“What are you doing here?” She didn’t sound happy to see me, but Trix looked up and cheerfully goes, “Oh, hi, Dylan. How’s it going?”
To Trix, I’m like, “Not great,” and then to Audrey, “I need to talk to you.”
“You can talk to me later.” Now Audrey was mega-irritated.
“No, I can’t.” I pulled her arm, but she yanked it away.
“Go ahead,” Trix told her, and then with a flirty smile, “Don’t worry. I’ll save your seat.”
“Oh, all right,” Audrey said. “But this better be important, Dylan.”
I led her to the back of the park where no one could listen in. It wasn’t so easy to get started with what I had to say, so I opened with a simple question: “Has Trix introduced you to her father?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Just bear with me here,” I said, and Audrey’s like, “You know what? Unless you just found out some really big news like you’re dying or something, I’m going to kill you.”
“I’m getting to it, but first I want to know if you’ve met Mr. Westwood.”
“Okay, yes, I’ve met him. She introduced me to him tonight. So what?”
“Did he seem kind of weird to you?”
“Weird? No, he didn’t seem weird. He was nice.”
“Nice, huh?” That didn’t sound good. “How nice? Was he like dad nice, or was he more like, uh, um—”
“What?”
“Or was he like I-want-to-get-in-your-pants nice?”
Her mouth dropped open. “It finally happened,” she said. “You lost your mind. What kind of question is that?”
“Look,” I said. “Don’t get defensive. It’s just that I have pretty good reason to believe Mr. Westwood has a thing for young girls.”
“Where did you get a stupid idea like that?”
I hated to say because I knew she didn’t think so highly of Nash and Brett, but since the word came from Mr. Browning himself, I figured I had credibility on my side. Still, when I told her the details, she wouldn’t believe it.
“You know what?” she said. “If you actually believe Trix would ever do anything like hooking up her dad with girls, you’re the biggest fool in the universe. She’s like the best person I’ve ever met in my life, and you want to come along and ruin it. What’s the matter with you?”
“Oh, really?” I said. “You don’t even know her.”
“Yes, I do. When someone’s your soul mate, you know them like you do your own self, and I know she’d never do anything like what you’re talking about.”
Just then, Trix stepped up behind Audrey. “Who wouldn’t do what?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Audrey said. “Dylan just has a stupid new theory about Ashton Browning.”
Trix is like, “A new theory? I’d like to hear it.”
“No,” Audrey said, stepping back next to her. “Believe me, you wouldn’t.”
But Trix goes, “Sure I would. After all, haven’t I been helping you with the investigation? I’m practically one of your partners.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I was wondering why you were so anxious to help.”
And she’s like, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I stared her straight in the eyes. “It means I think you had your own motive for getting involved, and it wasn’t exactly something unselfish.”
“Motive?” Trix looked at Audrey, and Audrey goes, “Don’t listen to him.”
But I wasn’t about to let it drop now. “Yes. A motive. As in you wanted to cover up your dad’s involvement with Ashton.”
“That’s like a joke, right?” Trix said. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” But what else was she going to say?
I kept going. “I always thought it was suspicious how you just happened to be at Ashton’s search party after you were also at one for that girl in California. That was just too big a coincidence. But it wasn’t a coincidence at all, was it? Because the truth is your dad has a thing for young girls, and you know it. You knew it in California and you knew it here, and you didn’t say anything about it because you were daddy’s little helper all along. And now you’re trying to pull a fast one on Audrey just because she’s desperate to feel like somebody loves her.”
I would’ve gone on, but at that point, Audrey hauled off and punched me right in the gut. And let me tell you—that girl has some muscles. It doubled me over. I thought I might puke up my high-dollar half a steak.
Between coughs I’m like, “Crap. What the hell?”
But Audrey wasn’t listening because she was too busy apologizing to Trix. And then Nash and Brett showed up. Nash looped an arm around my shoulders and goes, “What happened, buddy?”
But Trix is like, “I should’ve known you two would be involved in this.”
“Oh, don’t try to act like you’re some kind of wronged woman,” Brett said. “We heard all about you and your sick father.”
“You’d better shut up about those lies,” Trix said. “My dad’s the best lawyer in this state, and he’ll have you in court for slander so fast you—”
She couldn’t figure out how fast that would be before Nash cut in: “Your dad’s not going to do anything. People like us don’t get sued by people like him.”