The Cellar

by Natasha Preston

  “Not really. What do you mean ‘something weird’ anyway?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied and sighed deeply. Maybe I was just looking for anything and looking in the wrong places. “He just seemed so…closed off. Everyone else that’s helped with the search did it because they want Summer found. It seemed like he was doing it because he thought he should. ”

  Henry frowned. “How did you get all that from talking to him once?”

  “I dunno. He was…” I shook my head. I didn’t even know what I meant. “Never mind. ”

  “Maybe he just didn’t know how to react. Forget it, Lewis; we need to concentrate on getting Hart talking. He’s under police surveillance so it won’t be easy. We’ll think of a plan in the morning. Sleep,” he ordered and left the room.

  Sighing, I laid back down and stared at the ceiling. Maybe Henry’s right about Colin. I needed to concentrate on Hart, the one real suspect—or person of interest, whatever he was now—the police had.

  Sleep was impossible. I couldn’t relax, even though I was exhausted from walking around searching all day. I glanced over to the bedside table where Summer kept a framed picture of us. We looked so happy—we were happy. She drove me crazy but I love her and would do anything for her. Looking at it was torture but I couldn’t put it down; my eyes were fixed on her perfect face. “Tell me where you are, baby,” I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat.

  “Lewis,” someone shouted through the door. I jumped awake from my half-asleep state. “Breakfast is ready. Hurry up. I wanna leave soon,” Henry added.

  I groaned and rubbed my eyes. “All right, I’m up. ” It was six in the morning. The last time I had looked at the clock that morning, it was 4:23. My eyes stung from having hardly any sleep, and I felt drained. I needed food and a couple energy drinks. Stretching my aching limbs, I took one last look at Summer’s picture and prepared for yet another day wondering where she was.

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  My stomach was tied in knots. I was nervous to speak to Hart. I almost didn’t want to know. It would make it too real. Mum and Dawn were the only people in the kitchen when I came down for breakfast. I sat at the table and forced down a few bits of toast. It was no use, though; I felt too sick to eat.

  “I’ll take a couple cereal bars,” I said, dropping my half-eaten toast back on the plate. Everything tasted like shit now anyway.

  Dawn frowned. “Make sure you do. ” The circles under her eyes had darkened. I don’t think she slept much either. I often heard her walking around in the early hours of the morning.

  “Where are you going today?” Mum asked.

  “Back to town and then maybe farther toward the city. I don’t really know yet. ”

  “Ready, Lewis?” Henry asked, leaning against the kitchen doorframe.

  I got up, eager to go. “Yeah. ”

  Dawn nodded and swiped a tear from her face. “Keep in touch and be careful. ”

  “We will, Mum,” Henry replied. “See you later. ” I walked ahead of Henry and got in my car.

  “So…plan?” I asked. “I guess we should plan something, although I just want to go and beat the shit out of him. ”

  He scratched his jaw and frowned. “Err, no. You got any ideas?”

  “No,” I replied, shaking my head. “We’re just going to have to get there and see how well the police are watching him. ”

  “Yeah. We are doing the right thing, aren’t we?”

  “For Sum, yeah. You think we could sneak into his house?”

  “Maybe. We’d make shit robbers,” he said, laughing humorlessly.

  “I feel like I’m in a movie. ”

  “Vin Diesel’s gonna burst round the corner in some souped-up sports car and start shooting at us. ”

  Six months ago, I would have driven like a dick and Henry would have pretended to shoot things out the windows. I would love to go back to being an idiot.

  ***

  The closer we got to his house, the angrier I became. I felt rage coursing through my veins. We parked the car along the road so he wouldn’t see from his house and watched. “I don’t see the police,” Henry said, looking up and down the road.

  “That’s the whole point, Henry,” I muttered dryly. I shook my head and looked back at his house. He was there. I clenched my jaw and felt every muscle in my body tense. He stood outside, picking up a newspaper from his doorstep. I had planned to keep calm, but seeing him made my blood boil. I just wanted to rip his fucking head off. Adrenaline pumped through my body, and I jumped out of the car.

