Chamaeleon: Book 3.5 of The Stardust Series

by Autumn Reed

  “Theo.”

  “What?”

  “I checked the tracker and it says she’s still in Santa Cruz. From her speed, she must be in a car.”

  “Okay. Good,” I exhaled. “That’s good. She’s still in Santa Cruz.” My heart continued to hammer against my chest, but this was promising. We need to find her and talk to her.

  Unwilling to waste even a moment, we jogged to the truck and sped out of the garage. I synced my phone to the larger screen on the dashboard, allowing us to easily follow the signal from Haley’s phone. When we pulled up behind a cab less than thirty minutes later, it was clear that the phone was inside . . . without Haley.

  I groaned, knowing this would likely be a dead end. Knox pulled up next to the cab and I flagged the driver to get his attention, relieved when he slowed and pulled off into a parking lot. Maybe we would at least get some answers, but the longer this took, the farther she slipped away from us.

  “Can I help you?” the cabbie asked from his open window.

  “I hope so . . .” I looked at his dashboard, searching for his name, “. . . Frank.” I smiled and maintained eye contact. “I think you gave my roommate a ride this morning, but she seems to have lost her phone. Did you take a fare earlier today for this girl?” I asked, showing him one of the hundred pictures of Haley I had saved on my phone.

  He nodded. “Yeah, I remember her; she was my first passenger today.”

  “Did you find an iPhone in your cab?”

  “I didn’t notice anything on the back seat, but feel free to check.”

  “Thanks. I’ll only be a minute.”

  While Knox waited in the truck, I dug around for the iPhone. It has to be here somewhere. Growing more agitated by the minute, I shoved my hand down the back of the seat cushions. My fingers were squeezed in the tight space, and it took me a few attempts, but I eventually extracted an iPhone, complete with a familiar case covered in stars.

  Frack. Frack. Frack. I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing that this wasn’t a good sign, especially considering it was on silent. Somehow, I managed not to punch the seat cushion.

  “Find it?” the cabbie called.

  “Yeah. Thanks, Frank.”

  “Sure, no problem. Glad you found it. She was quiet but seemed like a nice girl. I hope she enjoyed the museum.”

  My ears perked up. I loved when people willingly offered me useful information. “Thanks again,” I said, returning to the driver’s window. “By the way, which museum did you drop her off at?”

  He drummed the steering wheel while thinking. “Museum of Art and History, around opening time.” Finally.

  “Thanks.” I waved as I sprinted to the truck.

  Closing the door behind me, I looked over at Knox. “Did you catch all that?”

  “Enough to know the phone was a wild goose chase.” Knox grunted. “I should have never told her about the tracking feature.”

  He peeled out of the parking lot and sped to the museum while I scanned through the phone.

  “Fiddlesticks,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “She wiped the phone,” Knox stated flatly, anticipating my discovery.

  “Yep. Looks like she did a complete reset. Recent calls and texts are empty, no linked e-mail accounts, no internet search history.”

  “Damn. Keep the phone; we’ll give it to Chase later, but hopefully we’ll find her and it won’t be necessary.”

  Relying on the phone for information was definitely a worst case scenario in my mind. The thought of returning to the loft without Haley was unfathomable, and even with Chase’s mad tech skills, it would be a while before we could recover the data she wiped.

  “Do you know what time your buddy Frank dropped her off at the museum?”

  “Around opening time, so it had to be close to eleven this morning.” I stared out the window. “You don’t think that was her destination, though, do you?”

  “No.” His tone was eerily calm, but I sensed that it was more like the calm in a storm before all hell broke loose. A few minutes passed in silence until he asked, “How long has she been planning this?”

  “I don’t know. I told you she’s been acting differently since spring break.” I was trying not to snap at Knox; it wasn’t his fault that Haley left.

  “Yeah, well we now know that was because Chase, and then Liam, kissed her.” He barked out a laugh.

