He drew in a deep breath. “Can we discuss this later? I can’t change the past, but we can try to do something about Atlas.”
“Fine, but don’t expect me to act like this never happened. This is no small matter. My trust has been completely shaken.”
“Oh, give me a break!” He glared at her. “Our marriage has been rocky for a long time. You can’t blame that on this.”
“And why do you think it’s been rocky? Maybe because our entire relationship has been a lie!”
He threw his arms into the air. “You’re never going to let me live this down, are you? If I could go back in time and change things, I would. But I can’t.”
“Oh, I’m sure you would change things. You know what, Morgan? You could’ve changed things at any point over the years. There were thousands of opportunities for you to come to me and tell me what happened, yet you didn’t. After Atlas found out would’ve been a good time. It was fresh on your mind.”
His expression tightened. “I’m sure I could’ve done a lot of things differently, but I can’t go back and fix anything now, can I? Not that it matters, because you’re going to hold this over my head from here on out.”
“Hold it over your head? Do you think this is as unimportant as forgetting to take out the trash? I’m not holding it over your head, Morgan. I’m dealing with a betrayal! It’s a world of a difference.” She marched to her car, barely able to keep from falling apart. When she did lose it, she didn’t want it to be in his sight.
“Lila!”
She picked up her pace and made it inside her car before he reached her. Then she left without looking at him.
Once on the road, her thoughts all fought for her attention. Atlas. The jacket. Morgan’s secrets. The girls—their brother was missing, and they knew their parents weren’t getting along. They would have to learn about Morgan’s lies at some point. How would they hold up? Would Lila be able to pull herself together enough to be there for them? They needed her now, and she had nothing to give.
Her life was falling apart from all sides. What if Atlas never came home? Could their marriage survive, even if he did return to them?
Honk! Squeal!
Lila looked over, heart pounding. She’d veered into the other lane and nearly collided with another car. She waved an apology, then pulled off the road.
The last place she should’ve been was behind the wheel. At least until she could focus on driving safely.
She took deep breaths and tried to push her thoughts aside. Surely, she could think about something else for twenty minutes until she got home.
But what else was there to think about? Her heart was shattering. She’d built her life on lies, and now her firstborn was missing. Not Morgan’s firstborn. They didn’t have the same firstborn child. His was with his first wife.
Lila rested her head on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. It was all too much to take. And when she got home, she needed to talk with Scarlet and Violet. They needed her now more than ever, despite the fact that her resources were fully depleted.
She sat up and took a moment to think of what to tell them. That everything would be okay? They all knew nobody could predict that. Oh, for the days when she could kiss a knee and make everything right in the world again.
Nothing may ever be right in their worlds again.
Maybe that was exactly what she needed to tell them—that they had no control over any outcome, but that no matter what happened, she would be there for them. They could count on her no matter what. Perhaps that would be enough.
13
Atlas James
* * *
Throbbing pain near his temple woke Atlas. Or was it the bitter cold? He shivered, unsure. And also not caring. Maybe it was the sharp pain in his shoulder. Or his side. Everything hurt.
He only wanted to go home. But there was no escaping the small shed someone had locked him in. The last time he’d woken, he had felt around the darkness and found the door. It was locked and dead-bolted. There was a pile of chopped wood, a tall locked toolbox, a bench, two wooden chairs, and a pile of bikes. Nothing else. No window to try to break out of. Nothing to help him to get outside and run. Just darkness and the little visibility he had from his eyes adjusting to it.
There was also no way of knowing whether he was still at the asylum or if he’d been taken somewhere else. He couldn’t remember anything after falling down the stairs or before waking in the shed.
Why had someone brought him here? Was it to pay for trespassing? Or had he and Emmett stumbled onto something they shouldn’t have?
It was hard to know. As hard as Atlas tried to remember, he couldn’t. It made his head hurt to try.
His stomach rumbled. How much time had passed? Had it been more than a day since he’d last eaten? He’d never been this hungry before in all his life, despite many times claiming to have been starving.
He sat up, but too quickly. Dizziness swept over him, and he nearly fell over. He pressed his palms on the floor and took some deep breaths until he felt in control of himself again.
Atlas shivered again and pulled his jacket tightly around himself. He still felt lightheaded, but the dizziness was gone. At least for the time being.
He crept around again, feeling around. Maybe he’d missed something before. A stray tool that would let him cut his way out of the shed. Or better yet, something that would help him break one of the locks and just walk out.
The cement floor only made him colder since he had no socks or shoes. He shivered but kept moving. That was what kept him warm.
His toe brushed against something cold and hard.
Clink!
The item rattled next to him. Whatever it was, he was certain it hadn’t been there before. He’d have noticed something in the middle of the floor.
Atlas felt around for it.
Clink!
He grabbed it and felt around. It was round with something soft in the middle.
A plate! And it had food on it. More than just water this time!
