The Follower Kate Doughty (general ebook reader .txt) 📖

like wildfire. He nods. “I tried to refute them, at first, but . . .” He shakes his head. “It feels like everyone’s turned on us.”

Bella nods. “But you’re still posting?”

“We need the money,” Rudy says. “A lot of our sponsors are taking Amber in Cecily’s place. I think she and Jada might actually be out shooting some now.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen some of them,” Bella says, taking a drink and scanning the almost-finished kitchen.

“It feels weird to be posting without Cecily,” Rudy admits. “But we’re doing it for her, so that makes it better. And I think that Amber’s . . . really come into her own. I wish it hadn’t happened this way, but . . .” Several days before, Rudy and Amber had started with their smallest sponsors, lesser-known beauty products and brands. Rudy had expected Amber to edit them into oblivion, but Amber didn’t want to. “I want these to be more me,” she had said.

“I like them,” Bella agrees. “The series she’s doing on breaking plus-sized fashion rules? It’s pretty cool. I think that a lot of people will really relate to it.”

Rudy nods. “Yeah. I think you’re right. And it’s good for her to get out of the house.”

“What about you?” Bella asks. When Rudy looks back at her, she’s staring over her Coke can as if she already knows what he’s up to. “Have you been getting out of the house?”

“Not exactly,” Rudy admits. He gnaws on his lower lip, trying to figure out how much he wants to tell Bella. Maybe it’s because of the yearbook he found earlier, or maybe it’s because Amber’s been gone all morning and he’s had no one to talk about it with, but he caves. “I’ve been researching the house. I think that the follower did this to Cecily.” He gives Bella a quick summary of his theories and the research he’s been doing. Bella listens from across the table with wide eyes.

“It makes sense,” she whispers. “It’s . . . terrifying, but . . . you really think it could be someone local?”

“It has to be,” Rudy says. “Everything about the follower leads back to Alex, so I’ve been looking into her—I found this, just before you got here,” he adds, pulling up the yearbook photo and sliding his phone across the table.

Bella looks carefully at the image of Alex. “She looks so normal,” she says after a few moments. She slides the phone back to Rudy. “I want to help.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I dunno, I feel bad about . . . everything that happened, and if I can’t help Cecily in the hospital, I can help you investigate right? I know all the kids in town—I’ll keep an eye out for anyone acting suspicious or anything.”

Rudy smiles. “Really? That would be—that would be great.” He’ll definitely make more headway with someone like Bella, who is actually connected to people in Norton. “Maybe you can ask around about Alex. Surely someone in town will know something useful, especially if their parents grew up here, too.”

Bella thinks for a minute. “Sure, I can ask some friends. Actually—I was going to meet up with some people after this. Do you want to come? We could see if they know anything about, well, anything.”

Rudy thinks for a second. He’s needed at home, but Amber is out right now, and Dad’s busy collecting a new shipment of siding and won’t be back until after dinner . . . “Sure,” he says. “Let’s go.”

Rudy and Bella head into town, to Cityside Coffee, to meet up with some of the kids from the bonfire—Miles, Trent, and Alicia. It doesn’t take long for Rudy to figure out that getting any new information from Bella’s friends is a dead end. Despite his commitment to sleuthing and his carefully asked questions, none of them reveal any new information about the Tremont house. Even though he’d gone out to collect information on Tremont, Rudy can’t stop himself from returning Alicia’s banter, arguing about indie bands with Miles, or agreeing to sub in for an injured friend at Trent’s Ultimate Frisbee game next week. As easy as it would be to get swept up into the lure of making new friends, Rudy is cautious. After all, any of them could be the person behind the account, behind what happened to Cecily.

He catches Bella’s eye from across the table and can tell that she knows exactly how he’s feeling.

A little while later, everyone is getting up to go when Bella places a hand on Rudy’s arm. “Rudy—I’ve thought of something. I don’t know anything about the town, but I know someone who does. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before, but Mr. O’Donnell is part of the historical society. He must know something, right?”

So instead of returning to the Tremont house, Rudy and Bella head to the hardware store. But when Mr. O’Donnell sees them, Rudy can tell he’s less than happy.

“The flooring’s already in,” he says curtly. He has short, cropped hair and what, to Rudy, look like permanent frown lines etched on his forehead.

Bella gives him a small wave. “Hey, Mr. O’Donnell,” she says. “We just wanted to ask you a couple of questions.” She gives Rudy an encouraging nod. Easy for her to act all optimistic—Rudy has heard that she’s a star student at Norton High. But Mr. O’Donnell is looking at him like he’s already decided Rudy is just another brainless Instagram model.

“We wanted to ask you about the history of the house my family is renovating,” Rudy says. “Who owned it before the Grables? How long has it been around? Can you tell me anything about—”

“It’s summer vacation,” Mr. O’Donnell says, busying himself with the cash register. “Don’t expect any history lessons from me until September.”

“But—”

“Why do you want to know?” Mr. O’Donnell asks, looking up at Rudy. “So you can respect the house, or so you can post it all over Instagram? I’m not going to help you exploit that girl’s death by telling stories about the people who lived there before she moved