Blur (Blur Trilogy) (9 page)

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

“You alright, son?”

“I am.”

“You took quite a hit.”

“I’m good.”

“Well,” Coach Evers said, “
yo
u had a nice game out there.” He took some time to note the different things that’d impressed him about Daniel’s pla
y
and his awareness on the field. The compliments made Daniel a little uncomfortable, but he knew how important meeting this recruiter was and he simpl
y
thanked him.

“Listen,” the scout said at last, “I wanted to ask
yo
u—I
was . . . well, I’m curious. What were
yo
u looking at when
yo
u were sacked?”

“What was I looking at?”

“You were staring at a place on the field where there weren’t an
y
receivers. It was the onl
y
time during the game when I saw
yo
u do that. I was wondering what distracted
yo
u from the pla
y.
”

Daniel almost said, “I thought I saw someone else on the field,” but he realized how odd that might sound.

Finall
y,
he just muttered, “It all happened prett
y
fast.”

“Sure.” Coach Evers seemed to accept that. “I understand.” The
y
spoke for a few more minutes, and at last he promised to follow up during the week to see how Daniel was doing.

He thanked the Ohio State scout, and after he’d left, Daniel hung around the locker room door for a little while, hoping that the Universit
y
of Minnesota scout would talk with him too, but no one came b
y.
The gu
y
must not have been too excited about Daniel’s performance tonight.

There’s alwa
ys
the rest of the season. And there’s alwa
ys
next
ye
ar. You still have time to impress some scouts enough for a scholarship.

But honestl
y,
colleges and scholarships and scouts weren’t the foremost things on his mind.

And neither was the loss of the homecoming game, even though that was huge.

No, it was seeing Emil
y
again, witnessing her pull that necklace right through her bloated nec
k—t
hat’s what troubled him the most.

A silver chain necklace.

A locket hanging in the middle.

She’d been wearing that in the photos at the funeral, the ones that looked like the
y
were the most recent.

You need to do something to make these hallucination
s—o
r whatever the
y
ar
e—s
top.

But Daniel had no idea how to do that.

Finall
y,
he headed down the hall, a little uncertain about the prospect of facing the students who would most likel
y
be congregated outside the school.

Sta
y
on this. Seek the truth. Learn what happened.

He thought of the lake. The place where her bod
y
was found. That’s where all these terrible things this last week had started.

There hadn’t been a football game a week ago on the Frida
y
night Emil
y
disappeared. According to the news articles, two fishermen had found her bod
y
on the east side of Lake Algonquin just inside the inlet near Wind
y
Point two da
ys
later, on Sunda
y
afternoon.

Over the
ye
ars, Daniel had been to that part of the lake a lot, mostl
y
fishing with his dad. It was known for its walle
ye
s, although a few muskies had been taken from there, including the fift
y-
one-incher hanging at the Antler Inn over on Highwa
y
G.

Go out there, out to the lake tomorrow. Have a look around for
yo
urself. Ma
yb
e that’ll make the visions stop.

He was debating that when he saw Nicole picking her wa
y
through the crowd of students who were milling around the parking lot.

“Are
yo
u oka
y,
Daniel?” She didn’t tr
y
to hide the concern in her voice.

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“I’m good.”

“Reall
y?
Because I . . .”

“I’m fine. Don’t worr
y.
”

That seemed to reassure her. “Alright, just . . .” Then she switched to another topi
c—t
heir last conversation. “I need to tell
yo
u . . . um . . . I’m reall
y
sorr
y
about earlier,
yo
u know, at school toda
y.
I wasn’t tr
yi
ng to . . . Well, an
yw
a
y.
I’m sure whoever
yo
u ask will sa
y ye
s.”

“Oka
y,
” was all Daniel could think to sa
y.

“You sure
yo
u’re alright?” She looked like she was about to reach over and touch his arm, but held back. “I was worried about
yo
u.”

“Reall
y,
Nicole. I am. Trust me.”

Yeah, but I did see Emil
y
again, this time during the game. Oh, and b
y
the wa
y,
sometimes she talks to me too. So it’s not like I’m losing it or an
yt
hing. Nothing like that.

“So,” Nicole said uncertainl
y,
“we’re cool?”

“We’re cool.”

Remember what K
yl
e said? Don’t discount her. Going to homecoming with her would be—

Coach Warner caught his attention from the edge of the parking lot.

“Great.” It was clear b
y
Nicole’s tone how relieved she felt. “That’s awesome.”

“I’ll see
yo
u later.”

Daniel’s coach started toward him, looking frustrated, and Daniel had the sense that it wasn’t just from them losing their homecoming game.

After Nicole told him one more time that she was glad he was oka
y,
Daniel excused himself to talk to his coach to find out what was up.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

“He
y,
I saw
yo
u talking with the scout from Ohio State. That go alright?”

“It was good,” Daniel replied. “He said he’d contact me this week, check up, see if m
y
head’s feeling better. But it alread
y
is. It feels fine.”

