“Of course!” Candace flashes another bright smile. She pats Eli on the shoulder and steps back. Officer Harrison follows her while Officer Paul leads Eli to the front lawn. Eli hunches, his eyes fixed on the officer’s shoes.
Officer Paul kneels so his face is lower than Eli’s. His back is to me, but I have the perfect vantage point to see my friend.
“You won’t get in trouble for talking to me,” the policeman says, tilting his head. Eli’s gaze slides away, almost as far as the cop car. I press back against the bumper. “What’s your relationship to Ms. Goldenberry?”
“I live with her,” Eli murmurs. “She’s my foster mother.”
“How long has she been fostering you?”
“Two years.”
“Do you know where your parents are?”
“No, sir.”
“Where do you go to school?”
“I’m homeschooled.”
I glare daggers at Eli from my hiding place.
Officer Paul shifts his weight. “Does Ms. Goldenberry have you do any work for her? Anything that takes a while, perhaps?”
Eli shakes his head, the filthy liar. All this time, he hasn’t looked up from past knee-height. Officer Paul rubs his chin, like he isn’t convinced.
“Has Ms. Goldenberry ever hurt you?” he asks.
“No, sir.”
“And she feeds you well?”
“Yes, sir.”
Eli’s new shirt is almost baggy enough to make that plausible. It doesn’t hang off his bones like the other one. Without even looking down at my notepad, I scribble, TELL THE TRUTH. As if he can read it.
Officer Harrison comes out of the house with Candace. “Everything looks good to me, Jay.”
This is Eli’s chance—a chance for justice to take down the bad guys. For the hero to save the day. Save himself.
But Eli’s not acting like a superhero at all. He’s acting scared.
“Well…” Officer Paul gets to his feet and tugs his shirt straight. “Thank you for your time.”
Eli doesn’t make a move to stop them. Candace settles her arm around his shoulders and gives him a little squeeze. Panic hitches up my throat like a gag. The police officers start to walk away from the door—toward the car, toward me. And Candace turns Eli around, guiding him back inside.
I scramble out from behind the car and shout, “Stop!”
Chapter 18
GIRL CRIES WOLF
The officers, Candace, and Eli all look at me, startled. Candace blinks. Eli gapes.
“Who are you?” Officer Harrison asks. “What are you doing here?”
My pulse pounds in my ears. I grip the press pass against my chest. “I’m the one who called 911. Eli shows plenty of signs that he’s being human trafficked.” I’m not sure if I’ve used the words right, but I plunge on. “You can’t just leave him here!”
Officer Paul glances from me to Eli. Eli shuts his mouth and clenches his jaw. I can’t tell if he’s angry or afraid.
Officer Harrison repeats, “Who are you?”
“Nadia Quick,” I answer, lifting my chin.
“She’s my neighbor’s daughter,” Candace says. Her forehead creases with concern and she rubs Eli’s shoulder. “I’m not sure—Nadia, why would you say this?” To the officers, she adds, “I didn’t even realize they knew each other.”
“Well, she knows his name,” Officer Paul observes, giving me a nod of encouragement.
“I know Eli,” I insist. “I know he’s always in the garden and he doesn’t do any schoolwork and he’s not supposed to leave the yard.”
“Oh dear. I can understand why you were worried, but I’m just not sure what to say.” Candace looks down at Eli. She shouldn’t be like this—she shouldn’t be nice and polite and sweet, she should be raging. She should be spinning into her evil monologue, her master plan. Gently, she asks, “Eli, why would you tell her all that?”
Eli’s gaze drops to the grass again. He mumbles, “We—we were just playing a game.”
My breath catches. I can only stare.
“A game?” Candace repeats.
“We pretended we were superheroes.” His voice is so quiet I almost can’t hear over the pounding in my head. “We were making stuff up.”
“Eli,” I hiss. My throat is coated in sandpaper and my eyes burn. “Stop it! Tell them the truth!”
Eli shakes his head, just a tiny bit. He whispers, “It’s not real, Nadia.”
