She’d made it for me a few times in the weeks we’d spent together. I would have known the taste anywhere. The blue alcohol in it couldn’t be purchased in our state. Lana told me all about having to get an older cousin to smuggle her some whenever she visited. Lana hoarded the stuff.
Movement caught my eye out the window above the sink. Someone darted away across the yard. I turned to run out the kitchen door, determined not to let them get away.
“Hey!” Nick put up his hands, catching the screen door before it hit his face. “Alissa? Are you okay? You’ve been in there a while.”
I grabbed Nick’s arms, scanning the side of the house for any sign of the person I had seen in the yard. “Someone was just here, at the window. Did you see them?”
“What?” Nick frowned, looking off where I was looking. “What are you talking about? I didn’t see anyone.”
I growled in frustration and jogged away from him. Whoever had been watching me in the kitchen had run off toward the cars. I had to catch them. I stopped behind the line of cars, looking for any sign of movement. One car’s interior light was on, the door open. I ran toward the spot of light in the darkness.
“No.” I froze. It was my car. “No friggin’ way.”
Cautiously, I edged closer, half-scared I would find someone in the car. One look told me it was empty. I stepped closer. Gravel crunched and I turned to see Nick hurrying across the driveway toward me. I leaned into my car, trying to figure out why someone had been in it.
“Alissa, what the hell is going on?” Nick asked. He stopped right behind me.
“Someone was in my car.” I riffled through the papers on the floor of the front seat. It didn’t seem like anything was gone. I stood, forcing Nick back a step. I opened the door to the back and leaned in.
“Are you sure?” Nick leaned in the driver’s door, watching me. “Is anything missing?”
“I don’t know,” I snapped. I looked on the floor of the back seat. My purse was right where I left it. When I opened it I found my wallet. I tossed it back down.
I found the note folded on the back seat. It sat right where Hannah’s sweatshirt had been. The sweatshirt was gone. Fear pricked at my skin, making my scalp feel tight. I unfolded the note, typed on the same paper as the others.
Those lost are never truly found.
I read the cryptic typed words three times before Nick opened the door on the other side of the back seat. “Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”
I got out of the car and scanned the yard, hoping someone would be watching again. The only people in sight were silhouetted by the fire.
“Alissa?” Nick came around the car to my side. He tentatively touched my arm. “What’s up?”
I leaned against the trunk of my car. “I don’t know.” I couldn’t help the tears that began to fall. Nick put an arm around me and we stood there together quietly. “I don’t even know what’s happening to me.” I wiped at my eyes, willing the tears to stop.
“Tell me what’s going on.” Nick pulled his arm from around me and stepped back with his hands in his pockets.
“Okay.” I nodded and told him everything from the truth about Lana and me to the note I’d just received.
“Jesus.” Nick shook his head. “You and Lana, for real?”
“Yeah.”
“That is about the last thing I expected to hear.” He put out his hand. “Let me see this note.”
I handed it over. “It’s just like the others.”
I sniffed and leaned against the car, wiping at the remainder of my tears. A spark flashed and something moved in the darkness. I blinked, unsure what I was really seeing. There was another spark and I made out Rachel trying to light a cigarette and walking back from the cars toward the party.
“Hey!” Anger bubbled in my chest. I strode toward Rachel. “What are you doing out here?”
Rachel finally got the cigarette lit and took a long drag before giving me an amused half-smile. She wore some guy’s jacket and it fell almost to the knees of her skinny jeans. She flicked her hair back with one hand and tilted her head.
“Getting my cigarettes.”
Her smug expression was too much.
“Do you think messing with me this way is funny?” I stepped forward and shoved Rachel. She hadn’t expected it and stumbled backward.
“What the hell is your problem?” All signs of amusement had vanished from Rachel’s face. She flicked her cigarette away and stepped close. “You really want to start something?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I really do.”
She pushed me hard and I teetered away from her. I’d never been in a fight before. Despite her small stature, Rachel was a tight bundle of muscle. Nick jogged over from my car.
“Whoa, hey. Knock it off.” Nick stepped between us, holding Rachel back as she sprung for me again. “Alissa, let’s go.”
“No way, I want her to admit to what she’s doing.”
“What I’m doing?” Rachel glared. “How about you admit to all the shit you’ve done?” Tears glistened in Rachel’s eyes as she pushed Nick aside. She snatched her still burning cigarette from the ground. I thought she would come at me, but she only shook her head. “Just stay away from me. You’re poison.”
I stood, staring after her in stunned silence as she walked away. Poison? What did that mean? I jerked when Nick put his hand on my shoulder.
“Just ignore her.”
I shook my head. “How can I if she’s the one doing this?”
“We don’t know that she is. Here.” Nick handed me the note. “We should take it to the police.”
“What do I tell them? Do I tell them I think it’s Rachel?” I let out a sigh of relief, glad that he believed me and thought the cops should know.
“Tell them everything you just told me.” He hesitated a moment before continuing. “Maybe leave Rachel out of it for now. If this really has to do with Lana and Hannah, then whatever is going on could be bigger than we know. You don’t want them thinking it’s all some teenage prank when really it’s some twisted bastard.”
