Dreamer (The Seeker Series Book 2)

by Amy Reece

  “You never found them here at the house?”

  “No. She left with them that morning.”

  We thanked Mrs. Hayes and left her with Ashley’s necklace and more sadness than a mother should have to bear.

  “Brian, this means she never got home that afternoon, that she was taken somewhere between school and home, doesn’t it?” I was excited by our discovery.

  “Hold on. It certainly looks like it, but I need to do some more checking. We have photographs of Ashley’s room in evidence. I need to go over them carefully to make sure Mrs. Hayes is remembering accurately,” Brian cautioned. “I’ll let you know, okay?”

  ***

  On Wednesday evening, Jack picked me up after he got off work to take me to dinner. It was so good to be with him again and I was thankful there was very little awkwardness since our breakup, although he was being overly nice, bringing me frequent presents, which needed to stop. For the most part, it was as if we had never broken up.

  “Jack, you don’t have to bring me a present every time you pick me up for a date,” I objected as he presented me with a small gift bag.

  “Shh,” he said as he kissed me. “It’s more for me than you.”

  “Ooh, you bought me lingerie?” I asked hopefully.

  He laughed. “No, little smart ass. I meant it makes me feel better.”

  I opened the package to find a small bag of my favorite gummy bears, the good kind from Germany. “Mmm, you do know my weaknesses.” I set the gift on the entry table and took his hands, leading him to sit with me on the couch. “All right. Jack, you don’t need to apologize any more. Let’s move past our breakup, okay? I know why you needed time. I never stopped loving you, you never stopped loving me, so let’s forget it. I want to move on. Please?”

  He looked deeply into my eyes. “Fine. Let me say it one last time and then I swear I’ll never mention it again. Alethiea Grace Moran, I am so sorry I broke up with you. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I will never pull away from you like that again. You are the most important thing in my life.” He leaned forward and kissed me deeply before pulling back. We had both agreed to cool it with our physical relationship since the night we got back together and came way too close to having sex on my grandmother’s kitchen counter. Neither one of us was ready for that and wanted to concentrate on strengthening our relationship for now. I think Jack still felt guilty about that episode. When we let our kisses get out of control, we tended to forget all about why it was a good idea to refrain from going too far. At least I did; Jack was usually better at calling a halt, except when he wasn’t. That night in my kitchen gave me a small glimpse into the passion he kept bottled up inside. I was looking forward to the day when we didn’t have to hold back anymore.

  We went to a casual deli in the uptown area for dinner and then walked around the shopping center, holding hands and window-shopping. The weather had turned mild, making it a perfect night for strolling and enjoying time together. We stopped in at Lush, a wonderful place that specialized in vegan bath and body products and I stocked up on my favorite body cream, then headed in the direction of Frost for some gelato. The only hitch in these lovely plans came when I realized I was not feeling well. At all.

  “Can we sit for a minute, Jack?” I asked, already heading for a nearby bench.

  “Sure. What’s up? Hey, are you okay, sweetheart?” he asked in concern as I leaned forward, putting my head between my knees. “Are you having a vision?” he whispered.

  “Nope,” I choked out. “I think I’m sick. I need to go home. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. Come on, let’s get you home.”

  I had to sit down twice on the way to the car, trying desperately not to throw up in front of my boyfriend. Finally, Jack swung me up into his strong arms and carried me the rest of the way to his car, strapping me into the passenger seat. I was feeling too wretched to object.

  We didn’t make it far before I cried, “Oh, God. Pull over, Jack!” I barely made it out of the car before barfing epically into some nearby bushes. Jack put the car into park and came over to hold my hair back. He handed me some napkins so I could wipe my mouth. “Jack, wait for me by the car. You don’t need to see this.” I was barfing again.

  “Shh. Don’t waste your energy talking. I’m not going anywhere. Let’s get you home, querida,” he said as he scooped me up again and gently placed me in the passenger seat.

  “Ohhh,” I groaned. I didn’t remember ever feeling this horrible and that includes how I felt after getting my head slammed into a trophy case. We made it home without any more vomit stops, thankfully. Jack found my keys in my purse and opened the door for us as I pushed him out of the way, running for the downstairs bathroom, barely making it to the toilet. He followed me, wetting a washcloth and wiping my face as I leaned helplessly against the shower stall. “Just let me die,” I cried.

