I grit my teeth. “It’s five blocks, Mom. The streets are crawling with cops.”
“It isn’t safe. I’ll write you a note.” She grabs some clean coffee mugs and heads for the door. “Missing one class might even be good for you.”
I storm after her, but when I round the corner, Deputies Rashid and Robson are climbing out of their booth, adjusting their gear.
“You guys taking off? Food’s almost ready.”
Shelly sighs, turning down the chatter on her radio. “It’s going to be one of those mornings. Can you box it up and set it aside for us?”
“Sure, I’ll tell my mom,” I say, even though she’s right behind me. “I’m leaving for school.”
Shelly raises one eyebrow and looks over my shoulder. “You need a lift, Sonia? Amir and I are heading past the school anyway.”
I open my mouth, appalled by the idea, but my mother’s fingers rest heavily on my shoulder.
“That would be wonderful; Dina’s car is in the shop. Are you sure it’s not an urgent call?”
Amir leaves some cash on the table and digs out his keys. “Just another tip someone called in. We’ve had a bunch of duds, but the sheriff wants us to follow up.”
I look back and forth between them, but they’re not giving anything else up, so I decide to dig. “Is it about the guy who broke into Gretchen’s room?”
My mother gasps.
Amir’s face goes serious. “Where’d you hear about that?”
I hesitate. “The entire school was talking about it. Is it supposed to be a secret?”
He and Shelly exchange a look. Amir grunts and heads out to the parking lot.
“It isn’t a secret,” Shelly says. “We’re just trying to protect the Meyers as much as possible.”
My mom wrings her hands. “When did this happen? Are we not safe in our own homes?”
“It’s okay, Marlene.” Shelly and Dina went to high school together and she used to babysit me before she went to the police academy. But right now she switches to full-on deputy mode. “The break-in occurred the night of Gretchen’s death, after Sonia was attacked, but before Gretchen was officially reported missing. We have reason to suspect it was somehow connected, at the very least to Gretchen’s missing car, but there are no other reports of intruders in the area.”
My mom looks at me with wide frightened-animal eyes.
“I know it’s upsetting, but I promise Sonia will be safe and sound at school,” Shelly says.
I grab my bag from under the counter. At this point I’m willing to endure the discomfort of showing up in a cop car just to have space away from my mother.
Shelly calls over her shoulder. “Tell Dina I know a garage in Jamesville if Wilson’s tries to rip her off.”
There are few places I can think of as claustrophobic as the backseat of a patrol car. Once you’re inside, someone else has to physically let you out, and they actually call the divider between the front and back seats a “cage.” I’ve ridden in the back of Sheriff Wood’s unmarked Explorer a few times, but when Shelly sets me free in front of the school, my palms are dotted with marks where what’s left of my fingernails dug into my skin.
“Hey, Shelly,” I ask before she can climb back in behind the wheel. “Tell me what’s really going on?”
“It’s nothing you should worry about,” she says.
I roll my eyes. “Does the sheriff make you guys practice saying that?”
She cracks a small smile, but it quickly fades.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?” I ask, nervous that she won’t meet my eyes. This could be my only chance to get a real hint at what’s going on. “Come on, I feel helpless when you guys won’t just say what’s happening.”
She exhales, glancing nervously to where Amir waits in the car. “You’ll probably hear about it at school anyway. Someone trashed the memorial last night in the woods.”
My throat closes till I can barely breathe. “Gretchen’s memorial?”
“It was probably just some asshole kids. They threw all the flowers and stuff into the falls.” She looks away like there’s something she doesn’t want to say.
“What else, Shelly? I promise I won’t breathe a word . . . I just need to know.”
She turns back to me, her face grim. “Look, I don’t agree with the sheriff keeping you in the dark, that’s the only reason I’m telling you. There was some graffiti left behind on the rocks.”
My voice barely comes out a whisper. “What did it say?”
“It said . . . One bitch down.”
SIXTEEN