Close to Home

by Lisa Jackson

  “I’m divorced,” Sarah pointed out. “It’s not a sin. Or a recipe for disaster with your kids.”

  “Oh, I know! I wasn’t talking about you, but, you know, when no one’s in the home, the kids get into trouble.”

  “Mom was home. We still got into plenty of trouble.”

  “Don’t be so defensive. This isn’t about you. But I was sure you’d want to know, and I thought maybe you didn’t have your television hooked up.”

  “You’re right,” Sarah said, glancing out the window as the rain began coming down in sheets. She listened as Dee Linn explained what she knew of the circumstances of the missing girl.

  “I suppose she could be a runaway,” Dee Linn finished up. “Look, I’ve got to go, but I thought you should know. And I wanted to remind you about the party. You and the girls are coming, right?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Sarah said, turning to find Gracie staring at her and silently accusing her of the lie. “Can I bring anything?”

  “No—I’ve got everything handled,” Dee said before hanging up.

  “You don’t want to go to the party,” Gracie said as soon as Sarah was off the phone. She wadded up the wrapper from her snack and tossed it into an open garbage bag propped against the table. “Why don’t you just admit it? What is it with you and the lying?”

  “There’s lying and there’s lying. I guess I’m trying to protect people from getting hurt.”

  “You don’t like it when Jade and I lie.”

  “You’re right, I don’t. So we’ll all work on it together. Now, come on, we’ve got to get going. We have to pick up Jade in about half an hour.”

  “That should be fun.” She was already walking into the hallway searching for her jacket, and her voice carried back to the kitchen. “Jade’s been in a bad mood for a long time.”

  “She didn’t want to move here.”

  “She didn’t want to leave Cody,” Gracie said from the foyer.

  “Same thing.”

  “No, it’s not.” Gracie, pushing her arms down the jacket’s sleeves, walked back into the kitchen, where she sent Sarah a look that accused her of being obtuse, or just plain naïve. “It’s all about Cody with her.”

  “She’s only seventeen.”

  Gracie gave her a look. “You never thought you were in love in high school?”

  Dear Lord, when did her twelve-year-old turn forty-five? Sarah had been a complete lovesick fool over a boy when she was Jade’s age. “Okay, point taken.”

  As Sarah scooped up her keys from the kitchen counter, Gracie finished shrugging into her coat. “He doesn’t love her, you know. Not like she loves him. She’s going to get her heart broken.”

  “And you know this, how?”

  “I just do. I know a lot of things.”

  CHAPTER 10

  He parked a block from the school on a side street, the nose of his Prius not quite to the corner of Crown Boulevard, where the sprawling campus of Our Lady of the River was situated. The side street was actually closer to the church itself and the parsonage, but it provided a great view of the school through the peppering rain. Eyes on the front doors, he slid the window of his Prius down and tossed his cigarette butt out the window; it sizzled and died in the wet grass. Checking his watch, he knew it was only a matter of minutes before the final bell, and then he would have his chance. The camera he’d mounted on his dash was small enough to hide in the palm of his hands, but the lens was strong enough that pictures from this distance would be clear.

  He’d have to work fast. Though he was fairly certain Our Lady of the River wasn’t fitted with security cameras that would reach past the school parking lot, he needed to be careful, get his business done quickly.

  The Jamison girl had been an easy target, but now, with the Sheriff’s Department on alert, he would have to be doubly careful and strike quickly, get in and get out before that dolt of a sheriff realized what was happening. He hoped to shut the operation down and move on just after Halloween. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t take long before the authorities understood that Rosalie Jamison wasn’t a runaway. For a while, they’d be on the wrong track, thinking she’d taken off on her own, but that would change.

  He smiled thinly, one hand scrabbling in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes before he decided he’d wait for another smoke. He’d already taken shots of the public schools, had matched pictures with those in last year’s yearbook with Facebook and Twitter accounts, but he hadn’t taken any new shots from Our Lady until today. He mentally kicked himself for ignoring a perfect hunting ground.