  In that moment, I didn’t think about trying to stay calm and get him to confess. The man that took Summer from me was just feet away, and I was going to kill him. Even the threat of prison wasn’t enough to stop me. I didn’t care.

  He looked up and saw me as I ran toward him. His hands shot up, telling me to back off. Not fucking likely. I lunged forward, grabbed his shirt, and punched him as hard as I could in the jaw. The satisfaction of hearing his jaw crack lasted only a second. He still had Summer.

  “Where is she?” I shouted and drew my arm back to punch him again. I couldn’t think straight. I wanted answers, someone to tell me where she was and what happened, and someone to pay. I wanted someone to pay. “Tell me where she is. ” I punched his face again and his lip split open. I couldn’t even put into words how much I hated him.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t done anything, I swear!” he shouted back and shoved me back away from him.

  “I swear to God if you don’t tell me where she is…” I growled and gasped as I was suddenly grabbed from behind and slammed to the ground. I expected it to be Henry, but when I looked over my shoulder, I saw it was some police officer. I didn’t care that I was about to be arrested. I only cared that they stopped me too soon.

  The officer read me my rights and clamped handcuffs on my wrists tight. “I swear to you, Lewis, I haven’t done anything to Summer,” Hart protested.

  “Don’t you fucking say her name. Just tell me where she is. Tell me where she is. ”

  Henry stood beside me looking lost and shocked. Nice one, Henry, cheers for the help, mate! “Wait, you can’t arrest him,” Henry said. Finally. “He’s only doing what everyone else wants to do. ”

  “Shut up, Henry!” What was the point of him speaking up now? I pulled against the handcuffs and winced as it bit into my wrist. “I’ll walk myself,” I spat as one of them pushed me forward, toward the unmarked car half-hidden behind a neighbor’s hedge. I walked to the car in disbelief. That bastard could go back in his house and have a cup of tea while I was being hauled off to the police station.

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  “Don’t tell anyone,” I said to Henry as the car door was slammed behind me.

  Lying back in the car, I closed my eyes. Summer would go crazy if she knew I was being arrested. I pictured her angry face and smiled. Her eyes would narrow and she would get these two little vertical lines between her eyebrows as she frowned. I had seen that face a million times, especially when I wouldn’t get up in the morning.

  Minutes later, we arrived at the station, and I realized I had my car keys. How the hell was Henry going to get back home? I hoped he would call Theo and not his parents. I didn’t want them finding out. The door was opened for me, and I got out, feeling like a damn criminal. What the hell was I going to do if Hart pressed charges? I knew I shouldn’t have punched him, but I couldn’t control my temper when I saw his face.

  Michael looked up as I was led into the station with my hands handcuffed behind my back. He did a double take and said something to his colleague, walking toward me. “What’s going on?” he asked, looking between me and the officer holding on to my arm.

  “We picked him up at Hart’s. We actually pulled him off Hart. ”

  Michael nodded once. “I’ll take it from here. You can remove the cuffs now. ” The officer who had arrested
me looked put out, and I tried not to look smug. The cuffs dug into my skin again as they were removed. I held back a wince. “This way,” Michael muttered and walked down the corridor.

  He pushed a door open and nodded for me to go into a small interview room. His face was hard and grim. I felt like I was back at high school being sent to the head master’s office. I sat down on one side of the dark wooden table. “Wait here,” he said and left the room.

  I looked around and wondered if this was the room Hart was interviewed in. Was this where he managed to convince them he was innocent? Leaning back on the hard plastic chair, I rubbed my wrist. What the fuck was Michael doing?

  Ten minutes later he came back in and sat down opposite me. “Well?” he said.

  I sighed and leaned my elbows on the table. “I just wanted to get him to tell me where she is. ”

  “And you thought punching him was the best way to do that?”

  “I didn’t plan it. When I saw him I lost control. Seeing his smug face. ” I seethed. “I wanted to kill him. ” I want to kill him.

