“That’s not possible. I think you boys should leave.” He gestures to our car. “Your parents know you did this? I don’t think—”
“You have to let me see her.” Sam’s voice sounds high-pitched, a little crazy.
“Now, son—”
“Kaylee!” he shouts. He makes for the door but Mr. Clarke blocks him. Sam tries again, and this time the man takes hold of Sam by the shoulders and physically backs him away. “I told you, you can’t see her. Now please don’t make any more trouble.”
Sam struggles, tries to push past him, but Mr. Clarke grabs Sam’s arm and yanks him out into the yard. Sam’s strong, but this man’s stronger. I follow, tense with a readiness to do something if I need to.
“Kaylee!” Sam shouts again.
“Sam,” I say, trying to talk some sense into him. Coming here was a bad idea. We need to leave.
Then we all hear the front door open. Everyone stops. A girl steps out. She’s in jeans and a sweatshirt. She has this fake red hair with streaks of blue or green in it—it’s hard to tell in the morning sun. She has a nose ring, a lip ring, multiple earrings. But she looks scared, not like some tough girl. She has her arms folded around herself, like she’s trying to keep warm.
“Kaylee,” Sam says.
“Go back inside,” Mr. Clarke barks at her.
But she just stares at Sam. “What are you doing here?” she says. She has a high, little-girl voice that doesn’t match her appearance.
“Kaylee,” Mr. Clarke warns.
“I came to see you,” Sam says. “I wanted to see you. I miss you. I wanted to—” His voice cracks. He’s crying now. “You’re . . . You’re so beautiful.”
Kaylee shakes her head, slowly. “No,” she says. “No.”
“I miss you,” Sam says.
“No,” she says, wiping her eyes, a dark mascara-stained tear running down her face. “I don’t . . . I don’t know you. Go away.”
“Kaylee,” Sam says, the hurt in his voice so raw that it makes my chest ache.
She doesn’t say anything else. She just turns and walks back into the house. I think that Sam’s going to scream and try to run after her, but he just goes down on his knees and gazes at the closed door. Mr. Clarke still stands there, glaring at us like we’re intruders.
And maybe that’s what we are. Intruders.
“You boys go on home now, before I call the police. You shouldn’t be here. You should be home with your parents. Go on,” he says, like we’re stray dogs.
I walk over to Sam. “Sam, let’s go. Please?”
Sam’s face is wet with tears, but he looks calm. He stands and walks to the car. We both get inside.
“Let’s go home,” I plead. Mr. Clarke is still standing in the yard, watching us, waiting for us to go. “Sam.”
He clutches the steering wheel and stares forward at nothing. I wonder if he’s even heard me. But he finally turns on the ignition. “There’s one more place,” he says. “One more place I have to go.”
CHAPTER 15
Again
Beth
I wake up to Chita’s snoring at a quarter to nine. I should sleep in, but I’m hungry. And thirsty. I scoot out of bed, leaving Chita on the air mattress that’s pushed up against my closet. I open the door, softly as I can, and go to the kitchen. The house is quiet. Sam and Josh must still be sleeping, too. I open the fridge and grab a water bottle and take a few sips, walking back to my room. Maybe now I’ll be able to get back to sleep.
But I just lie there. I keep thinking of the kiss with Donal, over and over again. I know he’ll text me today, and I wonder what he’ll say. I grab my phone and click, but there are no messages. Not yet.
Eventually, Chita stirs and opens her eyes and stares at me. “Morning,” I say, and she groans. “Want some coffee?”
She sits up, her hair shooting off in a million directions. “Sure,” she says.
I head back to the kitchen. I wonder what the weather is like, so I glance out the window of the kitchen door. That’s when I notice that my car is missing from the driveway. My first thought is Earl took it, for some reason. But I can see his truck is gone, too.
I look at the key rack. My keys aren’t there.
A panic rises from my gut. Did someone steal my car? In this neighborhood, it seems ridiculous.
But Sam also went missing in this neighborhood.
Sam.
“Where’s my coffee?” Chita teases, coming into the kitchen. But when she sees my face, she says, “What?”
I don’t say a word. I race down the hall. I don’t even knock; I just barge into Sam’s room. No one’s in there. The bed is made. “Oh my God,” I say, trying to push down panic.
Then I see the piece of paper on the bed with my name on it.
“Beth? What’s going on?” Chita calls.
I grab the note and read:
Beth,
I went to Anniston with Josh. Please don’t worry or freak out. I took your car. I’ll be back tonight before Earl gets home, I swear. I left my phone and Josh has his turned off. Please don’t tell on me. I’ll be okay.
I’m sorry.
Love,
Sam
===
“Oh my God,” I say. I keep repeating it: omigodomigodomigodomigod.
“What’s going on?” Chita asks again, sounding as anxious as I am.
I hand the note to her. She reads quickly, then says, “Oh shit.”
I sit on Sam’s bed. I’m close to hyperventilating. This can’t be happening. He can’t be gone. I’ve lost track of him again. Again!
“Beth? Beth?”
I snap to attention. “What do we do?” I ask, barely stifling a desire to scream.
“Call your stepdad?”
“No! They can’t know I let this happen. We have to go after him, we have to—” I can’t even complete the thought. My ears are ringing. I close my eyes and lie back on the bed. In the background I hear Chita on the phone, nearly shouting. Finally, quiet. She sits down next to me.
“Donal’s coming over.”
“Donal?” I have a quick lift of happiness, hearing his name, before I immediately fall back to reality.
“Yeah. He has a car. You want to go after Sam, right? You have to calm down. Let’s get you dressed. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”
So that’s what we do. I dress. I grab my bag and make sure I have everything I might need. We sit in the den, Chita holding my hands.
“Listen,” Chita says. “I’ll stay here, in case Sam calls or comes back. Okay?”
“Good idea,” I say, because I hadn’t thought of that.
We wait. I try to stay calm. I have to stay calm. Chita tries to help, rubbing my hands, but my mind still races. How far away is Anniston?
Is Sam already there?
Why is he doing this?
When Donal pulls up in his Jeep, I hug Chita and she says, “You’ll find him.” She opens the kitchen door for me and I dash to the car and get in.
“You okay?” Donal asks.
“Let’s just get going,” I say.
“To Anniston,” Donal says. He punches something into his phone and a computerized lady’s voice starts speaking.
“Thanks,” I say. I can breathe a little better now. It was the sitting and waiting that was making me crazy. Waiting for Sam, just like last time. This time I’m not going to sit around and wait. We’re going after him, and I’m going to find him and drag him back home, and I’m never letting him out of my sight again.