  Better late than never, he told himself.

  He kept the engine running quietly, the defroster blowing warm air to keep the windshield clear, because he only had one shot at this. Rain was falling, but he still should be able to get some good shots. He didn’t like taking chances, but risks were a part of his obsession, so he waited and watched as a line of cars formed, mommies picking up their little darlings.

  Just as he’d hoped.

  “Love them up tonight,” he whispered as if the drivers of the cars could hear him. “It might be your last chance.”

  The final bell rang, and almost immediately the doors of the school opened. He hit a button, and the digital camera, pointed straight at the glass doors, began snapping off shots, one after the other, as students streamed out. A lot of the photos wouldn’t help; there would be pictures of boys as well, but he should get enough to sort through and choose. He felt a thrumming in his bloodstream, a spark of adrenaline at the thought of those he would abduct: perfect, beautiful specimens. A redhead caught his eye, one with long legs and big tits. Yeah, she’d do, and then there were several blondes who were potentials. He needed a blonde or two, and a brunette, who should be slim and athletic. He saw three who might be perfect.

  A girl he recognized emerged and seemed to be alone, without a friend. She was wearing a long, black coat, hiding her uniform, and she looked uncomfortable, maybe even a little pissed off. Jade. He smiled, remembering that she had more than decent boobs. Her eyes were big and serious, her lips full and pouty, her black hair a little too dark for her white complexion, but that could be fixed.

  “Oh, honey, have I got plans for you,” he whispered as he watched her hurry down the steps of the school toward an older Ford Explorer pulling up. Jade’s mother. Again, he grinned. If she only knew.

  Jade started down the steps, and he thought of what she’d be like in bed. Naked. Did she have big nipples? Brown or rosy? And what color was that patch of hair down under. He’d bet not the black of her hair . . . but he’d find out soon enough. See for himself, maybe touch the tuft and smell it. He licked his lips, his pants growing tight as his cock started to stiffen.

  Oh, what he could do to her.

  He took in a long, calming breath.

  Not now . . . not here. He heard his mother’s voice ringing in his ears, “You stay away from those kinds of girls!” she’d hissed, the smell of gin on her breath. “They’ll ruin ya, you know. Tease you. Make you want them. Make you feel that if only you could fuck them, you’d find ecstasy. It’s a lie, son. Your body lies to you. Remember that.”

  “Go away, Mother,” he whispered now, returning to his fantasy of Jade spread upon his bed, writhing as he nipped at her, begging for him as he ran his dick up her flat abdomen, promising so much more—

  Something moved in his peripheral vision.

  What the hell?

  A kid of around twelve flew by on his bike, then hit the brakes suddenly, nearly clipping the car’s mirror as he screeched around the front of his vehicle, rounding the corner without bothering to stop. Close enough that he could have dented the front panel.

  “Hey!” he yelled before he thought about it and shut his trap. The kid flipped him off as he sped down the road.

  Shit! Now he’d been spotted.

  His good mood withered away along with his hard-on, and he thought briefly of running down the biker and clipping him back, sending h
im flying into the ditch, where he could break his stupid neck. He fingered the gearshift lever, then slowly let out his breath through clenched teeth.

  He had to let the biker flee.

  He couldn’t ruin this opportunity.

  The kid on the bike probably wouldn’t remember him.

  Trying to focus on the task at hand, he decided he’d taken enough pictures, that somewhere in the digital camera roll, he’d found his next victim.

  Could things get any worse?

  Jade couldn’t believe it when she saw her mother’s SUV idling in the line of vehicles collecting the younger students at Our Lady’s front doors. Mom had agreed to meet her down the street, out of sight, but here she was, the Explorer inching forward as the car in front of her collected a group of girls who had to be freshmen.

  Just great.

  It had already been a horrible day at this hellhole of a school, and Cody hadn’t texted her since late last night. She was starting to get pissed at him. And then there was the rain—buckets of it pouring from the sky, as if God had decided to punish her too.

