“Alright. Let me get dressed.”

Wisdom

Bobby smiled and went outside to wait for me. I’m not sure why exactly, but as I pulled on my jeans, I felt better than I had since I’d gotten back from Australia. I was actually doing something. And even if it was a long shot, it was something that actually mattered. Or it would, if we could catch the killer before another girl got hurt.

8

We stood on Eighth Street, with the buildings blocking out the morning sun.  I’d donned a jacket, a hat, and giant sunglasses, so the sun wouldn’t be much of an issue for me anyway. As we walked away from the second crime scene, I felt queasy.

This time of the day, downtown was bustling, and I wasn’t used it. I’d gotten accustomed to the quiet of the night. We brushed past people, some of them bumping into me. Being in crowds didn’t bother me anymore, and the open air helped alleviate the scent of their blood. Lately, my bloodlust hadn’t been bad at all, and Ezra commended my ability to get it under control so quickly.

“I don’t think this is gonna work,” I told Bobby as we waited at a crosswalk for the light to turn green.

“I know we didn’t see much back there, but we still might find something,” Bobby said. “Anyway, it’s better than doing nothing.”

Other than a piece of battered police tape stuck to the side of a pole, there hadn’t been anything at the last scene. The one before had even less evidence than that. I’m not even sure what we were looking for, but we found nothing.

The closer we got to the spot where Jane had been found, the sicker I felt. My mouth and throat felt dry, and it was hard to swallow. The jacket and hat were making me too hot, and cold sweat broke out all over my skin.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head and stayed a step behind Bobby.

“It won’t hurt to look.”

He slipped on a patch of ice, and my arm shot out instinctively. I caught him, holding him by his arm for a second before he got his footing again. A man passing by gave me an odd look. I shoved my hands in my pocket and tried to look inconspicuous as Bobby straightened out his jacket.

“Thanks,” he said.

“No problem,” I mumbled and took his elbow to hurry him along. A few other people kept glancing over at us, and I didn’t like it.

If I hadn’t felt so nervous, I might’ve taken a moment to be proud that I moved quick enough to elicit weird stares. My reflexes were getting much quicker, and I didn’t slip on the ice anymore, not even when I hurried across it. I’d begun to feel really comfortable in my new skin.

“Is there a reason we’re jogging?” Bobby asked, giving me a sidelong glance.

“We’re not jogging.” I was going faster than I meant to, and I slowed down.

When we turned the corner onto Hennepin Avenue, I let go of Bobby’s arm, but I wished I’d hung onto him. I shoved my hands deep in my pockets and slowed down even more, so we were barely moving. We were getting close to V, and past that, I could see the empty space on the concrete where Jane had been found.

“Are you okay?” Bobby asked. “You look pale.”

“Yeah,” I lied, but I stopped walking. We were in the middle of the sidewalk, so people had to part around us, but I didn’t care. “Why are you doing this?”

“What?”

“This. Helping me. Trying to solve this or whatever.”

“I’m from St. Joseph, Minnesota,” Bobby said, and I shrugged, not seeing any significance. “My mom was pregnant with me when Jacob Wetterling went missing. I have a brother nine years older than me, and he knew the Wetterling kids.”

I didn’t know a ton about the case, but I’d heard enough over the years to get the gist of it. Jacob had been eleven-years-old when he was abducted near his home in St. Joseph. Twenty years later, the police weren’t any closer to finding out what happened to him or who took him.

“I grew up with a crazy over protective mother, always talking about him.” Bobby squinted up at the sun that peaked over the top of the buildings. “It’s like a mystery hanging over everything, and I never even met him. But it still bothers me that I don’t know what happened to him.”

“You’re looking for Jane’s killer because you can’t find Jacob Wetterling?” I asked.

“My mom always talked about how she didn’t know how his mother went on, how she could survive without knowing what happened to her son,” he said. “And Jane’s not missing, and she wasn’t your kid, but I know you need to know what happened. I wanna know, and she wasn’t my best friend.”

“I don’t know if she was really even my best friend anymore.” I exhaled and stared down the street, to where her body had been found.

“Well, since I’m now your de facto best friend, I have to help you with this.”

“How are you my best friend?” I raised an eyebrow.

“You can’t count your boyfriend or your brother, or your boyfriend’s brothers, so it has to be me.” Bobby grinned at me. “I’m your new best friend.”

“What about Leif? Or Olivia?” I asked.

“Leif’s not your friend.” He shook his head and furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure what he is, but he’s not your friend. And Olivia’s your trainer. She’s like a boss. Doesn’t count.”

“There sure are a lot of stipulations that constitute who can or can’t be a best friend.”