Her mom was offering for her to spend the night at Alex's house for a few days? "Here is fine."
"There's more." Her mom sighed. "You're not going to want to hear it, but I want you to."
"What?"
"I want you to go back to school on Monday."
"What? Mom—"
"Zoey, hear me out, I said. I don't want you falling behind, and you've already missed a week of school. They also have counselors there who are already talking with students, helping them deal with Macy's disappearance. I was told that you can go and talk with one at any time. They have extras on hand because so many kids want to talk about it. You would have priority, being her best friend."
"Kids are talking to counselors about her? Most of the kids made fun of her, and didn't stop even after she lost her weight."
Her mom's face became sad. "Those kids might be the ones who need to talk to someone the most. They might have a lot of guilt."
"They should! They're the ones who forced her into finding a boyfriend online. I hope those snarky bi—"
"Language, Zoey."
"Ugh." She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to sugarcoat the truth. They're complete and total b—"
"Enough. Do you want to stay here? And are you willing to go to school? At least try it on Monday. If it's too much, we can have the teachers send work home."
"Sounds like you've really thought about this."
Valerie nodded. "Alyssa and I have been talking. She wants Alex to go back to school, too."
"I can't imagine he wants to go back any more than I do, but if Alex goes, I'll go."
"You might be the one to lead the way for him, Zo. I know he's Macy's kid brother and he probably annoys you, but I see the way he looks at you. He looks up to you. You have an opportunity here to make a difference in his life. His parents are overwhelmed with grief, so they're limited in what they can give him."
"Okay, I'll go to school for Alex."
"And you'll stay here?"
"For Alex."
Valerie hugged her. "Thank you, honey. I know it's really hard on you too."
Despite the grief, Zoey couldn't stop a smile tugging at her mouth. She was going to spend the night at Alex's house.
Stranger
Zoey tossed and turned in Macy's bed. As tired as she was, it was too weird being in her best friend's room. Sure, Zoey had been in the room countless times, and it had always felt like her second home. But with Macy being gone, she didn't feel right being there.
She sat up, looking around the room. Macy loved night-lights, and there were enough of them around the room that Zoey could see everything. The desk looked bare with the computer gone.
Would Macy really know how to return it to factory settings? She always called Zoey when she had to do something on her computer. Macy knew nothing about computers aside from turning them on and starting up the Internet and a couple of programs she needed for school. Zoey was no computer whiz, but she often felt like one compared to Macy.
Sure, it was possible that Macy had Googled directions, but she wouldn't have been able to follow them. It didn't make any sense that she would have wiped the computer clean before leaving.
What if Jared had done that? He had removed his social media profiles, so it would stand to reason that if he had done something with Macy that he could have reset her computer. How would they have gotten into the house? It had been Macy's first time sneaking out. She wouldn't have sneaked back in with him, would she?
There were too many things that didn't add up, and again, she came back to the fact that Macy wouldn't ignore her. If Macy ran off with Jared, Zoey would have been the first to know. Even if it was only a quick text. She would have let Zoey know something.
She needed a cigarette. There was no way to sneak out onto the roof from Macy's room. It was a steep drop, and she wasn't stupid enough to risk it. If Chad and Alyssa were sleeping, she could go into the back yard. If they were awake, she would have to get creative. She really needed one.
Zoey got out of bed as quiet as possible, threw on a hoodie and then slid a pack and a lighter into the pocket. She opened the bedroom door and jumped when she saw Chad standing next to her, just outside the room, looking to the side. "Mr. Mercer, you startled me."
Wait. Why was he wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, with his hoodie pulled on top of his head?
He turned and looked at her. Chad didn't have over-sized glasses, bushy eyebrows or a beard. A nine o'clock shadow, sure, but nothing like what this guy had.
Zoey's heart dropped. "You're not Mr. Mercer."
"And you shouldn't be in Heather's room."
"What? Who's Hea—?"
