by Gina LaManna
“As good as can be expected under the circumstances.” Anthony twisted the handle and led me into the bedroom. “Nicky, you awake, man?”
The girls’ dad lay in bed, staring straight at the ceiling. “Yeah.”
“Are you doing okay?” I asked. I took soft steps towards the bed, sitting down on the edge. Nicky’s face was pinched, but his eyes glowed more alert than the last time I’d seen him. “Silly question,” I said, when he didn’t respond. “But we’re getting close, I can feel it. I need your help with something.”
Nicky turned his face slightly towards mine. “My help?”
“Can you tell me if this is either Marissa or Clarissa’s handwriting?” I held up the paper so he could see. “I found this in your mailbox. It’s good news, Nicky. If they wrote this, they’re probably safe.”
Anthony shifted his weight behind me. Maybe we didn’t know if the news was good or bad yet, but for Nicky’s sanity, we needed to keep as much hope alive as possible.
Nicky scrunched up his face. “It’s good news?”
I nodded. And I continued to stretch the truth. “Think of it this way. If the girls really did run away with a friend, then there’s a good chance they’re safe. It’s only been a day. Maybe they’re at this friend’s house, or maybe the friend has access to a hiding spot that we haven’t found yet. If we can find the friend, then maybe we can find the girls.”
Nicky eyed the note once more. Then all of a sudden, he clapped a hand to his forehead. The smack of palm against his head startled me so violently, I nearly tore the paper in two.
“What is it?” I asked, trying not to show my alarm. “Did you remember something?”
Nicky groaned. “About a month ago, the girls asked if they could go to a friend’s birthday party. I said no. The girls had both failed their last spelling test. I told them if they didn’t study for their test, they couldn’t go to the party.”
I tossed a glance over my shoulder at Anthony. “And you think they’re running because of that?”
Nicky kept his hand clasped over his eyes. “I’m not sure they ever forgave me for not letting them go. That was a month ago, and they didn’t talk to me for about three weeks.”
“What changed?” I leaned closer. “Why did they suddenly forget about it?”
Nicky closed his eyes and gave a long sigh. “I don’t know. And you know the worst part? I didn’t even ask. I just figured enough time had passed that they forgot about the party. Maybe if I’d just let them go…”
“I really don’t think it has anything to do with the birthday party. And it doesn’t make you a bad parent that you didn’t let them go. Every kid needs some discipline and some…” I exhaled. “I can’t believe I’m saying this. I’m quoting Meg.”
Anthony coughed behind me.
I ignored him. “Every kid needs tough love. You weren’t unfair, Nicky. You gave the girls a choice: study for the test and go to the party, or fail the test and forget the party. They have to learn somehow.”
“I should have just let them go to the party,” Nicky moaned. “What do I care if they fail? I’d rather have them home and safe and failing instead of running away.”
“You couldn’t have known they were planning to run away. Do you have the name of the friend who had the birthday party? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask around and see if they know anything.”
“I don’t remember the name offhand,” Nicky said. “It wasn’t one of their close friends, but it was a girl in their class.”
“Would the girls’ teacher know?” I hesitated bringing up Miss Nice Apples with Anthony in the room. Sure, I was confident he liked me and not her, but I didn’t want to go parading my boyfriend around in front of beautiful, willing, and interested women if I could help it.
Nicky nodded. “Now that you mention it, she’d know better than me. She’d even know about their handwriting. I mean, she stares at it enough grading all those papers.”
“That’s a good point.” I patted Nicky’s leg. “We’ll stop by and ask her about it.”
Nicky made a small noise in his throat. “What do you think, Anthony? Are they okay?”
“I’m not in the habit of assuming anything.” Anthony’s dark eyes met mine. Then something shifted in his gaze and it fell to the floor. When he eventually turned his attention back to Nicky, his eyes held the smallest amount of hope. “I think Lacey’s right. If this note really is from them, then I think they’re fine.”