  “There’s something else. When we went to dinner after the youth outreach event, she mentioned making a plan to move out.”

  “What the fuck, Theo? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “First of all, it sounded like she would move across town, not vanish into thin air. And, second,” I glared at him pointedly, “I immediately shut her down and wouldn’t even consider the notion.”

  “Did she tell you why she wanted to move out?”

  “I never got the feeling that she actually wanted to move out. It was more like she didn’t want to impose any longer.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Thank you,” I said on a loud exhale. “Honestly, it seemed more like a distraction tactic to keep me from discovering what was really bothering her.”

  Knox grunted in response.

  Circling the streets near the museum, we remained alert for anyone who resembled Haley. But when we passed the METRO Center only a few blocks over, Knox and I glanced at each other, and he immediately pulled into the parking lot. The truck had barely come to a stop when I jumped out and headed toward the bus station.

  Please be here. Please be here. Please be here, I chanted in my head as I opened the door.

  My heart dropped when I didn’t immediately see her in the waiting area, but I remained optimistic that she was in the restroom. Even better, maybe she had changed her mind and was headed back to the loft right now. Or, worse, she was already on a bus headed halfway across the country and we’d never see her again. Argh, stop!

  I wanted to stand in the middle of the station and demand answers, but I knew we had to be more subtle than that. Knox joined me and we scanned the bus schedules, but without questioning station employees or checking the video feeds, our guesses were just that. We showed Haley’s photo to a few of the people milling about, but they either didn’t remember seeing her or had recently arrived themselves.

  Knox tapped me on the shoulder and tilted his head in the direction of a young female in uniform. Jackpot. When he seemed intent on accompanying me to question her, I placed a hand on his chest, signaling that he should hang back. Normally, that was something he would do automatically, but since this concerned Haley, all bets were off. He glared at me but fortunately stayed behind, letting me approach the girl on my own.

  “Hi,” I said with a winning smile. She blinked wildly and peered around as if to make sure that I was really addressing her, then gave me a shy smile.

  “The ticket counters are over there and the next bus to Oakland boards in ten,” she said, returning to her task.

  “Actually, I was hoping you could tell me if you’ve seen this girl,” I said, showing her a photo of Haley.

  She was contemplative for a moment. “Oh yeah, I remember her, she had such pretty hair. She was here earlier.”

  “Any idea what time?”

  She shook her head.

  “Do you happen to know where she traveled to?”

  She pursed her lips and considered my question. “Sorry, no.” Ugh, this is useless.

  “But she boarded a bus?”

  She nodded. Great, I thought sarcastically. I got my answer, but it was most certainly not what I wanted to hear.

  I related the intel to Knox as we returned to the truck, frustrated that there was nothing more that could be done at the station. I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers, the tension building into a raging headache while we waited for Jackson to answer his phone.

  “Hey, Jax. Theo and I have you on Bluetooth.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Haley left Santa Cruz,” Knox s
aid bluntly. Although I knew she was gone, hearing it out loud made it seem more real, and I hated the thought. We shouldn’t waste time driving back to the loft; we should head out of town to find her. Too bad we had no clue of her destination.

  “What?” Jackson’s voice sounded strangled and then there was a pause. “Considering the morning we had, I’m guessing this isn’t one of your pranks.”

  “Trust me, I wish it was. You think I could joke about something like this?” Knox asked, his voice laced with an edge of warning.

  “Maybe she went for a run or a trip to the store. Have you texted her?” His tone remained calm and confident.

  I let out an involuntary cackle that sounded crazed even to my ears. “Yeah, like an hour ago. And I don’t think she would have left a note and her keys.”

  “Look,” Knox said, interrupting any further conversation, “we know she boarded a bus earlier today, and now we need the team’s help.”

  Jackson exhaled. “Fuuuck. Alright, what’s been done so far?”

  When Knox finished relating the events of our afternoon with occasional interjections from me, Jackson finally spoke again. “Okay. I’ll call Liam and Chase and have them get started on the next phase. Can you drop her phone at Chase’s apartment?”

