A week later, Lea still saw nor heard any sign from Evelyn. She knew it was for the best. 'Evie's safe now,' she kept reminding herself. But at times she still caught herself staring at the house phone, waiting for it to ring or feeling non existent vibrations from the cell phone in her pocket.
That Monday morning she sat on the living room couch with Jade. They ate cocoa puffs out of giant cereal bowls, watched Spongebob Squarepants and waited for Dylan to wake up.
"Why is Dyl always the last to get up?" Jade asked around a mouthful of chocolate cereal.
"The man sleeps like a rock," Lea pointed out. "Last night, I accidentally spilt like half my water bottle on his head and he didn't even flinch!"
Jade's eyebrows slanted downward in confusion. "How did you manage that?"
"It was dark. I was half asleep and confused."
"So confused that you didn't know the difference between your mouth and the top of your boyfriend's head?" Jade mused with a smile.
"Don't question me!" Lea barked back and giggled. "Anyways, Dylan's going to be in for a rude awakening when he wakes up and notices he's soaking wet this morning."
"Can't wait to see that!" Jade exclaimed excitedly. Then her eyes grew wide as she got an idea. "Hey, I know something we can do while we wait for Dyl to get his ass up."
"Really? What?"
"Last week when Dylan and I were hiding in the guest bedroom, I started to explore the closet. It's FILLED with all kinds of man junk!"
"It's Mason's man junk," Lea explained. "He left in a real hurry and never came back for his crap. I shoved it all in there so I wouldn't have to deal with it."
Jade nodded to show she understood. Then she looked at Lea curiously and asked, "Do you remember the date of the night he left?"
"The date?" Lea responded to the random question.
"Yea...just curious."
Lea nodded instantly. "I can't forget it. It's engraved in my memory...August 21st, 2009."
Jade's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "August 21st, 2009...the night of Sofia's murder."
Lea's stomach dropped at that realization, as goosbumps appeared on her skin. Each day she found out more and more about this man she used to be in love with. She couldn't believe she had been so blind for so long.
"That can't be coincidence, J," she said quietly, but with conviction. "There are too many coincidences already for that to be another one."
Jade nodded vigorously in agreement. "We have to go through that closet. And we can't waste time. Let's start now."
...
"Look at me, look at me!" Lea heard Jade giggle from behind her, fifteen minutes later. She turned and a smile spread across her face at the sight of her best friend. Jade wore a huge orange cowboy hat with leather boots twice her size and a flourescent vest to match. "Howdy Partner!" She exclaimed and Lea laughed harder.
"Take that off, Lunatic," Lea chastised and rolled her eyes.
Jade peeled the cowboy gear off and threw it on the bed beside her. "What was all of that doing in Mason's stuff?" She asked, amused.
"He had a freaky wild, wild west phase at one point...He was directing some show with a midwestern theme, and he got a little too into it. He dressed in a different cowboy outfit every day. I figured it was a director thing, but it was creepy, so I made him stop," Lea explained.
