What Happened That Night

11

Brandy

Instead of eatingPanther Pancakes at the diner as my aunt suggested, I drove away from town. Lia, who’d moved to the front passenger seat, raised a brow. “Are we going somewhere?”

“Yes.” I tapped out a little beat on the steering wheel, excited. “I was thinking the Cousin Adventure Club was past due for some excitement.”

Lia laughed at the mention of one of the many childhood clubs we’d created. As usual, we had great plans in the beginning—T-shirts, secret handshakes, spying, snacks, and of course, adventures. Other than sneaking out of our room one night to steal cookies from the kitchen, the Cousin Adventure Club had been a bust.

Lia propped her leopard-print Vans on the dashboard. As her belly expanded, she wasn’t going to be able to do that for much longer. “Are you going to tell the president of the club where we’re going?”

“The president?” I teased. “Oh no. I was always the president. You were always the vice president.”

“I don’t think so.”

We both laughed.

“Don’t worry about where we’re going,” I said, “you’re going to love it. It’s a scene right out of one of your beloved podcasts.”

“My beloved podcasts?”

“Your murder podcasts.”

Her eyes widened. “Brandy ...” She pulled her feet down and stared at me. “I’m so sorry. I... How did you know?”

I waved a dismissive hand. “I’ve known for a while now. It’s fine, seriously. You like stories about murder. It’s no big deal.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Do you think it’s strange that I’m into that kind of thing?”

I shrugged. “A little, but you’ve always enjoyed mysteries. I remember you plowing through the Three Investigators series and the Nancy Drew books.”

Nodding, she placed a hand on her belly. “That client I met last night. Oliver? He read the Three Investigators too. When I was building his website, we talked a lot about all those books and shows.”

I pulled to a stop sign and stared at her. “What happened last night? You were so upset. I know you didn’t come home early because you were tired.”

She groaned. “Can we talk about this later? Can you just tell me about the adventure? Where are we going, and what kind of trouble are we going to get into?”

“Sure.” I turned onto a tree-lined street with adorable bungalow cottages. “Help me look for number 102?”

“102? Do you know someone who lives there?”

“Sort of.”

“Sort of? What does that mean?”

Without answering, I concentrated on the house numbers. When I spotted the correct address, I sucked in a sharp breath. “There it is.”

“Brandy, whose house is it?”

Nervous and excited, I pulled to the side of the road and stopped the car.

“Brandy, who lives here?”

Taking a deep breath, I wiped my hands on my skirt. “I don’t know who lives here now, but this is the house where I lived with my parents, until... Well, you know. Until my mom died.”

Lia’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding? How did you find it?”

“The address was written on the back of one of the pictures in my photo album. I discovered it when I removed it to have the picture framed.”