  “I don’t think so, babe. I think you’ve got food poisoning. You’re in for a really rough night. Where’s your mom and grandma?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t think right now, sorry.” I fell over and curled up in the fetal position on the bath mat. “You can go, Jack. I’ll be fine.” He ignored me and began groping around in my pockets. “I’m really not in the mood, honey,” I groaned.

  “Hilarious. Where’s your phone?” I rolled over and presented him with my backside. He took my phone out of my back pocket and began searching my contacts. “Adele? Yeah, it’s Jack. Ally’s sick, I think with food poisoning. No, we’re at your house. Of course. I’m not going anywhere. Yeah. See you soon.” He clicked off and pocketed my phone. “She’ll be home soon. Let’s get you up to bed.” He picked me up and carried me upstairs.

  “Someday, I really hope I’m not sick or half-dead when you carry me to bed,” I said against his chest. I felt it rumble as he chuckled.

  “How can you joke when you feel so awful?”

  “Just gifted, I guess.” I tried to object when he began undressing me and helping me put on my pajamas. “I thought it would be a lot sexier when I finally got you to take my clothes off.”

  “Yeah, me too.” He tucked me under my comforter, kissed my forehead, and went to scavenge some 7-Up or ginger ale. He brought back 7-Up and a large bowl in case I couldn’t make it to the bathroom. He sat on my bed, wiping my face with a cool washcloth, and then simply holding my hand.

  “This is way above the call of duty for boyfriends, Jack. I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have to do this.”

  “Hey.” He brushed my hair back. “It’s all part of the package, querida. I love you and will absolutely take care of you when you get sick. You would do the same for me. Now try to get some sleep, okay? I’ll stay until your grandma gets home.” I smiled and fell asleep, feeling extremely loved and coddled.

  I spent one of the worst nights of my entire life, mostly hugging the toilet after a short nap. The next day I couldn’t begin to go to school and spent the day lying feebly on the couch, watching daytime television. I hope I never see Drew Carey and The Price Is Right again. I finally quit barfing around 2:00 a.m. when there was nothing more to heave. My super-awesome boyfriend stopped by on his way to school, bringing me purple Gatorade, my favorite. He must file away every random bit of crap I say, ready to produce the necessary info when the need arose. I sure as heck couldn’t tell you his favorite flavor, or if he even liked Gatorade. I needed to be a better girlfriend, clearly. I would get right on that as soon as I could keep some dry toast down.

  “Now, I’m not going to text you today because I don’t want to risk waking you up, but you can text me anytime and I promise I will text back, no matter whose class I’m in.” He made sure my Gatorade was close at hand and I had my fluffy blanket from my bed. “I will come by tonight after I get off work and bring your homework.” He kissed the top of my head—I wasn’t about to offer my lips after a night of projectile vomiting—and left.

  I slept until lunchtime and then sent a text to Jack. He
FaceTimed me, saying everyone at lunch wanted to talk to me.

  “Ally, how are you feeling? I miss you so much!” exclaimed Tara. She got really close to the screen and whispered, “You look terrible. Take a shower and put some makeup on before Jack gets there. Seriously.”

  Dustin and Travis both crammed their faces into the screen. “Hey, Ally! Get better, okay? We miss you!”

  Rémy appeared next. “Ah, chérie, it is so boring here without you! Hurry back, won’t you? Jack is so irritable when you are not here.” I could hear Rémy laughing as Jack ripped the phone away from him with a muffled ‘dickhead.’

  “All right, sweetheart. Enough of this. You get back to sleep. I love you, you know?” I could see he had turned away from the rest of the group.

  “Yeah, I do know. I love you too.”

  “And you are absolutely not to shower and put makeup on for me. Just rest. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir. Bossy much?”

  “Only with girls I love.”

  ***

  Food poisoning sucks. I have never been so sick in my entire life. I don’t even eat meat, so how the heck did I get food poisoning? What, did I get bad tofu or something? I couldn’t believe how sweet Jack was during my exorcist impression. I’m sure that would have been a deal-breaker for many guys. Actually, it didn’t surprise me in the least he was so awesome while I was sick, because that’s the kind of guy he is. I am so damn lucky to have him.