  Michael held his hand up. “You need to calm down. Now I’ve just spoken to Mr. Hart, and he’s not going to press charges. But don’t think you’re getting away with it. If you try anything like that again, I’ll arrest you myself. You’re getting off very lightly here, Lewis, but it won’t happen again. ”

  “Getting off lightly?” I repeated in disbelief. “My girlfriend’s been kidnapped, we have no idea where she is or what’s happened to her, and you think I’m getting off lightly?”

  “You know exactly what I mean, Lewis. I’ll remind you that Mr. Hart has not been convicted of anything. ” He leaned forward. “Look, I know this is hard for you. I know you want answers, but you have to let us do our job. ”

  “And when exactly are you going to start doing your job?” I hissed. “It’s been seven months. ”

  His face hardened. “You may leave now, Lewis. ”

  I jumped up, knocking the chair over in the process and stormed out of the room. Fuck this! Henry stood by the front desk, having an argument with some officer. “Henry,” I called, pulling his arm. “Let’s go. ”

  “Hey, what happened?” he questioned, running after me. I needed to get away. They were doing nothing. They didn’t care enough.

  “Nothing. No charges. Where’s Theo?” I asked, spotting my brother’s car.

  “I dropped him back off at work after he picked me up. He loaned me his car. So they’re doing nothing?”

  “Apparently Mr. Hart doesn’t want to press charges. ” I got in the car and slammed the door. “Let’s go into town with her picture. We can pick up my car on the way home. I don’t want to waste the whole day. ”

  “Sure. Lewis, you won’t give up, will you?”

  I frowned. “No. Why do you ask?” He shook his head. That would never happen. I couldn’t move forward without knowing where she was and what happened. My throat dried and eyes stung. Do not fucking cry! “Do you want to give up?”

  “No, she drives me crazy, but I won’t stop looking until my annoying little sister is found. ” He laughed at some memory. “She really did do my head in. ”

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  I grinned. “I know. I had to listen to the arguments. ”

  “She started them,” he said, and we both laughed. I would give anything to hear them shouting at each other and Summer slamming her bedroom door every day again.

  Henry parked on Main Street. “Split up or stay together?” he asked.

  “Together for the straight road and we can split up at the end. ” We started along the street, and I saw Colin walking out of a door. He was holding two bags, one full of books and the other one with what looked like yarn. What the hell was he doing with yarn?

  “Henry,” I said, nodding my head in his direction.

  “Your weird dude?”

  “Mmm. There’s definitely something weird. Look what he’s bought. What would he be doing with that?”

  Henry shrugged. “Knitting books, I dunno. ”

  “Lewis, Henry,” Colin said, stopping in front of us.

  “Hi,” Henry muttered.

  “How are you both?”

  What are you hiding? I shrugged my shoulders, not wanting to get into how shitty I felt.

  “I’ve been meaning to stop by and help with the search again. ”

  “We’d appreciate that. The more people we have looking for her the better,” I replied. I wanted him to come along. Maybe then I could figure him out.

  “Do you still meet at the same place?”

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Long Thorpe town hall, seven o’clock every morning. ” Weekends were better, but during the week we still had a decent turnout. There were a lot of people that cared about Summer and just wanted to see her come home safely.

  “I’ll come and help this weekend. How are your parents holding up?” he asked Henry.

  “My dad spends every waking second searching for Summer and Mum spends every second crying,” he said honestly.

  Colin nodded sympathetically, but his eyes showed no emotion. They were empty. He looked bored. Something was wrong, and I couldn’t ignore it this time. Normal people were sympathetic—they had something to say. Even the ones that couldn’t find the words at least looked sympathetic.

  “Well, I hope you find her soon, and I’ll join the search on Sunday. ”

  “Yeah, thanks,” Henry replied. Colin turned around and walked in the opposite direction. I watched him gripping hold of his bags as he went. His knuckles were bright white where he was holding on too tight. Why? I fought the urge to follow him.

  “At least we’ll be able to spend some time with him on Sunday. Maybe he’ll let something slip. ”

  Henry frowned. “Let what slip?”