Pain flares through my chest. Like his words are a laser and it’s carving a hole around my heart. The officers glance at each other with a look that says, Someone’s imagination is very active. I’ve seen the look between my parents before. Candace just watches me with the same soft, kind expression. A hurricane of questions and doubts crowd my head. But I can’t back down from the truth. I know the truth, don’t I?
“Eli, you aren’t safe here,” I say, begging him. Maybe we were pretending other things, but the scars on his arms are real. The hollowness under his eyes is real. The brilliant smile that comes only when he’s away from Candace is real. “Don’t you want to leave?”
He stays completely still for a long moment, shoulders slumped, entire body curved in on itself. He doesn’t even lift his eyes. His mouth forms the word, though he doesn’t say it. No.
“I’m so sorry about this misunderstanding.” Candace looks from the officers to me. “Are you okay, Nadia? Do your parents know where you are?”
I open and close my mouth. “I—I’m—”
“Thank you for your cooperation, ma’am,” Officer Harrison says to Candace. “I think we can take it from here.”
She nods. “Well, just let me know if you need anything else. Good night, Nadia.”
I want to scream. I want to throw myself at Eli and grab his legs and pin him down. I want to give him a truth serum to force him to talk. I want Candace in handcuffs and a world with one less villain.
Instead, Candace and Eli go quietly inside. The door clicks shut behind them.
Officer Harrison stops in front of me on the way to his car. “Thank you for reporting your concerns,” he says, though he doesn’t sound particularly thankful. “But I think you should probably head home. It’s about dinnertime.”
“You can’t just leave Eli,” I plead, my voice quaking.
“He’ll be fine, miss,” Officer Harrison says. “I saw her paperwork. She’s that boy’s legal guardian, and everything looks normal. You don’t need to be worried—there’s nothing wrong here.”
“But there is!” I can’t get any air behind the words, and they come out ghostly and hoarse. “So much is wrong!”
Officer Harrison just shakes his head.
“Ease up a bit, Tom,” Officer Paul says. He turns to me and his voice softens. “You live around here, right? How about I walk you home?”
I swallow. My body wants to sob, but I won’t let it. I clench my jaw.
“Do your parents know where you are?” he asks, still kind.
“N-no,” I admit in a whisper. “But—I live at the end of the street.”
Officer Paul nods and steps onto the road. “I’d like to talk to them, I think.”
Cold alarm shoots through my blood. “They won’t help—they don’t know anything.”
More confused than accusing, Officer Harrison asks, “You called the police before you told your parents?”
I’m so frustrated—at them and Eli and myself—my voice locks up. I can’t explain.
“I’ll take you home.” Officer Paul adds to his partner, “Be back in a few minutes.”
Officer Harrison shrugs and slides into the driver’s seat of their car. “Suit yourself.”
Officer Paul follows me when I turn toward my house. I angle my head away to wipe the back of my hand over my cheeks, hoping he won’t notice. This could be my last chance to prove to the police that Eli really is in danger, and I can’t be crying like a little kid.
“I think you might be onto a lead here, Nadia,” Officer Paul say
s quietly. “There’s something … odd about this.”
I whip my head around to stare at him. He smiles a little. He believes me.
Or at least, he’s near to believing me.
“But we need more to go on,” he adds. “At the moment, everything seems to check out. Eli’s answers didn’t necessarily raise any red flags, and I trust that Officer Harrison did a thorough examination of the files. If we can’t find clearer indications of something wrong, we can’t press an investigation.”
“What can I do?” I ask, straightening. “What do you need?”
“Right now, why don’t you just tell me more about Eli?” Officer Paul removes a small notepad from his back pocket. It looks a lot like mine. He asks me questions while we walk: How long have we been friends? What has Eli said about his circumstances? What is Eli doing when I visit? What were the games we played? What led me to believe he was being mistreated?
I tell him everything that pops into my head, especially about Eli gardening and the sleeping bag in the closet and the scars. When I tell him about our superhero game, the words taste bitter. I can’t believe Eli would use it against me, use it to make me seem crazy. Confusion and hurt squeeze my ribs. But I talk until I run out of things to say.