  “Yes,” Knox confirmed.

  “We’re bringing her home, right?” I practically pleaded.

  “Of course,” Jackson said with certainty.

  Chapter 5: Haley

  Saturday afternoon, April 25th

  I walked into the First National Bank on Post Street, and my mind immediately flashed back to my last visit. It had only been four months since I took in the sights of San Francisco with Knox, Jackson, Ethan, and Liam, but it felt like a lifetime ago. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Now was not the time to dwell on it; I had less than two hours to complete this errand and make the trip across town to purchase the car.

  After gaining access to the safe deposit box, I pulled out most of the cash, leaving some behind as an emergency fund for me or my dad. Extracting the documents containing my new identity, I studied them, ensuring the important details were committed to memory. Finally, I replaced my old e-mail address with the new one I created a few hours before and placed everything related to my current identity in the box.

  I was no longer Haley Jones; for my own safety, as well as the guys’ and my dad’s, she no longer existed. From Kira Taylor, to Haley Jones, and now Brooke Wilson, I had gone by three different names, and this was the first time I was consciously doing so. I shut the lid, hating that a new beginning felt like such an end. The entire idea depressed me. This is the only way, I reaffirmed.

  With a glance at the clock, I knew that between the distance I needed to travel and the indirect route I had to take, it was time to get going. Ever since arriving in San Francisco, I was conscious of the cameras that surrounded me everywhere in the large and well-connected city. For the moment, there was nothing I could do to disguise my appearance, especially my bulky guitar, but that didn’t mean I was going to make it easy for the guys to track me.

  I walked a few blocks to the cable car stop, riding it to the end of the line, before walking several more blocks in a different direction to hail one of the many cabs racing around the city. Although it was going to be nearly impossible to vanish without a trace, I planned to do everything I could to accomplish just that.

  Fortunately, navigating across the bay was relatively easy, and I entered Oakland with time to spare. The cab driver dropped me off at the park and I paid him before walking to a nearby bench to gather my courage. I hated carrying so much cash around, and my anxiety about meeting and purchasing a car from a stranger was not helping matters. At least the park was busy, full of witnesses if the need arose.

  At five-forty, I was getting antsy when a man pulled up in an older Honda Civic matching the online posting. I knew if Jess ever found out about this, she’d kill me, and I didn’t think my dad or the guys would be much happier. Not their concern anymore, I thought, refusing to let myself explore my feelings on the matter.

  I waited a few minutes, observing the driver to see if there were any indications that he was a creep or criminal. Finally deciding the middle-aged man seemed harmless enough, and I really did need the car, I headed over to where he leaned against the passenger door.

  “You must be Reed,” I said as I approached, hoping we could get this over with quickly, and preferably without too many questions.

  “Yes. Erica?”

  I smiled, hoping he didn’t ask for identification for the trade. “Yep. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice.”

  “No problem. I was just glad to get a call about the car.”

  “Do you mind if I take a closer look?” There was no way I was buying a car sight unseen. At least I knew it was drivable; Reed had proven that much by getting it here.

  “Not at all. The car is a 1996 with about 180,000 miles. My mom was the previous owner, but she passed away, and I’m sick of the hassle of having a car in this city. It has been well-maintained, even though the paint could use some freshening.” That’s an understatement.

  I circled the car, pleased with the prospect. Poking my head in the driver’s side, I made note of the odometer, the gas gauge, and the upholstery, which was in decent condition. “AC and radio in working order?”

  “Absolutely. Here, let me fire her up for you,” he said, putting the key in the ignition and starting the engine. At least it sounded okay; I just hoped it could get me to Portland.

  After a brief negotiation, I handed Reed the cash and he gave me the keys and title. We parted, and I loaded my belongings in the trunk, thankful that the car had been freshly cleaned for my long road trip. As I adjusted the seat and air settings, I marveled at the thought that this was my car. Although it wasn’t nearly as nice as the Subaru that Knox and Theo frequently lent me, it was all mine. Not that I intended to keep it long, but still, it felt momentous. I pulled out of the parking lot and stopped at the nearest gas station to fill up and purchase a map.