  “I don’t know yet. You think we should follow him?” He wouldn’t of course.

  “What? You can’t just go around stalking people. Jesus, Lewis. ”

  I clenched my jaw. The fuck I can’t! “I’m trying to find my girlfriend. I’ll do whatever I need to and stalk whoever I need to stalk. ” I would have thought he would understand. He loved Summer. How could he not be willing to do anything to find her too?

  “Excuse me,” I said, stopping two old ladies that tried to walk past. I flicked to a picture of Summer on my phone. “Have you seen this girl?”

  28

  CLOVER

  Sunday, February 27 (Present)

  I arrived at the town hall where the search for Lily was based. There were a million things I would prefer to do today, but I wanted to know what was going on with the search. I wanted to be seen helping. There was something about the way that Lewis looked at me that left me with an uneasy feeling. I constantly felt paranoid that he knew. My heart wouldn’t let up, and I checked out the window multiple times a day. It was taking over my life, and I had to put an end to his suspicion. He couldn’t know.

  The plain, cream room was crammed with people. I frowned. There were still a lot of people looking for her, even after the official police searches had died down. Why couldn’t they just leave her be? She was better off with me. They all were. I shuffled into a space away from a disease-ridden homeless man coughing up his lungs near the door. He was probably here for the warmth rather than to help.

  Moments after I arrived, people started filtering out, studying maps as they went. I had arrived a little late on purpose. Lily was splashed over posters pinned to a corkboard. She was pretty in her picture, very fresh-faced and natural. It was nice to see a teenager without a thick layer of makeup on. However, it was only a matter of time before she felt the need to paint her face like the trampy women in magazines.

  “Colin, thanks for coming. ” I jumped and looked over. Lewis cocked his head to the side. His eyes darkened and his posture straightened. “We appreciate you helping us find Summer. ” His lips pulled into a tight, forced smile. He knows somethi
ng. He can see through you.

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  I returned his smile and chastised myself. He couldn’t know. Matching his posture, I held out my hand and he briefly shook it. “It’s no trouble. Really. Anything I can do to help, I am more than willing to do. I’m going to get started right now,” I said, turning to get away from him.

  “Great,” he replied, effectively gaining my attention again. “Your group is ready. ”

  My group? I frowned and looked on. They still had enough volunteers to make enough groups. I had hoped I could go alone this time.

  Lewis frowned. “You’re with Dan, Kate, Rick,” he said, reading their names from a piece of paper. He looked up and smiled. “And me. ” I gritted my teeth and nodded. “Let’s get started. We’re meeting the others outside. ”

  My heart spiked in panic. I knew it was not accidental that I was in his search group. I had to look at it as a positive. Today I would convince him that I was only trying to help. Today I would fool him too. “Let’s go then,” I replied. He smiled tightly and turned. I followed him out the door. “Where are we starting?”

  He looked forward, avoiding my gaze, tense. Too tense. “A field a few miles away, on the edge of town. ” I smiled. Miles and miles away from my home.

  “Any reason why there? It’s quite far from town. ”

  He sighed. “The logical places have been searched and searched. I’ll cover every inch of the country until I find her. I don’t care how far away it is. ” The tragic thing was, he did love her. If he were a better boyfriend, then perhaps she would have been safe with him. Lewis was the sort of person who only realized his mistakes afterward. He didn’t think or plan forward—he was all hindsight—and that was exactly why I was the best person to take care of Lily.

  Dan drove his car out of Long Thorpe through the miles of farmland and fields, toward town. I sat in the back with my side pressed firmly against the door. Dan’s wife, Kate, was a plump woman who had let herself go. It was hard to keep any distance in the back of their small hatchback.

  “So do you want us to split up in the field or stick together?” Kate asked Lewis. Her hair was scrunched back in a messy tie and her makeup looked days old. She had yellowing teeth and her breath smelled of cigarettes and coffee. I gulped. I wanted to be anywhere but here. My foot tapped against the floor and I only realized I was doing it when Lewis looked over. I stopped and stared forward.