Rain scrolled through Billy’s profile, her frown deepening with each post. Clara was right. There was nothing that gave any indication as to who he was. No family or friend photos. Just an endless stream of pigeon pictures.
‘Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse,’ Rain muttered, tossing the phone back to Clara.
Clara glanced at her. ‘Something happen today?’
‘I only got suspended,’ Rain said, a bitter laugh escaping her lips.
‘For what?!’
‘Apparently, I’m a drug dealer. I have no doubt Alex is behind trying to smear my name.’
Clara’s eyes widened. ‘Are you serious?’
‘I wish I wasn’t.’
‘What are you going to do?’
Rain ran her hand through her hair. ‘I honestly don’t know. I can’t exactly talk to Lauren about it. Her grandmother died yesterday,’ she said, her tone softening.
‘Ah, that’s so sad.’
‘Yeah, from what Lauren said about her, they were really close.’
‘It’s probably a good idea to give her some space in that case.’
Rain bit her lip. ‘I hate to think what she’ll think of me when she finds out I’m suspended.’
‘If she knows the real you, she’ll know straight away it’s a lie.’
‘But how am I going to get around not telling her the truth in the first place? About Alex, I mean.’
‘By being honest with her.’
Rain let out a humourless laugh. ‘Like I should have been in the first place, you mean.’
‘You did what you thought was best at the time, Rain. Stop being so hard on yourself. If my sister was missing, I would’ve done exactly the same thing.’
Eyes glued to the hostel entrance, Rain drummed her fingers against her thigh, restless energy running through her veins.
‘What if he doesn’t leave?’ Rain said.
‘Give it time. He can’t stay in there all day.’
Rain opened the door and started to climb out.
‘Hey, where’re you going?’
‘I can’t just sit here waiting for something to happen. I’m going to have another word with him. This time, I’m not leaving unless I have some answers.’
Not waiting for Clara’s response, Rain closed the car door and jogged across the road to the hostel. Billy didn’t look surprised to see her again.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Rain held up her hand to silence him.
‘Save it, Billy. Enough with the bullshit. I want to know where my sister is.’
‘I told you—’
‘You really wanna play it like this? Fine. Do you know what a smear campaign is, Billy? No? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s when someone spreads rumours about you. They might not be true, but once the word’s out, they can make a person’s life a living hell. Is that what you want, Billy? If you have to move out of here, where’re you gonna keep your precious pigeons? They’ll be homeless like you.’
There. She saw the response she was waiting for. Fear. She had got him right where she wanted him.
‘I’m giving you an hour, Billy. One hour to decide how this all ends. Do you understand?’
She didn’t wait for an answer. She turned and left, running straight back to Clara’s car.
‘Quick, duck,’ she said as she scrambled inside and pulled the door shut behind her.
Clara slid lower into her seat.
‘What did you do?’
‘Something I saw in a film once.’ Rain peeped up just in time to see Billy leaving the building, glancing around nervously before hurrying off down the street. ‘Quick, follow him. Make sure he doesn’t see us.’
Clara put the car in gear and pulled out, keeping a safe distance.
‘Whatever you said seems to have shaken him up.’
‘Good.’
