bag filled with what look like financial papers but that she can’t make sense of them. I jump at the opportunity to pick them up so I can ask Yvette in person about her and Kurt’s fights. I pull my jacket on and walk into the cold afternoon air. All around me Halloween decorations bob and bounce, chiding me for my delinquency. I avert my eyes from the giant Casper blow-up in my neighbor’s yard. I swear the friendly ghost is throwing shade my way.

Yvette meets me at the door and lets me into the foyer. “Do you want coffee?”

“No, but I do want to ask you a question.”

She sits down on the bottom stair and rests her chin on her hands. I face her, leaning against the door, the chandelier casting shadows across Yvette’s face.

“You never told me what you and Kurt were fighting about,” I say.

“Dylan,” she says in a low voice, glancing upstairs. “The fight was about Dylan.”

“What about her?” I ask.

“Kurt didn’t like Zeke. He thought he was ‘bad news.’” She puts the words in air quotes. “Kurt got very protective of Dylan. The night before he died, Kurt told Dylan she couldn’t date Zeke anymore.”

“That must have upset her.” I imagine what would happen if I told Nikki or Jackson something like that.

“She was infuriated with him. She ran off hysterically crying. I tried to reason with Kurt, but he wasn’t hearing any of it. Then he just stormed off to his study.” She shakes her head. “I tried talking to him again Sunday morning. But our fight was even worse than the night before. I called him controlling and told him he would drive Dylan away if he was so strict. You know how I hate when Kurt and I fight . . . so I came back to smooth things out.”

“Did it work?”

She shrugs and looks up at the glistening chandelier as if the crystals held some secret answers. “Kurt was calmer. He just said he knew guys like Zeke, and they shouldn’t be trusted. Then I reminded him that the more you use the word no with a teenager, the more they will do the opposite of what you want. He laughed at that.” Yvette smiles at the memory.

Betty walks into the foyer and asks about Gene. I give her my update. She wrings her hands together, head bowed down. “I can’t take much more,” she mutters more to herself than us. She then notices the garbage bag at my feet. “I can take that from you, dear.” She extends her hand.

“That’s okay.” I stand up, lifting the bag. “I’ve got it.”

Yvette tells her mother-in-law she’s just going to walk me to my car and be right back.

“Kate,” Yvette says as we approach my car.

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