His mouth watered. He grabbed the food. It was a sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly from the smell of it. His favorite kind of sandwich.
Atlas brought it to his mouth, then a thought struck him.
What if it was poisoned? What if the person who had hit him hadn’t been able to kill him, so he decided to finish Atlas off with this?
His mouth watered more, and his stomach growled. Everything in him cried out to eat the food.
Did he dare? What if it was a trick?
Why would they lock him up and give him food? What were they planning on doing with him?
He pulled the pieces of bread apart and sniffed each piece. Just smelled like peanut butter and grape jelly. If there was any poison, it had to be odorless.
Atlas hesitated before sticking the sandwich back together then taking a big bite from it. No sandwich in the history of forever had ever tasted so good. If it was going to kill him, at least he’d go out enjoying his last meal.
After what felt like only a few bites, the food was gone. His stomach still roared. He could’ve eaten another four, but one was better than nothing.
He pushed the plate until he found the wall and left it there. Then he felt around the rest of the floor, looking for more food. He found the water and gulped it down.
His stomach continued growling.
He needed to find a way out.
Someone had come in and brought him food. They would come back, and that would be his chance. It would be a matter of waiting, then action.
Atlas scooted over to the door and leaned against the wall. Once the person unlocked the door, he would be ready.
14
Dr. Morgan James
* * *
Morgan paced the front room, watching the driveway. Lila still wasn’t home. Where had she gone? Was she staying away to avoid him or to make him pay?
Why couldn’t she put everything else aside while they dealt with their son’s disappearance? Yes, he should’
ve told her. It had been stupid of him not to—he could see that in hindsight, but he also couldn’t do anything to change the past. He was owning up to it now, but that wasn’t good enough for her.
He checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t missed a call from Zion, but there was nothing. Shouldn’t he have gotten in contact with one of the reporters by now?
Everything was happening too slowly.
Morgan needed to do something. All this waiting around was going to drive him insane. And it wasn’t doing anything to help bring Atlas home.
What could he do?
It only took him a moment to figure it out. It might not lead to anything, but then again, it might lead to something big.
He needed to look into that teacher. It was more than suspicious that she had those pens.
Could she know more than she was saying? Atlas had mentioned some after-school tutoring with a teacher. Morgan hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but Ms. Johnston was young and hip. What if they’d developed a friendship? Maybe Atlas had told her something he hadn’t told his parents. Atlas had pulled away from them in recent years, and even more since finding out about Morgan’s life before their family. Morgan had assumed that was normal but had never thought of Atlas confiding in a teacher.
Morgan wandered over to the couch and started searching on his phone. The school’s website gave him her first name. Savannah. That was all he needed to find her online profiles. She had one on each of the sites Morgan checked.
Atlas was connected with her on most of them.
Was that normal these days? Teachers used email to communicate with students and their parents. That was something that had never happened in Morgan’s day. Maybe social media was easier for teachers to reach the kids. It made sense. Some days Morgan texted with his kids more than he actually spoke to them.
He read through her various profiles, but didn’t find anything that gave any clues about Atlas. She posted about going out with friends, posted her meals, and even posted a little bit about her work, but never mentioned any students. The only way he could find out more would be to friend her himself, but he didn’t see any of the other parents he knew connected with her.
It was beginning to look like a dead end. Or maybe he was reading too much into the pens. Maybe Atlas really was that careless with them. It wouldn’t be the first time Morgan had been wrong about his son. He didn’t know the kid like he’d used to.
He got up and wandered over to the window. Lila’s car still wasn’t there.
What else could he do? He and Lila had both already gone through Atlas’s social media looking for clues, but had found nothing. There had to be something else.
Then it hit him. Atlas’s room. The police had already looked around, but they didn’t know him like his family. Even though Morgan wasn’t as close to him as he’d once been, he still knew him better than strangers.
He glanced down the street for Lila’s car one more time before heading upstairs. His chest tightened as he stood in Atlas’s doorway. Regret suffocated him.
What if he’d been able to prevent all this? What if he could’ve done something? Asked more questions? Been a better father? Not insisted that Atlas keep his secret from everyone else in the family?
None of those thoughts were going to bring Atlas back. Morgan marched into the room and looked around. Everything looked so normal. Like Atlas had gone to school and would be back in a few hours. But that wasn’t the case, and there might be a clue to his whereabouts hiding just under the surface.
He went over to the dresser and started going through the drawers, pushing aside clothes and checking every pocket he could find. It seemed like the logical place to hide something, but there was nothing tucked away, nothing out of place.
Morgan got on all fours and looked under the dresser, the bed, the desk, and the shelf. Nothing other than normal stray items.
He rifled through the items on the shelf, not finding anything useful until he got to the box of pens. Three were missing, which made it seem like Atlas was carrying one with him. It also made Morgan think he wasn’t careless with the pens. He’d only lost the two that were in Ms. Johnston’s possession. It was something, even though it didn’t tell him much.
