“If no one sees him for years, won’t they suspect something?” I said.
Dani took a long drag of her smoke. “Yeah, so we need to buy ourselves enough time to get out of here and settle somewhere else, then we’ll have to get fake ID. If anyone finds the truck or catches on, we’ll be long gone.” She looked at Courtney. “What about that married man Dad said you were messing around with? Is he going to be a problem?”
“Who was it anyway?” I said.
“Ben Miller,” Courtney said. “I broke it off last night, just told him I didn’t want my dad catching on.”
“Ben Miller?” I said. “He’s, like, thirty.” He owned one of the construction companies in town and had a wife and a couple of kids. I didn’t know how Courtney had hooked up with him, but no wonder Dad had freaked out.
“Doesn’t matter now,” she said, her face flushed. “It’s over.”
“What about Corey?” I said. He’d come by once since Dad had come home, pulled his truck up with some friends and asked Dani if she wanted to come for a swim, but she said she was too tired. He was going to get suspicious soon.
Dani blinked a few times, her lower lip trembling, until she caught it with her top one, pressed hard. I was almost relieved—I’d thought for a minute she might cry. I hadn’t seen her cry for years. Not since our mom’s funeral. I don’t know what I would’ve done if she had broken down.
“I’m going to have to break up with him.”
“No!” I breathed out in a hushed whisper.
“You sure?” Courtney sounded shocked too. Dani looked stunned herself, like she couldn’t believe what she was saying. We all thought they’d get married. They’d been friends even before they dated and I couldn’t remember a time when they weren’t together. Corey had been like a big brother to Courtney and me, teaching us how to drive his truck, taking us to the lake or movies with them, never acting like it was a pain in the ass to have his girlfriend’s sisters around.
“Won’t he think it’s weird?” Courtney said.
“Probably not.”
“Have you been fighting?”
Dani nodded, taking an angry drag off her smoke, blowing it out hard.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Courtney looked as surprised as I felt, and also a little hurt.
“It wasn’t any of your business.” Dani’s chin jutted up now.
“But he’s always talking about you guys getting your own place.…” Courtney looked confused now, then understanding came over her face. “He’s been bugging you to move out and you wouldn’t because of us.”
Dani shrugged. “Whatever.”
My eyes filled with tears. “Sorry, Dani.”
“It’s not your fault.” Her voice was tight, like she was trying to squeeze out the words. “We’re getting together Saturday night. I’ll do it then.”
“Where are we going to go?” Courtney said.
“It should be a big city, so we don’t stand out,” Dani said.
“Vancouver,” I said.
Courtney and I looked at Dani.
“Okay.” She knew how much we wanted to go there, but it had been our dream, not hers. I felt bad about how much she was leaving behind.
She was staring at the bathroom again, the cigarette burning down in her hand. None of us had been able to go in there since we’d cleaned up.
“I’m sorry, Dani,” I said again. This time she didn’t answer.
CHAPTER FIVE
We agreed that we’d give it a few more days. We were walking home from the farm the next afternoon, hot and tired, with Dani leading the way, her long hair swinging with each step, her body stiff, angry. Was she thinking about how she had to break up with Corey? I fiddled with my camera, clicking the shutter over and over again but feeling out of it, spacey from lack of sleep. Courtney’s fingers grazed her burn. Dani kept telling her to leave it alone, it would get infected, but Courtney kept poking at it or looking at it in the mirror.
Dani stopped abruptly and I looked up. A police car was waiting in the driveway. My fingers froze on the camera. Dani didn’t look at us.
Barely moving her lips, she said, “Let me do the talking.”
The sergeant got out of his car and we walked toward him. He was tall and lean, his belt hanging low.
“Sergeant Gibbs,” Dani said. “What can we do for you?”
“Just wanted to make sure you girls are okay.”
“We’re fine.”
“Heard you guys have a rat problem.” So he knew about the shots. Ingrid or Walter must’ve called him.
“We’re staying on top of it.”
“Your father home?”
“Soon.”
“Been a long shift this time. He sending you money?”
“We’re okay.”
“Heard you’re getting behind.”
“We’ll get caught up.”
He glanced down at the driveway, his eyes scanning the dirt, like he was looking for tracks. He looked back at the house, then us. “Mind if I look around?”
“What for?” Dani said. Her voice was calm, but she had her chin lifted.
“You girls here all alone, just want to make sure the house is safe.”
“I don’t think our dad would like it.”