“This is good to know.” Officer Paul checks his notes and nods to himself. “We should be able to get a warrant at least. But in the meantime, you should keep your distance.” He levels a serious look at me. “You are absolutely not to go after more evidence yourself, okay? Human trafficking cases can be dangerous. I’ll come by during my rounds, check in on Eli. Maybe, when he trusts me, he’ll open up.”
I’m not totally sure Eli trusts me, and I’m not holding my breath that he’d get friendly with a cop anytime soon. But I keep that suspicion to myself.
“You did the right thing by calling us,” Officer Paul goes on. “Even if it’s just a hunch. But you should talk to your parents about it, too, you know?”
“Yeah,” I admit. I rub my arms and stop at the end of my driveway. Maybe he has forgotten the part about talking to them himself. “Well, this is my house. Thank you for bringing me.”
“No problem.” Officer Paul turns onto the drive, and my heart sinks.
I drag my feet as I follow. The garage door is open, and Dad’s bike is parked just inside, though I don’t see him anywhere. I go through the front door, holding it for the cop. Wonder Dog comes bounding from another room, barking, and stops uncertainly when she sees the stranger. I kneel by her, wrapping my arms around her wiggly body.
Mom isn’t in her office anymore, and dishes clink in the kitchen. The house smells like pizza. I clear my throat and call, “Mom? Dad?”
“Dia?” Dad comes into the foyer, already showered and changed. His eyebrows shoot up when he sees Officer Paul. “We—thought you were in your room. What’s going on?”
Mom follows, and her eyes widen. “Nadia, are you okay?”
“Mr. Quick? Mrs. Quick?” Officer Paul holds out his hand to each of them in turn. “I’m Jay Paul. Nadia had some concerns about a house down the street, so I thought I’d bring her back after we assessed the situation. Can I ask you a few questions?”
“Of course,” Mom says, shooting me a concerned look.
Dad touches Mom’s arm. “We’ll be happy to answer anything you want to know.”
Officer Paul takes out his notepad. “Have you been to Candace Goldenberry’s home at 9000 Stratford Lane?”
Mom blinks. “Uh—we were there for her house party recently.”
“And did you meet a boy named Elijah? Goes by Eli?”
Mom shakes her head, glancing at Dad. “No—Nadia and another boy, Kenny, were the only kids there.”
“Hmm.” Officer Paul writes something down, then slips a business card out of his pocket and offers it to Dad. “Well, let me know if you notice any strange behavior at the house. If you see something that doesn’t feel right, give me a call.”
“Of course,” Dad says. Mom nods.
“Have a good night, folks.” Officer Paul tips his head to them, then glances at me. “And remember what we talked about. Don’t go looking for evidence on your own.”
I nod but don’t know how to reply. Dad gets the door and the police officer leaves. When the latch clicks softly, both my parents turn to me. I squeeze Wonder tighter.
“Nadia, I…” Mom begins. “What … what is going on?”
I swallow. I’ve broken all my promises to Eli, anyway. I blurt out, “The boy who saved Wonder? He lives in Candace’s basement. He’s my friend. And Aunt Lexie told me about human trafficking—and I think he might be one of them. Trafficked.”
“What?” Mom’s eyes get big.
Dad frowns and squats in front of me. “Nadia, that’s a pretty serious thing to say.”
“This is serious.”
“Isn’t … this the boy you were investigating? The superhero?” Mom asks, joining us on the floor. She searches my face. “I … didn’t know you found him again. Why didn’t you tell us?”
I grip Wonder so hard, she nudges my hand with a whine. “The—the story was ongoing then. And I promised him—but that’s not important now.”
Dad glances from Mom to me. “Okay … I want to get the timeline straight. When exactly did he go from being a superhero to a trafficked kid?”
“I just—Today, I—”
They exchange a look. Like, Aha, today she learned about human trafficking and immediately assumed her superhero is one of them. A look like, What are we going to do with this girl? Like, Well, she’s finally lost it.
