Demonstrate your trust in her, Cate—by confiding in her. Actions do speak louder than words.

Yes.

That could work.

It involved a bit of risk, but if her instincts were correct, it could be worth a slight gamble to find out what Kayla knew.

Decision made, Cate crossed to the girl and sat beside her. “Can you keep a secret?”

Kayla gave her a wary glance. “Yes.”

“Speaking of adult guy problems—remember how you told me Mr. Evans gave some of the girls joints?”

“Yeah.”

“He offered me one.”

“For real?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t take it, did you?”

“Yeah. I did.”

Alarm flared in her irises. “Why? You could get expelled!”

“I did it because what he’s doing is wrong—and illegal.”

“I know! That’s why you should have said no and run the other direction!”

“I ran to the police instead.”

The girl gaped at her. “Seriously?”

“Yes. I reported him.”

“But . . . he’s still here. I saw him today.”

“He won’t be by the end of the week. The police are getting search warrants for his house and office and computers.”

“Wow.”

“Here’s the thing—I have a feeling the person you’re worried about may be breaking the law too. If he is, you should do what I did. Report him.”

The twin creases on her roommate’s forehead deepened. “But Evans is different. I mean, the guy’s a jerk—and he didn’t mean anything to you. You also had absolute proof he’s guilty. It’s not as easy to know what to do if you’re not positive. I don’t want to sic the police on someone who may be innocent. That could ruin his reputation forever.”

“Kayla.” She touched the girl’s arm. “You’re smart and you have your head on straight. If this guy’s story seems sketchy to you, it probably is.”

She dropped her chin to the top of the teddy bear’s head. “I just can’t believe what I’m thinking is true. It doesn’t fit with everything I’ve seen.”

“Some bad people are good actors. They know how to play a part. Make you believe what they want you to believe.”

“No.” She shook her head. “He’s not like that.”

“Or he is, and you’re too close to him to be impartial. If he has information about Stephanie, don’t you think it’s important to let someone know? What if she didn’t run away? What if she got snatched? What if she got hurt? Shouldn’t someone investigate that?”

“I don’t know.” She blew out a breath. “I’ll sleep on it, okay?”

No. It wasn’t.

But if she pushed any harder, Kayla could shut her off.

“Whatever.” Cate stood.

“Besides, he’s going to pick me up after school tomorrow. We’re going to have coffee and talk again. That might clear up my doubts.”

A coffee date.