Could that be his reason for being so private? I slammed the doors and opened the ones next to them. If that was it, then he didn’t have Summer, and I had hit a brick wall again. I pulled a box off the shelf. No, he definitely wasn’t a cross-dresser. The box was filled with packs of tampons and maxipads. This stuff wasn’t his. I quickly pulled each box out and rummaged through it. Makeup, loads hair stuff, moisturizing cream, and tubes of toothpaste.
“Lewis.” My heart leaped, and I jumped around. I’d been caught.
“Jesus, Henry, you scared the shit outta me!” His face was ghostly white. “What?” I whispered.
He held up a bunch of newspapers. Well, a few pages from newspapers. All with Summer’s face on them. I took them and flicked through the papers, every single one was an article about Sum, dating back to the first headline in July.
I looked up and saw Henry looking at the sanitary box still on the floor. “It’s him,” he said, and I nodded. My body went numb and the blood drained from my face. He’d done something to her. This stuff suggested that she was still alive, though. She would need these things. But where was she? Did he have her somewhere else? That would make more sense. “Where is she then?”
A chill ran down my spine. We were so close to finding her—or finding out what happened. Throwing them back at Henry, I ran from the room. “Summer,” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Summer, it’s me, baby. Shout if you can hear me!”
“Damn it, Lewis! What the hell are ya doing?” Henry shouted and pulled me to a stop on the landing.
I shoved his chest to get him off me. She was close. “What does it look like I’m doing?” I hissed. “Summer!” I flew down the stairs and into the first room I saw. “Summer!” Henry followed me, looking around, lost and completely unsure of what to do.
“Christ, Lewis, she’s not here. Will you stop?” he snapped. “You’ve lost it! Just calm down. We have to do this properly.”
I stopped and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “You’re right.”
“What are you doing?” he hissed.
“Calling Michael,” I replied. The police dogs would be able tell if she was here or had been. They’ll find her. They will.
His eyes widened. I grabbed his arm as he tried to snatch the phone out of my hand. “This is crazy. Lewis, hang up!”
“Go, Henry.”
“What?”
“Get out,” I hissed. “Go.” Henry shook his head at me as if I’d lost it. “Just go.” Sighing, he turned and ran as Michael answered my call.
***
I stood by the back door and waited. They couldn’t get here soon enough. Come on. My heart was in my throat, and I couldn’t breathe properly. “It won’t be long now, Summer,” I whispered, praying that she would hear me, although I knew she couldn’t.
Michael appeared at the back door, making me jump. Why didn’t I hear the police car? He shook his head, his mouth pressed into a pissed off line. “What are you doing, Lewis?” he asked calmly.
I held my hands up. The last thing I needed was another lecture. I needed him to listen. “Look, just listen to me, okay? He has all these women’s clothes and…products. He keeps old newspapers. They’re all of Summer. He’s kept them all. Why? Why would he do that?”
Michael sighed. “Lewis, you can’t go around breaking into people’s houses.”
House. “Will you listen to me? Summer is here, or was here.” I groaned and squeezed my eyes closed. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. But it’s weird. He is weird. Please just search the house for yourself and you’ll see.”
“The clothes could be his wife or girlfriend’s, and plenty of people keep old newspapers or forget to throw them out.”
“Ah, yes but he’s too much of a neat freak for that. Take a look around for yourself.”
Michael rubbed his hand over his face. “I can’t just do that. You need you to come with me right now.”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t just break into someone’s house!” he hissed, exasperated.
I held my hands up again. “You said you wouldn’t give up.”
“I’m not giving up, but you can’t do this. We can’t arrest and search everyone that keeps old papers, that’s not how it works.”
“Maybe the way you do things needs to change!”
“I’m not here to argue that.” He sighed. “I get it, Lewis. If I were in your position, I would be the same. Look, I’ll speak to him again, that’s the best I can do.”
“So this isn’t weird to you?”
He shook his head. “Not really. You need more than this to obtain a search warrant. Now, did you find anything of Summer’s?”
My heart plummeted and shoulders slumped. They weren’t going to do anything. “No, I didn’t.”
“I will question him. You need to come with me,” he repeated.
Michael led me outside and closed the back door. I walked to his car with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. What did this mean now? Would Colin know we were there? He opened the back door, and I got inside. Staring back at the house, I wondered if Summer would ever be found. She wasn’t in there.
Michael got in the front and turned the engine on. “You’re arresting me?” I asked.
“No, but don’t let this happen again. I mean it. Next time I won’t just pick you up. Understand?” I nodded and looked back as we drove off. I’m so sorry, Sum.
31
SUMMER