  Friday morning I was determined to go to school. I had managed to keep a piece of dry toast down yesterday, but was still incredibly weak as I got ready for school. I needed to go today, not so much for school itself—which I would have happily skipped—but for cheerleading practice after school. We were getting ready for the state competition in a few weeks and I really needed to be there.

  The other reason I was pushing myself to go to school was the party at Tara’s house tonight I was co-hosting. Mom would never let me go if I stayed home from school. It wasn’t going to be a Veronica Albluth-style party, mind you. We had only invited a few of our good friends, like Travis and Dustin, some of Tara’s orchestra friends, and Jack and Mat, of course. Party might be over-stating it, actually; it was more of a small-group gathering, I guess. We had also invited Rémy, who was supposed to be bringing the mystery girl he’d been crushing on for months. I was a little obsessed with finding out who she was.

  “Ally, are you ready? Tara’s honking in the driveway,” Mom stopped in the door of my room to find me curled up on my bed. “Oh, sweetie, stay home another day. I’ll call the school.”

  “No, no,” I said, wrenching myself into a sitting position. “I’ll be fine, really. I have to go.” Tara was picking me up so we could get in some last minute planning for tonight. My barf-fest had put a serious crimp in our party planning.

  “I like it better when Jack picks you up. He at least comes to the door instead of honking for you and irritating all the neighbors,” she complained.

  “Yeah, well he’s trying to impress you. Tara’s not. Bye Mom, love you,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek and left.

  “Well, it’s not Marla Garcia,” Tara said in greeting as I got in her SUV. I knew she was referring to Rémy’s date for the evening; she was as obsessed as I was. “I heard some rumors, but it turned out to be wishful thinking on Marla’s part.”

  “You mean, with your vast network of informants, you can’t find out who Rémy asked to the party? I’m starting to doubt your super-sleuthing skills, Nancy,” I teased.

  “Oh, ha, ha. Please—Nancy Drew my ass. I’m much more of a Veronica Mars. Rémy is being hyper-sneaky just to piss us off, you know. He’s enjoying this game.”

  “Yeah, I know. He drives me crazy. I’m so glad you didn’t date him for very long.”

  “Me, too. He was a great kisser, though,” she sighed.

  “I wasn’t impressed. Is he better than Mat?” I asked in disbelief.

  “No one’s better than Mat. Rémy was a close second, however.” She drove in silence for a few minutes. “Hey, are you sure you’re up to this party tonight? You’re still pale, sweetie. I mean, more than your normal pasty, white color.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I flashed her a dirty look. “I’ll be fine. I need to be at cheer practice today, anyway. You’ll pick me up afterward, right?”

  “Yes. We’ll head to the grocery store for a few last minute items and then over to my house for final prep.”

  Jack was waiting for us in the parking lot, leaning against his car. He straightened up as we pulled into the spot beside his and opened my door for me, pulling me into his arms for a kiss. I sighed in pleasure and locked my arms around his neck, pushing my hands into his thick, black hair as he insinuated his tongue between my lips.

  “Get a room. Seriously,” said Tara in mock disgust.

  Jack laughed against my lips. “Sorry. It’s been more than 24 hours since I kissed this girl and I was having withdrawal.”

  “She’s just jealous. Come back here.” I pulled him back where he belonged.

  “Leaving now,” Tara announced and waved as she walked away.

  Jack looked into my face, pushing my hair out of the way. “How are you feeling, querida? Have you eaten anything today?”

  I smiled weakly. “I had some toast.”

  “This morning?” he prodded.

  “Last night,” I admitted. “I didn’t feel like eating this morning.”

  “Hang on,” he turned back to his car and leaned in. “Here. You are going to eat this granola bar while we walk to class. I have a bottle of water for you, too.”

  I reached up and pulled him down for another kiss. “Thanks for taking care of me, bossy.” The last part earned me a light swat on the rear as we walked to class.