Nicky’s expression turned pained. “You think this could be a forgery.”
“I’m not in the habit of making assumptions,” Anthony said again, his eyes flicking towards mine. “But I’m also not in the habit of lying. And there’s a possibility the girls didn’t write this note.”
The breath whooshed out of my lungs. I’d been trying not to think about the alternate possibilities, but like Anthony said, he wasn’t in the habit of lying. And it wouldn’t help anyone if I overlooked any of the possibilities, especially the bad ones.
I stood up to leave, but something was tugging at the back of my mind. I decided to question Nicky once more. Anthony paused on his way out the door, turning back to listen.
My brows furrowed together as I asked, “And you can’t remember anything that might have happened a week ago that would suddenly make the girls forget they were mad at you for not letting them go to the party? Think really hard, Nicky.”
“I wish I knew.” His eyes turned stormy. “If I did, maybe they’d still be here. Like I said though, it seemed like they just forgot about it and turned happy again. I didn’t want to press my luck and ask about it.”
“Extra happy?” I asked. “Would you say the girls noticed something, or saw someone, or…I don’t know what, but do you think there was an event to make them happier than normal?”
“Could be,” Nicky said, “but I don’t know what it would’ve been. All I know is for the past month, my girls barely talked to me. Then last week, they turned into angels. Made their own lunches, did their homework without me asking…I wasn’t going to question it.”
I squeezed his shoulder. “Thanks for the help. We’ll let you know what their teacher has to say.”
I closed the door quietly behind me, then followed Anthony down the hallway in silence.
It wasn’t until we approached the living area that I reached out and grabbed Anthony’s wrist. He turned around, a question written across his face.
“Anthony, something happened a week ago,” I said. “I don’t know what for certain, but I’m telling you, the girls saw something. Or they met with someone. Someone they liked. I think the girls ran away, but they had help.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because.” I took a step closer, resting my hands on Anthony’s shoulders. “I don’t know all that much, but I do know one thing. Those girls aren’t angels.”
“You think they were hiding something by their good behavior?”
I nodded. “They were hiding something, all right. This past week, they were dressed as angels instead of devils, and a girl doesn’t do that without a reason. Now we just need to find out why.”
CHAPTER 33
Anthony and I found Meg waiting outside the door to the living area.
“What are you doing?” I nodded towards the room. “Are Carlos and Nora still in there?”
“I can’t take it anymore.” Her eyes wide, she shook her head left to right. “Nora won’t listen to reason at all. She’s just lying there talking about books.”
I turned to Anthony. “Why don’t you give it a whirl in there? You did a good job calming her down before. Or your chest did, I should say.”
“I’m not going back in there.” He folded his arms protectively over said chest. “I spent all morning in there. It’s your turn.”
“My turn? I have work to do.”
Anthony pointed to that handsome chest again. “And you think I have nothing to do?”
“I vote it’s Lacey’s turn,” Meg sa
id. “Both me and Anthony have done our part.”
“You were in there for two seconds,” I said. “Plus, you are supposed to be on my side.”
Meg bit her lip. “I’m on whoever’s side isn’t voting for me to go in there. Anyway, didn’t you come here to distract her in the first place? I thought you were gonna take her to the—”
“To the salon?” I interrupted. “To get her, uh…thing done to her hair?”
Meg rolled her lips inwards, realizing her mistake. If the cooking class was Anthony’s secret birthday present, well, the secret would be ruined if she spelled out our plans in front of him. With zero subtleness, she gave a knowing glance in Anthony’s direction. “Right. The salon.”
“I know you’re lying,” Anthony said. “And I don’t like what the two of you are up to, but if it involves taking Nora to an appointment of any sort, I hereby instruct you to take her.”
“We don’t have time!” I said. “We have to talk to the girls’ teacher.”
“Why do you wanna go see Miss Nice Apples again?” Meg scrunched her nose up. “Isn’t that the girl you told me about that hit on Anthony?”
