He texted back Yes, then shut off his phone. He’d call Aaron later and tell him the whole story, but right now he just wanted to have breakfast and not think about any of it. Thankfully, his parents must have felt the same way, because they kept the conversation light and off-topic, talking as they ate about TV shows they were binge watching and staying far away from what had happened at Victor’s.

It was mid-morning and he was in his room playing Halo online, trying to distract himself from yesterday’s horror, when the doorbell rang. To his surprise, his mom called out, “Nick! It’s for you!”

Who could it be? He hurried down the hall and out to the living room, surprised to see Aaron at the door. He and Aaron were friends, but they were school friends, and he didn’t think either of them had been to the other’s house until now.

His mom faded discreetly away, retreating back into another room, and Nick stepped onto the porch, the screen slamming behind him. “What’s up?”

Aaron’s voice was low. “I think I know where Victor is.”

Nick glanced quickly back into the house to make sure his mom wasn’t within earshot, then led Aaron onto the lawn. His voice, when he spoke, was low as well. He didn’t want his mother to hear. “Where?”

“I overheard Gina and Catherine talking at the Circle K, and Gina said that Holly said that Sue Rumsey saw him working at the new bank.”

“Working?” The idea seemed unbelievable.

“Sue went in to check on her college saver account, and she says Victor was working there as a teller but he pretended not to know her.”

Nick’s voice was barely above a whisper. “You know they think he killed his parents, right? They found a whole bunch of weird shit in his room, cult shit.”

“So what do we do? Tell our parents? Call the law? Tell our parents, right? And have them call the law?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we should check it out ourselves first, make sure he’s really there. Because if he is, don’t you think the sheriff would’ve already caught him? And if that story’s true, where’s he sleeping at night? He’s obviously not going home.” Nick shook his head. “I’m not sure I believe it. You know what a liar Gina is.”

“Okay, then. Let’s check it out.”

“Is the bank even open on Saturday?”

“We’ll see.”

“Let me tell my mom and get my bike.”

Ten minutes later, the two of them were coasting down Main into the old downtown. They hid their bikes by the overgrown gulch at the beginning of the business district and walked up the cracked sidewalk to the bank.

“What do we do if we find him?” Aaron asked.