“But what about Hannah’s phone calls home? The police think she’s safe.”
Nick shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s all some big game someone is playing. Let the cops figure that one out.”
I nodded and we climbed into my car.
Chapter Fifteen
I pulled into a parking space just outside the police station. I could see the cop working desk duty up front. Since it was Friday night, plenty of other cops moved around inside. A police cruiser slowly pulled out onto the street behind us.
I bit my lip and turned off the engine. “Okay, here we are.”
“So we take the note to Chief Woodley and explain what happened.” Nick gave me a quick sideways grin. “Maybe without mentioning it being a big party.”
“Yeah.” I twisted a long strand of hair around my finger. Neither of us moved. When I looked at Nick he raised an eyebrow at me. I sighed and let the hair drop before reaching for the door handle.
Nerves twisted in my stomach as I got out of the car. Without checking to see that Nick followed, I hurried toward the door. Cold autumn wind sent leaves swirling around my feet and brought a slight smoky smell with it. The handle was cold as I tugged the door open.
“Hello, how can I help you?” The woman behind the counter was in her forties and plump around the middle. Her smile was welcoming.
“I need to see Chief Woodley.” I leaned against the desk, almost surprised when Nick leaned up beside me. “It’s about Hannah Desarno,” I added softly.
“Oh.” The woman frowned. “Honey, her parents know where she is now.”
“They’ve heard from her.” Nick tapped his fingers on the counter. “Not necessarily the same thing.”
“Alissa?”
Jake made his way through the desks toward me. Other officers looked up briefly, but turned away again. Jake smiled.
“Hey, Jake.” I was relieved to see a friendly fa
ce.
“What are you doing here?” Jake put one hand on the lady’s chair. He glanced down at her. “Mary, things okay here?”
“Just fine, sweetie.” Mary smiled up at him. “I was just telling this girl that Hannah Desarno’s been found. No need to disturb Chief Woodley.”
“Has anyone seen Hannah?” Nick asked. He glanced from me to Jake. “Something happened tonight that makes us think she might be being forced to make the phone calls.”
Jake frowned and stepped around the desk. He put a hand to my shoulder, gently leading me away from the desk. Nick followed a couple steps behind. We stood huddled by an old radiator. It hissed, practically steaming with heat.
“What’s he talking about?” Jake asked quietly. He glanced back toward the desk where Mary sat watching us.
“We were at a friend’s tonight and I thought I saw someone outside the house. When we went outside to check, my car door was open and this was sitting on the seat.” I handed him the note.
As Jake read the note, I glanced at Nick. He nodded encouragingly, hands shoved in his pockets. He shifted from foot to foot and glanced around the room nervously. Not that I blamed him. He reached up and adjusted his hat.
Jake looked up from the note. “This was sitting in your car when you got there?”
“Yeah.” I reached for the note. “It sounds like they’re talking about Hannah, right?”
Jake hesitated a moment, still holding the note. “Could be.”
“No one’s seen her, right?” Nick asked again.
“She’s talked to her parents the last couple nights.” Jake glanced back, eyes scanning the office again. “But no, no one has seen her.” Jake blew out a breath and ran a hand over his hair. “Okay, listen, this is what we’re gonna do—”
Before he could finish, a door at the back of the room opened and Chief Woodley came through. He was talking to another man, but stopped as soon as he saw our little group. My stomach sank as he hurried toward us. His wrinkled face flushed with either the effort or anger. My money was on anger.
“What’s going on here, Bradley?” Chief Woodley stopped a foot away and crossed his arms over his wide chest.
Jake glanced at me before answering. “Alissa got another note, sir. It makes it sound like maybe Hannah isn’t out of harm’s way yet.” Jake held the note out toward the older man.
Chief Woodley snorted and took the note. I held my breath as his eyes skipped over the slip of paper. He thrust the note back toward me. “This is going too far. I should arrest you for criminal mischief.”
“What?” I grabbed the note. “I didn’t write this.”
“Sir, don’t you think we should at least take into consideration the possibility?” Jake asked.
“Listen, Bradley, you’re still pretty new here so I can understand you getting pulled in by this sort of bull.”
“Hey,” Nick interrupted. “We’re trying to help.”
Chief Woodley turned to him. “Kid, if I wanted your input, I would’ve asked.” He turned back to Jake. “I get it, a pretty girl comes in here waving her theories about, trying to play Nancy Drew or Veronica Mars or whatever and you fall all over yourself to help. I really do get it. What you need to understand is this girl is just trying to stir the pot with these notes. Get her moment in the spotlight.”
“You honestly think I’d make this up?” Hot frustration filled me. “I’m friends with Hannah.”
“More than that from what her parents tell me,” Chief Woodley said. He raised an eyebrow. “Seems they’re happy she’s off in Chicago because they figure she could use the time away from you.” That hurt. My growing anger was tempered down by a sharp ache. When I remained silent, Chief Woodley continued, “So I think maybe you got it bad for this girl and maybe she decided she wasn’t so into that. Am I right?”
