Dead Man's Match

Twenty-Eight

"Zoe, you will not believe this." I rush up to her in the locker room, out of breath from racing across the building to get to P.E.

Zoe turns around, already changed into leggings and a gray hoodie. "What?"

I glance around while zipping up my black sports jacket. It's a size too small and feels tight around my torso, but it's better to wear old clothes during physical education class.

My voice drops to a whisper. "I found Mom's connection to HappyMood."

"Really? What?" She bolts up from the bench, standing at attention. She slips her phone out from the pockets of her leggings.

"So long story short, there's this case I was curious about in Mom's files. I read about it after you left, and apparently, the victim worked for HappyMood."

The door opens, and I clamp my mouth shut. Girls hustle beside me to get changed but no one seems to be watching us.

"Alright girls, let's get jogging to warm up." A chorus of groans rises from the gray lockers.

I actually like jogging as a light hobby. Exercise in general is great for stabilizing mood and decreasing anxiety. Zoe and I follow the others onto the track. As we lightly jog, I tell her about the case between my puffing breaths. I get winded even faster than normal due to talking, and I feel like my heart rate is beating like I'm about to have an anxiety attack. But the good kind of adrenaline is pumping through my veins, the kind that makes me feel like I can take on the world. Or at a minimum, I can work through this case.

"She had kids," I tell Zoe at the end.

"Hmm. Could they be responsible for the murders?" Zoe wrinkles her nose. "That's rather dark. I mean, we're talking about kids."

"They could be adults now," I say. "We don't know their ages."

Zoe nods thoughtfully. "Perhaps they are trying to follow in their Mom's footsteps."

"Or they could be wanting revenge on the whole system for taking their Mom." A thought hits me, and I stumble to a halt as my feet stop working. The girl behind bumps into me.

"Sorry," she murmurs before she, Brooklyn, and Kayla flow around Zoe and me. Kayla gives me a little wave as she passes.

Zoe looks at me with concern. "Are you okay?"

I look into her glittering eyes. "They could want revenge on me. On my Mom."

"Yes, they could."

"This is not okay! How can you be so calm about this?"

"I mean, either they'd want revenge on you, Evan, or both of you."

Or none of us. I don't say it out loud.

"Girls, are you hurt?" the gym teacher calls.

"No," we chorus.

"Then let's keep jogging. We want to keep those heart rates up."

"So what now?" Zoe asks as we resume jogging. My legs feel more unstable, and it's a struggle to keep them pumping against the ground.

"Well," I pant, trying to get my train of thought to keep up with my feet. "I need another look at Mom's file on the case. I only read about it online, so maybe I can get more information from the actual report. We also need to speak to Evans' former girlfriend, Isabella. We've been putting that off long enough."

"Great, when do we do it?"

My pace slows. "I doubt we can do it together to be honest. She might be suspicious. I think it would be better if I take her off guard." Zoe nods after a moment, the excitement in her eyes dimming. "But why don't you check out her social media? We haven't looked to see if she has an alibi yet."