Morgan made his way over to Atlas’s desk. Papers, books, pencils, and other stray items lay strewn all over. How he used it for studying was beyond Morgan. He moved things around, skimmed over the papers, and looked at books. No clues.
This was proving to be an impossible task. If Atlas had left a hint of his plans, they hadn’t been here. They would probably be in his laptop or his phone, but those weren’t there—not that Morgan could get into them anyway. Everyone in the house kept their devices safe with passwords. When the kids had been younger, he and Lila had insisted on knowing the kids’ passwords, but as they got older, they’d given them their privacy.
That might have to change.
Morgan pulled open the top drawer on the desk and pulled out the items one by one. When he lifted a pencil box, what he saw made his heart skip a beat.
Lying in the box’s spot was a delicate rose gold necklace. On the chain rested a swirly design surrounding two letters. SJ.
Savannah Johnston.
Or could it stand for something else? Morgan’s mind raced as he picked up the necklace. It had a faint floral perfume scent.
He couldn’t think of another person with those initials. It had to be her. That explained two of his prized pens in her desk.
But that also pointed to something far more sinister than Atlas developing a friendship with his teacher. He stared at the necklace like it was a snake about to strike, and he nearly dropped it.
Morgan lay it back in place, trying to put it in the same position he’d found it. Then he whipped out his phone and snapped a few pictures before putting everything back into the drawer.
It was time to have another chat with Ms. Johnston. And this time, she wasn’t going to get away with pretending like she knew nothing. She knew far more than she was letting on, and with Atlas’s life on the line, there was no room for playing around.
Morgan double-checked the pictures of the necklace and rushed to his car. He left the necklace where he’d found it so she couldn’t try to take it if he brought it to show her. The evidence was staying right where Atlas had left it.
Outside, Lila’s car still wasn’t in the driveway. Morgan might’ve been annoyed if he didn’t have the more pressing matter of getting to the school before the young predator left her classroom. Didn’t she know it was her job to protect the kids? Did she think that dating a student was cool? A game? A status symbol?
No matter what the woman thought, she was wrong. She was the adult, and she knew better—even if there wasn’t much of an age gap. Kids who had relationships with their teachers always ended up with emotional problems down the road. It was an abuse of power, plain and simple. And Morgan was going to put a stop to this particular relationship right then.
Once at the school, he was tempted to march back to Ms. Johnston’s classroom, but he needed to stop by the office and check in. They had strict rules about that.
“Are you here to ask questions about Atlas again?” asked the secretary.
“Yes.” Morgan glanced around, eager to get going.
The secretary typed on her computer. “Who do you plan to see?”
“Teachers, students.”
“Anyone in particular?”
“What is this, twenty questions?” Morgan snapped. “I want to talk to anyone who might know where my son is. We’re coming up on forty-eight hours. There isn’t time to waste!”
“Okay. I just need to log this information.”
“Can I go now?”
She nodded. “Mr. Willis, Atlas’s geography teacher, has a free period right now. He’s in room one-fifty-six.”
Morgan nodded and raced out of the office and to Ms. Johnston’s room. Just as he was about to fling open the door, he noticed she was teaching a room full of
kids. He pulled his hand away and glanced at the time. Twenty minutes.
He may as well speak with Mr. Willis. The geography teacher wouldn’t know as much as the owner of the necklace, but he still might know something.
Morgan found the classroom easily enough and introduced himself.
Mr. Willis gave him a firm handshake. “We’re all really sorry to hear about Atlas and Emmett. I’m hoping for the best. Is there anything I can do?”
Morgan took a deep breath. “I’ve been asking around to see if anyone knows anything. Did you overhear either of the boys talking about where they might’ve gone that night? Or hear them talking about plans in general?”
“I wish I had.” Mr. Willis frowned. “Atlas seems to have plenty of friends, but he stays focused on the work in here, and Emmett isn’t in any of my classes this semester.”
“Have you heard any of the other kids talking about them?”
“Everyone is talking about them now, but the only thing I’ve heard is gossip. Nobody knows anything for certain. It’s all wild guesses along with a few armchair detectives.”
“Do you mind giving me the names of the armchair detectives? I’d like to hear what they’ve come up with.”
“Anything to help.” He scribbled down some names then handed the list to Morgan.
He took it and nodded. “Thanks for your time. If you do hear anything, can you let either my wife or me know?”
“Of course.” Mr. Willis shook his hand again. “I hope they come home real soon.”
“Thanks.” Morgan made his way back to Ms. Johnston’s room and waited for the bell to ring.
Kids piled out of all the classrooms, filling the hallway. Once the stream of students waned, Morgan went inside.
Ms. Johnston looked up and started to smile, but it faded when she saw him. “I haven’t heard anything new about Atlas. I asked the kids, but nobody knows anything.”
Morgan stepped closer to the desk and stared down at her. “But do you know anything?”
Lies Never Sleep Page 10