“Glad to hear that.” His gaze slipped past Daniel toward the school. “Listen,
yo
u know procedure, Daniel. Jumping through the hoops. It’s all about liabilit
y
issues these da
ys
. The school board, the law
ye
rs.”

“Procedure?”

Coach Warner glanced to the left. One of the paramedics had driven the ambulance around the edge of the field and was on his wa
y
to their end of the parking lot.

“No, Coach. You’re not serious.”

“Just bear with it. Get
yo
ur head looked over, get home, get some rest. You pla
ye
d well tonight. Nothing to be ashamed of. Now take care of
yo
urself. We face the Bulldogs next week and I’m going to need
yo
u on
yo
ur A game.”

“I will be.”

Daniel took a second to mentall
y
shift gears and get read
y
for this.

While he was on his wa
y
to the ambulance, K
yl
e jogged over and met up with him. “Dude,
yo
u got slobberknocked out there.”

“Yeah. No kidding.”

“You need me to give
yo
u a ride home or an
yt
hing?”

He pointed at the ambulance. “The
y
want to check me over at the hospital, but ma
yb
e
yo
u could meet me there, bring me back here to pick up m
y
car afterward?”

Daniel’s dad was on his wa
y
toward them.

“Done. Or I could just take
yo
u to
yo
ur place when
yo
u’re finished and we could grab
yo
ur car in the morning.”

“Either wa
y
works.”

As Daniel was boarding the ambulance, Coach Warner and the paramedic explained to his father what was going on.

He left for his squad car. “I’ll follow
yo
u to the hospital.”

Thankfull
y,
the emergenc
y
room visit didn’t end up being too big a deal. The docs told Daniel he needed to take it eas
y
for a couple da
ys
and to ice his head and take some Advil if it was still hurting.

The
y
emphasized that he was not to drive tonight, but cleared him for practice on Monda
y,
as long as he didn’t have an
y
recurring headaches.

Daniel’s dad had to answer a call from the station, so he oka
ye
d K
yl
e’s driving him back to the house. The
y
decided one of them would shuttle Daniel over in the morning to pick up his car from school.

B
y
the time K
yl
e pulled up to the curb in front of Daniel’s house it was nearl
y
eleven o’clock.

Daniel climbed out.

“Text me tomorrow,” K
yl
e said.

“I will.”

The night had grown colder. The air felt heav
y
and raw, as if winter were gnawing at autumn, anxious to move in and take its place.

K
yl
e left, and as Daniel was walking up the drivewa
y
to his house he saw movement in the shadows near the garage.

He froze.

A wave of apprehension swept over him as he remembered the vision he’d had on the football field, and he hoped, hoped, hoped he wasn’t going to see Emil
y
again.

The images of her sitting up in the casket, facing him, holding up that necklace, all returned to him.

In the chilled night his breath was visible when he spoke. “Who’s there?”

The figure stepped out of the shadows and into the porch light.

A girl.

But it wasn’t Emil
y
Jackson.

It was Stac
y
Clern.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

“Stac
y?
What are
yo
u doing here?”

“I saw what happened to
yo
u at the game. I looked for
yo
u afterward, but I couldn’t find
yo
u. Someone said
yo
u’d gone home, then I heard
yo
u were in the hospital. I wasn’t sure if I should go over there or come here to . . .”

“But how did
yo
u know where I live?”

“Your dad’s the sheriff, remember? You’re not that hard to track down. Are
yo
u oka
y?
I mean,
yo
u had to go to the hospital?”

“It’s just what the
y
alwa
ys
do when someone gets clonked on the head. It’s no big deal.”

“Oh. Goo
d—I
mean, that it’s no big deal, not that
yo
u were clonked.”

“Sure. I get it.”

“Um . . . So I guess
yo
u probabl
y
need to what? Lie low for a couple da
ys
? Rest up?”

“The
y
want me to take it eas
y,
so I’m just hanging out tomorrow, mostl
y.
I think I might go over to the lake in the morning.”

“The lake?”

“Lake Algonquin.”

“That’s where that girl Emil
y
was found.”

“Yes.”

“Wh
y
are
yo
u going over there?”

“I don’t know, exactl
y.
I mean, I guess I’m hoping to get some kind of closure.”

A pause, then: “Can I come?”

“To the lake?”

“Yeah. I could use some closure too.”

“Well . . .” Although her offer to come along took him off guard, the idea of hanging out with her was definitel
y
something he was interested in. “Sure.”

“It’s not far from m
y
place. How ’bout I meet
yo
u there?”

“Oka
y.
There’s a parking lot b
y
the boat landing over on the east side. The inlet is about a ten-minute walk from there. Ten o’clock work?”

“How about ten thirt
y?
”

“Sure.”

“Alright. Boat landing. East end of the lake. Ten thirt
y.
Got it. See
yo
u there.”

After the
y’
d told each other goodnight, she left and Daniel went inside to get changed for bed.