“Miss Nice Apples?” Anthony rounded on me, his mouth quirking up in a lazy, cocky smile, as he shifted his shoulders up and down. “What on earth gave her that nickname?”
My cheeks burned, but Meg didn’t seem to notice.
Or if she did notice, she didn’t care. “Lacey told me all about show and tell. She said not to bring it up in front of you, but…” Meg clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, what a slippery little bugger. That secret was just not meant to be kept, and I’m stickin’ to that story. Please don’t be mad at me,” Meg said, blinking in my direction. My eyes might have channeled Carlos’s death stare at that point because Meg coughed and pointed towards the door. “You know, on second thought, maybe I should go check on Nora.” With that, she marched straight on into the room and closed the door behind her with a resounding thud.
“Miss Nice Apples, huh?” Anthony stepped forward. “You like your nicknames, don’t you?”
“When I don’t know someone’s real name, it’s just easier.”
“She introduced herself.”
I hugged my arms to my chest. “I see you have a fantastic memory.”
Anthony’s smile faded into a calculating stare. He sized up my huddled frame, burning cheeks, and hunched shoulders for a good twenty seconds before he spread his arms wide. He waited. I waited. Neither of us moved forward.
“Come on, Lacey, it’s my job to remember names.” He kept his arms wide and inched forward, but he still didn’t touch me. “You’re not mad, are you?”
I took a half step forward. “No,” I mumbled, though the grudging tone to my voice said otherwise. “I just wish you didn’t know her name.”
“As long as that’s the only thing I remember about her, we don’t have a problem, do we?”
We stood like that in the hallway for another minute. I fought a minor war with myself. I had two options: I could let jealousy win out and stay upset, or I could swallow my pride and step into his arms. I wish I could’ve said it was an easy decision, but that stubbornness I’d inherited from my mom flared up, and it took more convincing than I’d like to admit to go with option number one.
“I remember you like blueberry coffee,” Anthony said, “with so many marshmallows you can hear the crunch. And I remember you made friends with a homeless guy you thought was a guard just before your birthday. I remember that you like gingerbread houses because you built them every year with your mom, and I remember that you have eyes that look like your dad’s.”
I hesitated when Anthony stopped speaking, and then I took one teensy, tiny step forward.
“I remember you use purple conditioner that you leave in my shower, and I remember that you climbed out a bathroom window when you thought Leanne was something other than a business partner. I remember that you lost a cooking contest to that Marco-Lopez-guido at Carlos’s cabin but ate your pile of soggy noodles anyway because you’re stubborn. And I remember telling you I loved you, and you telling me to ‘shut up’ out in Hollywood.”
The smallest of smiles quirked my lips upward. “What else do you remember?”
“I remember that you said you’d move in with me last night,” Anthony said. “And I remember that you told me a person’s past got them to exactly where they are today. I know I’m exactly where I should be, Lacey, and if you take one step forward, I think you’ll be where you should be, too.”
I looked down, and for a minute, I really didn’t like myself. I really didn’t like when jealousy crept in and distorted the view of Anthony I loved so much, and even worse, I didn’t like when I let it cloud my decisions. I swallowed, pushed away the ugly thoughts and focused on the good, then I stepped forward.
Anthony’s arms, which he’d been holding up for ages now, collapsed over my shoulders, hugging me into a warm embrace. I rested my head on his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“So, what do you think, am I right?”
“About?” I peeked up, but I couldn’t see past Anthony’s chin.
“Are you in the right spot now?”
I nodded again, curling my way deeper into the embrace. “And now I don’t want to leave.”
“Then don’t.”
“Do you think Carlos will let us work together like this? We can be a new superhero. Called the P, B & J.”
“We can figure something out.” Anthony ran a hand through my hair. “You could retire if you want, I’ve told you that. Especially now that you’ll be living with me. It’d be simple to live off of my salary alone.”
