“Hi, Shaw,” she said, doing her best to hide her misery.
Her classmate moved uncomfortably close and stared at her.
In that instant Allison knew. “You heard from him?” She kept her voice low and didn’t dare say Anson’s name aloud.
Shaw gave the slightest nod of his head.
“Is he all right?” she breathed.
He shrugged one shoulder. “Not if you ask me. He says otherwise.”
Allison bit her lip for fear she’d cry out. “He phoned you?”
Again he nodded, glaring at her as if she were a traitor. “He wanted to tell you more but he couldn’t because he knows you’ll tell the sheriff. I told him you can’t trust a girl. At least he listened to me about that much.”
“Does he need anything?” After her graduation announcements had gone out, Allison had received gifts of money from family friends and relatives she’d barely even met. If he needed it, Allison would send Anson every penny.
“He says not.”
“He hasn’t phoned me.” Allison knew why, too. She’d lost her faith in him. Still, she waited every single day, worrying endlessly about where he was and how he was living. He didn’t have any relatives who could help him, and even his mother didn’t know where he’d gone.
Shaw held up his hand, stopping her. “Don’t ask me anything, because I can’t tell you.”
“How can I help?” That was all she really wanted to do. Innocent or guilty, she still loved him.
“You don’t really care what happens to him.” Shaw’s eyes burned into hers.
“I do!” She wanted to shout the words. She cared so much that she was near tears.
Glancing around, obviously afraid people might be watching them, Shaw whispered something unintelligible in her ear.
Frowning, she looked up at him. “Pardon?”
“SUL,” he said. “Those are the first three letters of the license plate belonging to the person he saw that night.” Shaw kept his head down and spoke in a voice so low she could hardly hear. “He didn’t get a good look at the car, but from the back it seemed to be dark. Midsize. A sedan. Pretty common, in other words.”
Hope, faith, love, all three came to her in a blinding flash. Perhaps there had been someone else there that night—and that someone was responsible for the fire. Almost immediately this flicker of hope was extinguished by doubt.
“Why didn’t he tell me this earlier?” she asked. If Anson could trust anyone, it should be her. Not Shaw. She was the one who’d stood up for him, defending him to her classmates and anyone who’d listen. She was the one who’d believed.
He sighed loudly. “Anson wanted to keep you out of this. I checked around, but I couldn’t come up with anything. He said I should tell you now.”
“Thank you,” she said gratefully. She hugged Shaw, who backed away in surprise.
Desperate for hope, she asked, “Is he coming?” Her voice rose excitedly. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
Shaw’s demeanor changed as he shook his head. “No way, man. He isn’t stupid enough to do that, not even for you. Just remember—See You Later.”
“See you later,” she repeated, not understanding.
“It’s how I remember the letters.”
The music started and everyone scrambled to get into their assigned positions. Before Shaw could leave, she grabbed his arm. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“No.” He shook his head more emphatically than before.
“Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”
His eyes narrowed, then he slowly nodded. “He swore me to secrecy. I can’t tell you, so don’t ask. Later, you’re going to get something from him. When you do, make sure the sheriff knows I was the one who arranged it for Anson. Me. You understand?” With that he left her, disappearing into the throng of students.
Allison didn’t know what he meant and didn’t have time to question him further. Already the line of graduates had begun to move and Allison, shaking from the inside out, searched frantically for her cap before joining her friends as they filed into the pavilion.
The graduation went smoothly. When her name was announced, Allison Rose Cox crossed the stage to accept her diploma. Clutching it in her hand, she descended the steps and reclaimed her chair. She sat through all the speeches and awards, but her mind wasn’t on any of them. She was thinking about Anson. He’d sent Shaw to her in an attempt to prove his innocence. He needed her to have faith in him and she’d faltered, but she wouldn’t let him down again.
After the ceremony Allison wandered through the crowd until she found her family. Her mother held a damp, crumpled tissue. “It’s so hard to believe you’re eighteen. An adult,” Rosie Cox said, dabbing her eyes. She hugged Allison and her father did, too. Eddie shifted from foot to foot, looking bored. Her brother’s turn was coming; next year he’d be in high school, too.
Allison was ushered home, where her grandparents and aunts and uncles had gathered for a big family party. Everyone seemed so pleased for her and so excited. There was lots of talk about the future and the fact that she’d be leaving for college in September. None of it seemed real.
As soon as she could, Allison broke away from her relatives and sought out her father. “I need to talk to Sheriff Davis,” she told him. She trusted her dad beyond anyone else. Her mother, too, of course, but her father was the more approachable, at least about something like this.