I thought I could hear something, a muffled noise, but the music was too loud for me to really tell. It also sounded like there was a fan going in the room. I had to break down the door, but I still needed a tool to knock the handle off.
I was partway down the stairs when I heard it. The front door slammed shut. I froze on the stairs. Had he been outside this whole time? What should I do? Was he coming upstairs or just into the kitchen? I turned around, tried to head back up the stairs, moving as fast as possible while not making any noise. Maybe I could make it into the spare room.
“The fuck you doing in my house?”
PART THREE
JAMIE AND SKYLAR
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JAMIE
I’ve been scared many times in my life, in many ways, but I’ve never been as terrified as when I realized my daughter was missing. When Emily first called that morning looking for her I thought it was a joke, they were just screwing around. But then I called Skylar’s cell, and when it kept going to her voice mail, tried Taylor. She hadn’t heard from Skylar since Thursday. It was now Monday.
I sat on my couch, heart thundering in my chest, staring at the phone in my hand. Skylar had had a pink phone when she was a baby. She used to carry it around and have pretend conversations. She’d grown up to be a teenager who never left home without her cell. Panic was sliding in and around, choking me. Think, where could she be? I played back our last conversation in my mind, scrolled through the texts she’d sent. She’d sounded happy. And I’d been happy that she hadn’t asked about Crystal. A whisper of a thought started creeping in. No. She wouldn’t.
I got out my address book, started calling all of Skylar’s friends, even people she hadn’t mentioned in years. No one had seen or talked to her. A boyfriend? I thought of Aaron, the boy at the gym who was always talking to her. Maybe him? No, she didn’t seem interested. Someone else? She’d been secretive lately, lying more. Her sneaking out with Crystal that night. I’d lain awake for hours after I’d brought Skylar home, horrible images of what could have happened to her making my body stiff with tension. What if she’d been hurt? The whisper was back.
Crystal.
I tried her cell. It also went to voice mail.
I searched Skylar’s night table, under her bed, her closet, all her drawers, my hands feeling under her pillow, the edge of the mattress, looking for notes, something. Her knife was gone, her packsack, laptop, her favorite flip-flops. Gone. I stood in the middle, looked around at the mess. She’d made her bed. Skylar never made her bed. I remembered seeing her that morning at the kitchen table, kissing her cheek. She’d smiled at me, her cheeks flushed, her eyes flitting away from mine. I’d thought it was excitement.
I logged onto the computer, checked her bank records. She’d pulled out a couple hundred dollars at a bank machine in Vancouver the morning she left, but there hadn’t been any activity since. I also checked my Find My Phone app, but it wasn’t working. She’d disabled the location services on her cell phone.
One of her ponytail holders was on the desk, some of her hair still twined with the elastic. I picked it up, wrapping it around my finger.
I thought again of that last conversation, how upset she’d been about Crystal. Had she reached her somehow? Had they met up? Maybe at a festival or a DJ event somewhere? Crystal knew I’d never let Skylar go to something like that. She loved being the fun aunt, the one Skylar idolized. I felt anger mixing with my fear, but then it cooled. Crystal wouldn’t go that far.
I’d gone to her house the day after Skylar left, looked around. I’d checked on her place when she’d taken off in the past, watered her plants, collected her newspapers. It wasn’t unusual, the sudden departure, but I was surprised the dishes were washed, the trash can emptied. I wondered if Skylar had cleaned up. Before I’d left I’d also searched for Crystal’s gun. It wasn’t there, but I hadn’t been worried, had only thought my sister wanted it for protection. From what?
The whisper grew louder. Skylar had thought she’d gone to Cash Creek. What if … No, don’t think that. Skylar had probably just gone to a concert, or was DJing at a party somewhere to earn more money for her equipment.
But Skylar had been worried, really worried. She’d been angry at me for not going to Cash Creek. I can’t believe you’re not going to look for her.…
The whisper became a scream.
I knew where my daughter had gone.
*
My hands were shaking so much I had to dial the gym’s phone number twice. Dallas answered right away.
“Skylar’s run away.” My voice was high, the words strained and unnatural-sounding.
“What do you mean?” Dallas sounded wary. “You sure?”
“I think she’s gone after Crystal.” I told her what I’d discovered. “She must’ve decided to look for her.” I thought about my daughter alone in that town, felt another wave of horror and panic. “Can I borrow your car?”
“Crystal wouldn’t go back there.”
“It doesn’t matter. Skylar thought she did.”