“Don’t you believe me?” I ask, my voice coming out in a whisper. The laser where Eli’s words started carving out my heart returns, cutting its way toward a full circle.
“Nadia … You know your imagination is one of the things we love most about you.” Dad brushes back one of my braids and Mom nods. “But to jump all the way to him basically being a slave? That’s…” He glances at Mom. “I know today must have been pretty distressing, but…”
My body gets hotter and hotter the longer he talks. It’s like they think I can’t tell truth from fiction, like they think I’ve made all this up. When all the while, Eli is right down the street—and who knows what is happening? What if Candace is mad about the cops coming? What if she’s hurting him, right now?
“This is real!” I insist. “Eli is in danger!”
Dad tilts his head. “Dia, simple logic would tell you he can’t be a slave. If he was, why wouldn’t he try to leave? Or—why wouldn’t he have told the police?”
And I can’t answer. Because I don’t know the reason. I don’t understand.
Mom rests a hand on her stomach for a moment. “Love, this has been a long day. Why don’t we let it rest for now, and we can have a family meeting tomorrow? We’ll talk through everything that’s happened—the baby, this—and we’ll see if there isn’t something we can do. But for tonight, I think there’s been enough excitement.” She glances at Dad and he nods. “Let’s just have dinner and watch a movie.”
The laser finishes its circle, cutting my heart clean out. They don’t believe me. They don’t believe me.
Without a word, I grab Wonder Dog’s harness and drag her with me up the stairs. Inside my room, I shut the door and sink down against it. Downstairs, my parents murmur together. Wonder Dog curls into a ball at my side.
They don’t believe me.
Are they right?
Maybe I don’t know the difference between real and imaginary.
Because if Eli was in trouble, why would he lie to the police? Why stay with Candace?
I flip open my notepad and push pages out of the way—Is Eli a slave? TELL THE TRUTH—until I find the next one. Blank, unmarked, waiting. I click my mechanical pencil and the lead comes out. The empty lines glow like the Bat-Signal—needing an answer, needing it now. I click my pencil two more times. Touch it to the paper, which wrinkles. I press hard, and the notepad starts to bend. Harder. The lead breaks through the
thin paper with a pop.
I don’t know how long I sit there. The sun sets behind storm clouds. It’s well past dinnertime, but I don’t feel hungry. I don’t turn on a light. My parents’ voices mumble downstairs, then I hear them going to their room. My head nods. I close my eyes. Just for a few minutes. Wonder Dog woof-snores.
An eerie sound breaks the quiet.
I lift my head off my arms, blinking away sleep. Listening.
Woo WOO ooo ooo ooo.
A mourning dove.
Eli.
Chapter 19
AREA WOMAN HUNTS HEROES
“Eli?” I whisper-yell. “Where are you?”
I’m standing in the driveway, with Wonder Dog beside me. We stare into the darkness. Eli appears—seemingly from nothing—right in front of me. I jump and clamp a hand over my mouth to muffle a surprised cry.
Wonder, apparently expecting him, goes to sniff Eli’s knee.
“What’s going—?” I start to ask. But then the security motion-sensor light over our garage clicks on, and I get a look at him. My blood freezes.
A dark bruise runs the length of his right cheek. A split cuts down his lip, not even scabbed over yet. Before I can see more, he tugs his hoodie up and backs away from the sensor. A long moment passes. The light switches off again.
My voice trembles. “Eli?”
“I—I need to find my mom,” he says. “She has a purple town house in DC. Which way is DC?”
I blink, my eyes adjusting again. “You can’t just—go through all of Washington DC looking for a purple house. I mean, do you even know her address?”
Eli shakes his head quickly. “No, but I’ve been planning for a while. I needed to save up enough supplies.” He unzips his hoodie pockets and shows me a collection of protein bars and other things I can’t make out. Wonder gives that a sniff, too. “I didn’t want to leave Candace until I was ready but she—she’s gotten unpredictable.”
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