“No.” I glared at him.
He snorted. “Sure. Maybe she realizes it’s just a phase, I hear plenty of girls like to experiment. So she runs away to put some space between the two of you and you can’t take that it’s over. Instead of accepting it you come up with this little game with the notes.” Chief Woodley leaned close. “Give it up. I see you in here one more time with this crap and I will throw you in the holding cell. Got it?”
Biting my lip, I nodded.
He looked at Nick who scowled and nodded once. “Yeah, we got it.”
“Good. Bradley, see them out.”
Woodley turned and strode back across the room. Sighing, Jake ushered us toward the door. The air cooled my hot cheeks. I started for the car.
“Hey,” Jake said. I turned back as he glanced over his shoulder. Chief Woodley was deep in conversation. “Here.” Jake held out a small business card. “If you find something solid, let me know.”
I took the card. “Thanks.”
“Don’t bother thanking me yet. It has to be indisputable. Okay? Woodley—” Jake hesitated. “Well, he wants to believe things are going to be all right. After what happened before…”
“Yeah. I get it.” I rubbed my eyes, defeated.
“Thanks, man.” Nick backed away before turning. We hurried to the relative warmth of the car.
“So Chief Woodley is a grade-A douche bag,” Nick said.
I snorted. “Tell me about it.”
“Jake seems okay.”
“I think he is.” I took one hand off the wheel to tap his card sitting on my lap. “I’ll call him as soon as I know more.”
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?”
I slowed at a stop sign and glanced toward Nick. He looked at me from under the brim of his hat. The dash lights reflected in his eyes. In an instant, I was reminded of a night almost ten years ago.
It was the summer we were nine. We’d always known each other, but for those two months we were inseparable. I had other friends then and I’m sure he did too, but for some reason it was just us that summer.
Late in August, we joined a game of hide and go seek with his older brother and a few other neighborhood kids. Most of them were a couple years older than us, so we stuck together as we hid. I clearly remember crouching next to him in the center of Mrs. Henderson’s bushes.
It was silent in there, with no sound other than Nick’s breathing and the occasional slapping of feet as the kid seeking ran around looking for people. The space was tight, so Nick’s knee was pressed against mine, sticky sweat growing between us.
“If he finds us, you run for base.” Nick’s voice was hushed. I looked at him in surprise. The streetlights barely made it into the bushes, but what little did reflected off his eyes. He stared at me with dead seriousness. “I mean it. You get to safety.”
“But then you’ll be it next,” I whispered as if it was the worst thing I could possibly think of.
“I’ll be okay, as long as I know you’re safe. Can you do that?” He held out his hand.
I grinned and took his hand. “Yeah, I’ll make it to base.”
I couldn’t even remember if we were found or if I made it to base. I just remembered that intense look on Nick’s face. It was the same look he wore in the car. He wanted to protect me, just like he did back then.
“Why not call him?” I turned from him and pulled away from the stop sign. “He said to get ahold of him.”
“He said it has to be solid. That means something bigger than another note. You don’t want to be the girl who cried wolf.”
I nodded absently as I turned onto our street. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. God, you would think they would want to do everything possible to find a missing girl.”
“They don’t want there to be another missing girl,” Nick said. I parked the car and turned to look at him. He shifted to look at me. Again, I was struck by the intensity of his look. “Lana’s death is like a big black mark on the town.” He shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m guessing one girl gets killed and you can scrub out that stain even if you don’t know who did it. I mean, if enough time passes.”
“A year and a half?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe.” He shrugged one shoulder and rested his hand on the door handle. “Seems to me like plenty of people have forgotten her. But if they admit that there could be some tie between Lana and Hannah?” Nick shook his head with a low whistle. “I’m guessing that’s a whole can of worms they don’t want to open.” He took a deep breath, glancing sideways at me. “Maybe you should talk to Lana’s parents.”
“Maybe.” I nodded, silently mulling over his words. Maybe her parents could help answer some of the lingering questions. I took a deep breath and looked at Nick. “What if someone really took Hannah?” I bit back the fear speaking those words aloud gouged inside me.
Nick almost smiled as he reached out and hesitantly took my hand. “Then you’ll find her.”
Chapter Sixteen
Four Months Ago
I shut my locker for the last time as a junior. As soon as I walked out the front doors it would be summer vacation and as far as I was concerned, I would be a senior. The locker closed with a clack of finality. Two full months of summer ahead of me. If I was lucky that meant two full months of Hannah. And maybe finally earning enough to get a car.
“Hey, what’s up?” Madison fell into step beside me as I headed for the front door.
“Nothing at all.” I grinned at her. She was wearing jean shorts barely long enough to get past her butt, flip-flops, and a brightly colored billowing tank top over her bikini.
“Good, that means you are coming to the pool party at the club right now.” She linked her arm through mine, tugging me faster toward the doors.
“What? No. I don’t even have a bathing suit with me.” I was dressed for a date with Hannah. A woven leather belt cinched my aqua-colored sundress under my chest, giving the impression of larger breasts. “I have plans with Hannah.”
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