  Ducking her head, Jade dashed down the wide front steps and saw that her sister had already claimed shotgun by stealing the front seat.

  The perfect ending to a perfect day, she thought dismally as she yanked open the back door, slid into the seat, and yanked the door to slam behind her.

  “I thought you were going to park down the block!” she greeted her mother.

  “It’s raining.” Sarah glanced over her shoulder.

  “It always rains. It’s Oregon.”

  “And there’s a girl gone missing.”

  “Yeah. Rosalie somebody. We heard about her in seventh period. She didn’t go to Our Lady. And it doesn’t matter anyway. You said you’d be down the block.”

  “Well, you’re here now,” Sarah said, driving the car forward, then stopping to allow another vehicle to merge in. “How was your first day?”

  “How do you think?” Jade didn’t need her mom to start prying. Not now when the whole school was dumping out, students rushing through the front doors and down the steps to waiting vehicles. Through the window she saw several faces she’d met in her classes and, of course, Mary-A, along with two other senior girls who threw her superior glances as they hurried down a long covered porch to the designated parking area for students near the gym.

  God, this was hell.

  Jade slid farther down in the seat, though she caught Mary-Alice’s smirky smile as the senior tossed one last glance over her shoulder.

  Ugh!

  “Can we just go now?” When her mother didn’t immediately step on the gas, she added, “Please.”

  “Just waiting for traffic to clear.”

  Jade just wanted to disappear. The day had been pure torture, being “introduced” in every class, as if she were in third grade, for God’s sake. She’d wanted to drop through the floor. The only good news was she’d found a way to skip lunch so that she didn’t have to suffer through Mary-Alice’s company and have all the rest of the student body staring at her.

  Instead, she’d left campus and wandered around the surrounding blocks, showing up ten minutes late for the next class and really pissing off Mary-Alice, who’d been apparently waiting for her at lunch. She’d blasted Jade for missing the first safety announcement because of the girl who had gone missing. Everyone was to have heard it, and Mary-A took it as a personal insult that Jade hadn’t appeared on time, the teacher taking note and reminding Mary-Alice of her responsibility to her new charge.

  By the time Jade had reconnected with her, Mary-Alice’s cheeks had been wildly red, her anger palpable. “You go ahead and mess up your own life if you want,” she’d blasted Jade in the empty stairwell, her voice echoing, “but don’t screw with mine!”

  “Just leave me alone,” Jade had suggested with a dismissive shrug.

  “I wish I could. But I’m in a senior college-prep program, and getting you oriented is part of my project, so move it!” She’d steamed up the stairs, her heels clipping angrily as Jade had sauntered after her.

  Now, though, Jade wondered if she’d erred in taking Mary-Alice on. Had she never met the senior, Mary-A wouldn’t have known she existed, but as it stood, they’d become mortal enemies in one school day.

  Finally, her mother eased out of the circular drive and pulled away from the school.

  Jade could finally breathe again.

  Sarah said, “So, what happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  “I said it was nothing!” She stared out the fogging side window as they drove through the small town of Stewart’s Crossing. All the older buildings looked like something out of the Wild West, with false façades and long porches. The newer structures too were designed in that same Western style. In Jade’s opinion it was all kind of phony. Like Stewart’s Crossing was Dodge City or something.

  Sarah’s cell phone beeped loudly.

  “I’ll get it.” Gracie retrieved the cell from their mother’s purse and checked the name on the small screen. “Evan.”

  Jade’s heart sank. She hated that guy. “He’s a perv.”

  “He’s not a perv. Let it go to voice mail,” Sarah said, not taking her gaze from the road.

  “Okay.” Gracie dropped the phone into her purse, and it finally quit ringing. “Why won’t you talk to him?”

  “It’s not a good time.”

  “Will it ever be?” Gracie asked perceptively.

  “Nope. They broke up,” Jade said, leaning forward. “It’s over, but Evan is such a dumb-ass, he hasn’t figured it out yet.”