  I barely made it through the day. I guess I should have stayed home, after all. Jack tried to talk me into letting him drive me home at lunch, but I was determined. I guess I can be a bit stubborn at times, but I choose to look at it as a positive character trait. By the time cheerleading practice started, I was done in. My coach benched me and I was much relieved to sit on the bleachers while my team practiced. The rest was good for me, and after about a half-hour, I was feeling somewhat better. When my cellphone rang, I didn’t recognize the number and took it out into the hall.

  “Hello,” I said in greeting.

  “Oh, hello, dear. Is this Ally? This is Stella Graves. You know, I live across the street from Angela Hayes?”

  “Oh, yes. I remember. How can I help you, Mrs. Graves?”

  “Well, I tried to contact that nice Detective Keller, but I had to leave a message. I thought I’d see if I could get hold of you, since you left that cute little business card.”

  I cringed at that comment. “What can I do for you?”

  “Well, dear, my son, Mark is in town, but only for the evening. I know you and the detective wanted to ask him some questions, so I thought this would a good time.”

  “And Brian didn’t answer his phone?”

  “No, he didn’t. Mark can’t stay very long. Do you think you could come over and talk to him right now? He’s being rather difficult and will only talk to you or Detective Keller in person.”

  I thought furiously for a moment. The Graves lived about three blocks from the school, and I certainly wasn’t contributing much to cheerleading today so I could easily walk over. I was feeling better and maybe the fresh air would be good for me. I was fairly sure I could talk to Mark Graves and still be back in time for Tara to pick me up, or I could call her from there. “Sure, Mrs. Graves. I can be there in about ten minutes, okay?”

  “Oh, that would be wonderful, dear. I think Mark has remembered something important, but he refuses to talk to us about it. I’m sure he’ll talk to you.” Mrs. Graves hung up.

  I grabbed my stuff and headed out, not bothering to tell anyone where I was going. I know: dumb. Really dumb. You would think I’d have learned. As I walked, I called Brian, but also got his voicemail. I left him a message
telling him what I was doing and asking him to meet me at the Graves’ house if he got the message in time.

  Two blocks into my little jaunt, I realized I was still far from my normal, perky self, but it was further to go back than forward. I felt dizzy and weak and was seriously questioning my decision to walk over to the Graves’ home. As I rounded the corner onto Ashley’s street, I saw Mr. Moore in front of his house, working at his roses. I really needed to sit down for a few minutes before I passed out. I sank down to the curb, dropped my head to my knees, and hoped I wouldn’t fall into the street. When I could focus, I would think about who I could call to come get me.

  “What are you doing? Why are sitting on the curb?” I heard a cranky voice above me.

  “Hi, Mr. Moore. Do you remember me?” I asked weakly.

  He squinted at me, pruning shears still in his hand. “You’re the girl that was with the detective, aren’t you?” He still sounded a bit cranky, but I was getting desperate.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “Why are you sitting in the street? You’re going to get hit by a car if you’re not careful,” he warned.

  “Well,” I strove for a patient tone. “I’ve been sick and I’m afraid I was about to pass out.”

  “Hmmp,” he groused. “Well, come into the house for a minute.” He motioned for me to follow him in the house, which I did. I sank gratefully on his couch. “Do you want some water, girl?”

  “Yes, please. That would be great.” I leaned my head against the back of the couch and closed my eyes. Oh, man, I did not feel well at all. I hadn’t been able to eat very much at lunch and I had no energy in reserve. I would rest here for a few minutes and then walk over across the street to the Graves’ house. Maybe splashing some water on my face would help.

  “Mr. Moore,” I called. “Can I use your bathroom, please?”

  “It’s down the hall!” he yelled, still sounding cranky. I could hear him opening cabinets in the kitchen and I sat up with a sigh. I heaved myself off the couch with difficulty and wandered down his hall, opening the first door I encountered. It was a bedroom, probably a guest room, and I was backing out when I noticed a dusty cardboard box on the floor. It wasn’t the box itself that caught my eye, but what was peeking out the top: something bright-colored and plastic. I looked back to make sure Mr. Moore was still in the kitchen before sneaking in the bedroom to look inside the box. My shock was absolutely complete when I saw a Lisa Frank dolphin backpack, a small, black purse, and several pairs of women’s underwear. Why would Mr. Moore have Ashley’s school bag? I could think of only one plausible reason. Oh. My. God. I had found the murderer. That was my last thought before my world went black.