  Settling into the drive, I headed north, grateful for the light traffic. I couldn’t believe how smoothly the entire day had gone, and in less than twenty-four hours, I would be in a new city, with a new identity, and in need of a new job and a new look. Though I was pleased with the progress I had made so far, I knew the adrenaline and activity were the only things keeping me going. I wondered how many miles I could put between me and Santa Cruz before I would need to rest.

  Once I made it out of the city, the quiet started to get to me, so I switched on the radio. Tuning the dial, I passed several stations before selecting one. I hummed along with the upbeat tune, trying to emulate the singer’s cheerful attitude.

  But, deep down, I knew it was a hopeless cause. After spending so many hours focusing every bit of my energy on getting away, I’d pushed my mind and body to the edge. As weariness from the mostly sleepless night and incredibly long and stressful day crept in, it became clear that I was hanging on by a mere thread.

  When the song changed to “You Belong With Me,” I finally lost it, and the tears I’d been holding back all day streamed down my face. Reminded of the perfect moment I’d shared with Chase, singing along with that song while he played the guitar, pain cut through me like I’d been stabbed with a thousand tiny knives. With only miles and loneliness stretched endlessly before me, I wondered if I would ever feel whole again.

  Chapter 6: Chase

  Saturday evening, April 25th

  I trudged up the stairs to my apartment, unsure if Kyle was home and secretly hoping he wasn’t. I needed time alone to process everything that happened, and ever since Haley stayed the night all those months ago, I had a hard time being in my room without thinking about her. The way her long brown hair fanned out in her sleep, the smell of her on my pillow, how good it felt to wake up with her in my arms.

  I scrubbed my hand over my face, frustrated with myself for allowing thoughts of Haley to distract me, yet agai
n, when so much was already going on. Being around her definitely clouded my judgment; first, I kissed her, then I avoided her like a coward, and then I confessed it all to Ethan, thinking it would make me feel better. What an idiot, I chided myself. Jackson placed the blame on himself, but if anything, my actions were the reason for our current predicament.

  Ethan is leaving the team. I still couldn’t wrap my head around it, no matter how many times I rehashed Jackson’s news. Out of all the guys, Ethan was my closest friend—he was the one who encouraged me to join the program, specifically mentoring and training me, and later recruiting me to join Team Jaguar. His decision to sever ties with us left me feeling completely blindsided.

  I opened the apartment door, surprised to find Kyle watching TV. He had been absent more and more lately, often staying over at his girlfriend’s house on the weekends.

  He signed “hello,” then I signed and spoke my own greeting.

  “How’s Gran?” I asked.

  “Good. She asked about you, said she hadn’t seen you in a while.”

  “I know,” I replied, hanging my head. “I’ll go over later this week for dinner.”

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do about the apartment?” Kyle asked, his timing uncanny since Ethan had planned to move in with me when Kyle graduated. Guess that’s not happening now, I thought regretfully.

  “I don’t think Ethan will be moving in with me, so I may be looking for a new place to live.”

  “Everything okay?”

  “Change in plans,” I responded, not wanting to elaborate. Even if the team voted to contest Ethan’s dismissal and he relented, I still didn’t see him wanting to live together anymore.

  “Okay. Well, just remember we need to let the leasing office know by May fifteenth.”

  I nodded and collapsed on the other end of the couch.

  Hours later, my phone rang, signaling an incoming call from Jackson and interrupting the show Kyle and I were watching. I’d been dreading this all day, waiting for the moment he would finally confront me about Haley and reprimand me for violating a team agreement. I wanted to let it go to voicemail, but that wasn’t an option. Jackson’s calls were not to be ignored, and I needed to get this conversation over with sooner rather than later.