“It’s mine,” he said quickly, regretting it immediately. He’d just been worried she might stop loving him. So why had he said that? He couldn’t think straight.
“I know it’s yours. And once things settle down, you and I will decide what to do with it. But right now your dad is hunting for this and the police are circling, and a locked cabinet is a safer place than under your bed.”
He knew she was right, but he still wanted to grab it and hold it like he was some kind of baby who needed his toy. But he wasn’t a baby, so he nodded. “Okay.”
His mom took it without waiting a beat, and he heard the clinking of her keys as she locked it up in the office. It was there. He knew where it was. He could probably even sneak the keys if he needed to.
This was fine.
His mom closed the apartment door softly when she came back in. “It’s only six,” she muttered. He watched her glance around as if she’d lost something. “We need to have dinner still. I don’t think I can cook. Pizza?”
“Yeah.”
“All right.” She smiled tiredly, her eyes puffy and pulling down at the edges like they couldn’t hold themselves up anymore. “Hey, you know what? There’s some good news too. I got a promotion today.”
“You did?” Everett asked in shock.
“Yeah. You’re looking at the new regional manager of Neighborhood Storage District Three.”
“Whoa. That’s cool.”
“You know what the coolest part is? We can live anywhere. Well, anywhere in the district. So we have some big decisions to make, you and I. We can look online tonight if you want. See what kind of houses are out there for rent.”
“Oh. Wow. We’re moving out of here?” He glanced at the tiny living room. “Cool. Hey, can I bring Shadow?”
He didn’t know why, but her eyes filled with tears at that. “Yes, sweetie, you can bring Shadow. We’ll find a house that allows pets, okay?”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“A boy should have a pet,” she murmured. “I’ll order the pizza, and then I have to do a little work. Go ahead and do your homework. Tomorrow, we’ll . . .” She waved a choppy hand. “Figure out everything else, all right?”
Everett nodded. After hesitating to see if they were really done, he went to his room, closing his door softly behind him. He’d noticed her tablet still on the floor beneath his bed. She hadn’t seen it or had forgotten it, and thank God for that.
Shadow was lying on the floor, cleaning her paws, and Everett hunkered back down next to her, relieved to be alone. Because he had to fix something. Or maybe it was something more like pulling off a Band-Aid. He didn’t want to do it, but he had to.
For once when he logged in, his dad was actually waiting.
LM! You there? Are we set for tomorrow?
He’d sent it fifteen minutes earlier, and he was still logged on.
For a moment Everett imagined what he might say. Imagined he could meet his dad a little later, even if his mom dropped him off. He could skip out during PE or lunch hour. Meet his dad at the park and spend some time with him before admitting he didn’t actually have the notebook. He could see him, at least. Remember what his face looked like.
Sorry, he typed instead. I was wrong. It was just some kind of calendar book for Mom’s work. I don’t know where your notebook is.
There was no response, not for a long time. Everett hung his head, so tired of trying to figure out what to say to who and how they might respond. Why couldn’t he just have a dad who’d do the right thing no matter what? Wasn’t that what dads were supposed to do?
Finally a bubble popped up. Oh. That’s bad news. I really need that, can you keep looking?
Well, at least he wasn’t angry. Yeah I guess. I pretty much looked everywhere but maybe you can check back once a week or something just in case.
Sure. Of course. You’re positive it’s not the right one?
100% And I can’t look more this week bcuz I’m grounded & don’t need more trouble. Maybe I’ll look more later. Sorry Dad.
When he felt a tickle, Everett wiped his cheek and realized he was crying. Last night when he was falling asleep, Everett had imagined seeing his dad. He’d imagined they might go away together. Not tomorrow, but sometime. A summer trip to Mexico or something. They could stay at the beach. Have adventures. Be a family just for a little while. He didn’t want to leave his mom, but he wanted Dad too, and for a couple of days, it had felt possible.
But that had been imagination, and this was reality. This was goodbye. For now.
A window popped up. And it didn’t say goodbye. Instead it said, Grounded, huh? Is everything okay? You want to tell me about it?
Surprised, Everett stared for a full minute, wondering if it was a trick. But if it was, he could be ready for it, right? And if it wasn’t . . .
He shot a worried glance at the door. Then he started typing. Well, I saw something weird in one of the lockers a week ago . . .
CHAPTER 31
Lily had been exhausted and gritty-eyed by 7:00 p.m., but somehow she’d managed to stay awake until midnight, waiting for a response from Mendelson.
She’d tried calling him before dinner, but he hadn’t answered, so she’d texted a message. I believe you are right about Jones. If he’s still in town, he will be near the school at 8AM tomorrow. That’s all I know.
Mendelson’s response, strangely, had been to ask about Alex. Was that your husband’s contact?
No, he’s really just a customer.
From Tennessee?
At first that had scared her, that he would know that. But then she’d realized of course he’d seen Alex’s plates. Maybe even run them. So much for him staying under the radar.
He’s in town taking care of his uncle & has nothing to do with this. I’m worried for my son. Are you going to watch for Jones or not?
He hadn’t responded to that at all. She’d checked incessantly all through dinner, all through a quiet evening on the couch with Everett looking through rental listings, and now as she struggled to stay awake.
But did it matter? She’d told him what she knew. She’d set it in motion.
Tomorrow she’d decide whether she would take Everett to school or keep him home. Shit, maybe she should call in sick and get him the hell out of town for a day or two. She’d never even used a sick day before. They could drive to Wichita, go to the zoo, stay in a place with an indoor pool for Everett. Pretend everything was more than okay, pretend it was good. Paranoid that Everett would see what she’d done, she deleted her texts to Mendelson and waited.
Phone clutched to her chest, she fell asleep with half the lights on.
When the wind kicked up around 5:00 a.m., Lily jerked awake, sure she’d only been asleep a few minutes. It certainly felt that way. A glance at her phone showed no messages. Lily closed her bleary eyes and tried to get back to sleep despite the howling storm.
Jones and his goddamn selfishness. He’d probably sent this wind too, just to torment her and keep her awake. Within a few minutes she was staring into the dark, eyes wide open and not one bit of sleepiness left. She checked her phone frequently to break up the seconds.
She finally wanted to talk to this Mendelson asshole, and now he was ignoring her? Typical.
Turning over, she tried to find a comfortable spot on her ancient mattress. Maybe she could toss this one and have a new one delivered to a new home. A new home. That was something good to think about.
Still, the security deposit would put a big dent into her savings, so a new mattress might be out of the picture. At least she had very good access to a dolly and moving supplies. Laughing humorlessly into the dark as she turned over for the fifth time, she finally gave up and got out of bed.
Outside her window, the wind whipped the metal doors of the nearest units, rattling them. If she tried hard, she could imagine it was the distant rumble of waves or even the whoosh of shaking leaves, but there was always that faint ring of metal beneath the sound. She wouldn’t miss that.