  “But we moved,” Gracie pointed out.

  Jade rolled her eyes. “I didn’t say he was smart, did I?”

  “How about we grab a pizza and a salad for dinner while we’re in town?” Sarah cut in. “It’s not very imaginative, but until we get the kitchen up and running we’re kind of forced to eat takeout.”

  She didn’t want to talk about Evan, either. Good.

  “Cheese and pepperoni!” Gracie declared, like the suck-up she was.

  Jade closed her eyes. She couldn’t believe this was her life now.

  It seemed as if the entire world was against her. Even Cody. Why hadn’t he called or texted? Maybe he was already moving on. She gazed out the window at the funereal sky, the darkness reflecting her own mood, her watery image visible in the glass. She’d always heard she was “interesting-looking,” “intriguing,” that she had “classic features” and “haunted eyes.” All a bunch of crap and a way to hide the fact that she wasn’t pretty or even cute. Cody had called her “beautiful” and told her that he loved her, but that was always because they were making out. Sometimes she’d caught him looking at other girls.

  Gracie said, “Actually, I want Hawaiian.”

  “Sound good?” Sarah asked as she braked for one of the few stop lights in the town.

  Jade couldn’t have cared less, but she said, “Fine,” because she knew that the subject wouldn’t be dropped until she acquiesced. Of course, they didn’t go straight to the restaurant as Mom had to run some errands. Sarah had Gracie phone in the order and rattled off the number without even checking her cell phone.

  “You know the number?” Jade asked.

  “It hasn’t changed in twenty years,” Sarah informed her.

  Jade and Gracie waited at the bank, grocery store, and post office as Sarah finished her errands, and it was nearly five before she pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall, complete with the obligatory Western façade, where Giorgio’s Real Italian Pizza Parlor was located. The asphalt was old and bumpy, the lines indicating parking slots nearly invisible.

  Gracie was already unbuckling her seat belt as Sarah pulled her keys from the ignition and asked, “Coming?” She opened her door just a crack so as not to hit the monster pickup in the next space.

  “I’ll pass,” Jade said, but her mother was having none of it.

  “Oh, come on. I use
d to work here after school,” Sarah insisted. “Maybe they’re hiring. And you could use the gas money.”

  “If I ever get my car back.” Reluctantly, she climbed out, slammed the door, and followed Gracie inside, where the Western theme literally crawled off the walls. A false wooden roof covered the salad bar, while open barn doors led to the “video corral” near the soda machines. With a nod to the whole “Real Italian” part of the name, flags of Italy had been strategically hung next to wagon wheels, and picks and axes were mounted on the walls. Kind of a weird combo, just like the “pizza special of the week,” which was an “infusion” of Italian sausage and barbequed chicken.

  “Bizarre,” she whispered to herself as her mother paid for and picked up a large pizza box and a plastic carton of green salad.

  “I’ll carry the pizza,” Gracie offered just as, deep in the pocket of her coat, Jade’s cell phone vibrated. She slipped it out and read the text.

  From Cody! Finally.

  Be there Sat nite. Miss you.

  Her heart melted, and all her anger at him faded with those six little words. Jade stared at Cody’s text and felt tears burn the back of her eyes.

  How could she have doubted him?

  Quickly texting back, she followed her mother and Gracie to the door and nearly ran over Gracie. “What the . . . ?”

  “Hey!” Gracie cried.

  Jade looked up from her phone to see that her mother had stopped dead in her tracks and was staring at a tall dude in jeans who’d just walked inside.

  “Sarah!” A slow grin slid across his jaw, as if he was happily surprised to damn near literally run into her. Oh, great! Just what she needed. Her mother to run into an old friend and stop to catch up. Now they’d be here forever,

  But that’s not how it played out.

  Sarah actually seemed at a loss for words for a second, like she was stunned at the sight of him. Then she caught herself. “Oh. Hi.” She quickly hid her surprised expression as she motioned to Jade and Gracie. “Girls, this is Clint, er, Mr. Walsh.”