“Retire? I don’t want—”
My objections were interrupted by Meg, who looked like she’d stepped into a wind tunnel instead of the living room a few minutes ago. “I can’t do it anymore,” she said, stumbling back into the hallway. “I’m done. I thought I cheered her up for a second, and then she lost it again.”
Wails followed Meg as she slammed the door shut, this time keeping the cries inside the room.
Anthony’s face paled as he stepped backwards. “I’m not going in there.”
I sucked in a few deep breaths. “Well, I have to look for the girls.”
“So do I,” Anthony said. “I need to check in with my team. And then I want to work on finding out whether or not there are traffic lights in the area. Maybe we can pull some video footage from the area around the mailbox at Nicky’s house and look for unusual activity. If it’s true the girls saw or met with someone, maybe we’ll see a face.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” I tapped a finger to my lips. “You have ways to get that information?”
Anthony looked almost gleeful. “Yes I do, and unfortunately, you do not. So I guess that means you get to spend some time with your grandmother.”
I frowned. “Don’t look so happy about this.”
“Sorry.” Anthony tried to straighten his face, but he couldn’t keep the ends of his lips in a frown. They just kept inching back up, no matter how hard he fought back a smile. “It’s not funny. But you don’t have access to those cameras and I do, so…I guess that’s settled.”
“It’s not so bad.” Meg stepped between us. She put one arm on Anthony’s chest, and then reached over to do the same to me, separating the two of us like we were a pair of boxers about to pummel each other. But she missed my collar bone, and landed one firm hand onto my breast. “Whoops, sorry about that boob grab.”
“Let go,” I said through gritted teeth. “You can’t say sorry and then leave your hand on my chest. And stop squeezing, Meg. That’s weird.”
Anthony was no better. His eyes had dropped to my chest the second Meg’s hand had flown towards me, and from his lack of movement, he didn’t even hear my warning.
“Anthony, eyes up here,” I said, startling him into looking at my face. “Cripes. Are you twelve? And Meg, let go.”
Meg gave one final squeeze. “Nice apples,” she said. Then she turned to Anth
ony. “In case you’re wondering. You’re welcome.”
“Enough about apples,” I said. “What was your plan?”
“Oh, I was just saying that me and you could swing by the girls’ school and talk to their teacher on the way,” Meg said. “We can take Nora with us, and after stopping by the classroom, we can go straight to the…er, salon day.”
“We can’t go to the…er, salon at a time like this,” I said. “We have to help Anthony.”
“Go.” Anthony crossed his arms, “It’s the best thing you can do. Please take your grandmother and keep her occupied for an hour or two.”
“I want to help look for Marissa and Clarissa,” I said. “Not play babysitter.”
“We are looking for them,” Meg said. “We’re stopping by the school, like I said.”
“It’s the best thing you can do for everyone,” Anthony said. “You’ll get information from the school, plus you’ll free up time for me to pull surveillance videos. And Carlos has been itching to talk more to Nicky, but he’s been too worried about Nora to leave her for long.”
“He didn’t look worried in there.” I nodded towards the room, as I remembered Carlos watching the smoke spiral up from his cigar in lazy circles.
“He doesn’t like to show emotions,” Anthony said. “But I can tell. Deep down.”
“Really,” I said, heavy on the sarcasm. “Okay, Mr. Emotional Intelligence over here.”
“Lacey, please. Distract her. You can join the search again right after, and it would be helpful if their teacher can either confirm this note was written by the girls, or deny it. Please?”
“Fine,” I said. “But you all owe me.”
“Owe you?” Meg grinned. “No way. I’m coming with you.”
“Fine, then Anthony owes me…” I paused, glancing around. “Anthony? Where did he go?”
He’d vanished.
Meg sighed. “The man is magic, I’m telling you.”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go. I don’t feel comfortable being around you alone after your last grope.”
“It’s a hazard of the job,” Meg said. “Just checking you for weapons.”