As he la
y
down, he found himself thinking about the necklace Emil
y
had been wearing when he saw her on the field, but that she didn’t have one when he saw her in the casket.

Closure.

That’s what he’d told Stac
y
he was looking for. And that’s what he was going to find tomorrow morning at the lake when the
y
visited that inlet where Emil
y’
s bod
y
had been found.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

No nightmares haunted his sleep.

No wounds were scarring his arm when he awoke.

Yes, he had the t
yp
ical stiffness and sore muscles from the previous night’s game, mostl
y
in his lower back, though his left knee was sore toda
y
too, but that was about it.

He’d been a little worried that he’d have a headache from when he was hit, but his head felt surprisingl
y
fine.

Ma
yb
e things were finall
y
getting back to normal.

After breakfast, his dad left for work and Daniel shuffled through the newspapers that were in the rec
yc
le bin, looking for articles about Emil
y.

As he read through them, he realized that he must have seen the papers before, even just in passing, ma
yb
e on the kitchen table where his dad t
yp
icall
y
left them after breakfast, because some of the details of Emil
y’
s disappearance and death seemed vaguel
y
familiar.

Trevor was mentioned in one of the articles that contained a picture of him and Emil
y.
Her mom had been interviewed and said she’d found the dog in the front
ya
rd late Frida
y
night. Apparentl
y,
her daughter had left a note that she was taking him for a walk out around Lake Algonquin near where the
y
lived, but had never returned.

Daniel reasoned that if he had noticed these papers on the table when his dad was reading them, he could theoreticall
y
have known about Trevor, even before the funeral.

Oka
y,
but then wh
y
didn’t that register before?

Ma
yb
e it was one of those things
yo
u didn’t consciousl
y
notice at first, but somehow remembered later when something reminded
yo
u of it.

He’d had that sort of thing happen when he smelled chocolate-chip cookies and remembered details about visiting his grandma’s hous
e—t
he la
yo
ut of her kitchen, what she had on her countertop, the sound of her old clock ticking in the next room.

The
y
were all things he hadn’t necessaril
y
noticed back when he was there last month, but when he
remembered
them happening, it all came back to him in vivid detail.

Ma
yb
e that’s what was going on her
e—b
uried memories climbing to the surface, brought to light b
y
the stress of the funeral and the homecoming game.

Paging through the newspapers kept Daniel bus
y
until K
yl
e swung b
y
at nine fort
y-
five to take him to school to pick up his car.

The
y
didn’t talk too much about the game or the concussion or the hospital visit, but Daniel did tell him about meeting up with Stac
y
last night and how she was going to join him at the lake this morning.

“She just showed up at
yo
ur house?”

“Yeah. She was waiting for me when
yo
u dropped me off.”

“I didn’t see her.”

“She was standing over b
y
the garage.”

“Doesn’t that seem a little weird to
yo
u? That she just came b
y yo
ur house in the middle of the night and then hid in the shadows waiting for
yo
u to get home?”

“She wasn’t hiding.”

“You know what I’m sa
yi
ng.”

“She just wanted to talk with me.”

“Oka
y,
then how did she even find out where
yo
u live?”

“M
y
last name’s not a state secret, K
yl
e. There’s something called the Internet.”

“I hear
yo
u. I’m just . . . I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right about it.”

“Oka
y,
ma
yb
e it’s a little unusual, I’ll give
yo
u that, but at least she cared enough to stop b
y.
” Daniel hesitated. “An
yw
a
y,
I’m gonna ask her if she’ll go to the dance with me tonight. You know, when I see her at the lake.”

“Let me know how that goes,” K
yl
e said vaguel
y.

“You don’t think I should ask her.”

K
yl
e turned onto the road leading to the school. “I didn’t sa
y
that.”

“No,
yo
u didn’t.”

K
yl
e took a breath. “Listen, man, I don’t know her,
yo
u do. I just think it’s a little strange for her to show up at
yo
ur house at like eleven o’clock at night to see if
yo
u’re alright when she could have just talked with
yo
u after the game like Nicole did.”

“Like Nicole did.”

“That’s right.” The
y
arrived at Beldon High’s parking lot and K
yl
e aimed his Mustang toward Daniel’s car. “I saw
yo
u two talking.”

“Ah. Well,
yo
u’re right.”

“About what?”

“What
yo
u just said about Stac
y.
That
yo
u don’t know her.”

Silence tightened between them.

K
yl
e parked. “Oka
y.
” His tone was stiff and distant. “This is
yo
ur car.”

“I’ll holler at
yo
u.” Daniel swung open his door.

“Sure.”

He pulled out his ke
ys
and, after K
yl
e had taken off, he left for Lake Algonquin to meet Stac
y.

He didn’t like that K
yl
e was uncomfortable about her.

But he could deal with that later.

Right now it was time to meet the girl who’d waited for him after school on Thursda
y,
and had come all the wa
y
to his house last night to see how he was doing.