Chapter 46: Partners in Crime

"I know it was her," I told the framed picture of Asher that sat on my vanity. "It's the people you trust the most that stab you in the back."

The light at the time the picture was taken was perfect, it illuminated the whole of Asher's beautiful face. His curly hair looked like Autumn leaves, as they whipped around his face.

Asher was smiling in the picture, but the memories from that day were far from joyful.

"Say Cheese Curls," my father instructed as he clicked the camera. Asher's bright smile was captured perfectly. He was always the photogenic sibling, which was why I hated taking pictures with him. He always looked like a supermodel and I looked like a fat lump of misery.

"Can I go in now?" Asher pretended to complain, when in actual fact he was enjoying the attention that came with volunteering at a community centre.

My mother gave Asher a slobbery kiss on his forehead, before sending him on his way. His blue Community Outreach T-shirt swayed in the breeze as the large oak doors swallowed him up.

"Maddie!" my mother screamed, her voice agitated.

"Yes," I replied, mistaking her worry for something petty, like muddy footprints on her prized rug.

"We have to leave." I heard the unmistakable sound of car keys jingling.

"Why?" I asked, slipping my arms into my coat.

"The Community Centre Asher's volunteering at...." she gulped, "....caught on fire," she finished, her words coming out hoarse; like saying them out loud caused her oxygen supply to run out.

Asher and Janet were the only ones to make it out of there alive. At the time everyone including myself, thought it was an accident, but now I wasn't entirely sure anymore. If Janet and Asher were partners in crime back then, then who's to say Janet wasn't involved in Principal Hugh's murder. The people in the Community Centre were poor and that was their downfall. Their constant cycle of poverty was what got them killed, which kind of made me want to get revenge for them. But that wasn't something I wanted to acknowledge right now; the target wasn't Asher, it was Janet. I couldn't use the incident at the community centre or Principal Hugh's murder against her, it would drag Asher's name through the dirt. I'd have to find fresh evidence against Janet, and the only way I could do that was with her phone.

I took Janet's phone out of my pocket. I ran my fingers along the cracks and sighed. I hovered my thumb over the home button, too afraid to press it. It didn't look like it would work, and by pressing the button that would only be confirmed. I closed my eyes and pushed my thumb down. I gingerly opened my eyes and a picture of Janet gazed up at me. Her face took up the length of the screen and the time was displayed just below her eyes.

"It works." I looked at the lit-up screen, not able to believe my eyes. "It works,' I repeated.

I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and clicked on the tracking app, and sure enough the location of Janet's phone displayed; which meant the only thing I needed to do was get a new screen. Although even if we did get a new screen, there was no guarantee that we would be able to get concrete evidence against her. But I wasn't willing to lose all hope just yet.

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