The man grabbed her, covering her mouth before she could scream. Zoey hit and kicked him, fighting even harder as he tightened his grip. He pinned her arms to her body. She kicked even harder, trying to bruise his shins. She couldn't scream, so she tried to bite him, but she couldn't even get her mouth open.
He moved his finger to block her nose. He was trying to kill her. Struggling to breathe, she continued to kick. She tried elbowing him, but she couldn't move her arms. Her fingers were free, so she pinched his legs on both sides. He let out a gasp and swore at her, shoving his finger further against her nose.
Zoey felt dizzy. She kept kicking his shins and squirmed with all her might. If she could squirm enough, maybe she could loosen his hold and get away. It was her only hope. She couldn't breathe, and she was getting dizzier by the second. It made it harder to fight him.
His grip on her tightened. She kept kicking and squirming, but suddenly she couldn't keep it up. She couldn't think straight, and her vision went dark.
When Zoey woke up, she was cold. Where was she? She blinked several times, but it was too dark to see anything. She got the shivers. She was on a cold floor. She stood up, banging her head against something metal. The floor was especially cold on her feet. Where were her socks? Hadn't she gone to bed with socks on?
She stopped. She had gone to bed in Macy's room. What happened after that? Everything flooded back into her memory. That man hadn't killed her after all.
Where was she?
Desperation filled her, and she forgot about how cold she was. She felt around, walking as quietly as she could.
If he was nearby, the last thing she wanted to do was let him know she was awake. Zoey's hand touched what she was sure was a car. She kept her hand on it, walking alongside it. When she got to the other end, she felt around for something else she could use to guide her.
There was nothing in her reach, so she continued along, following the car. Why was it so dark? Was it still night? Were there no windows in this…whatever the place was? A garage, maybe. Hopefully that meant she wasn't being watched. Chills ran down her back as she pictured that guy watching her with night vision goggles. Again with her overactive imagination.
She picked up speed, eager to get out of the garage. She felt around the air as she walked, and eventually found a table or some kind of bench. It might have been Chad's tool bench. It was right where it should be if she was in their garage and she was walking alongside Alyssa's car. If she followed the bench to the other side, she should get to the door leading to the house.
More than anything, she needed to get inside to the Mercers. What if he had done something to them? She picked up her speed, praying that she wouldn't find them all in pools of their own blood.
Zoey felt along the bench until she reached the end. She walked to where the door should have been and found the handle. Holding her breath, she turned it. The door opened with a low squeak. The inside of the house was lighter than the garage, and as her eyes adjusted she could see she was in the Mercers' downstairs.
Before running up the stairs, she listened for any sounds. Everything was silent. It was too quiet, in fact. All kinds of bloody images flooded her mind. She had to get up to Alex's room to make sure he was okay. She ran up the stairs, unable to get images of an ax jammed in his head out of her mind. All she coul
d imagine was his dead body lying in his blood-soaked bed.
By the time she reached the hall leading to the bedrooms, she had herself convinced that Alex was dead. Tears ran down her face. He was dead, she knew it. Two of the most important people in her life were gone.
She threw open his door and turned the light on. She didn't see any blood—she couldn't see anything for a moment. The light was blinding until her eyes adjusted. The first thing she noticed was Alex covering his head with a pillow.
"Turn it off. It's too bright." His voice was muffled.
Zoey let out a sigh of relief. He was alive. She turned the light off and leaned against the wall, gasping for air. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until she released it.
"What's going on?"
She ran to his bed, throwing herself against him, into his arms. "I'm so glad you're alive."
"Why wouldn't I be? What's going on?"
Snuggling closer, she found his face and gave him a prolonged kiss.
He returned the kiss for a moment, but then pulled away. "Why are you so upset?"
"I'm so glad you're alive," she repeated.
"Why?" He sounded out of breath. Alex pulled his head back and looked at her. They could barely see each other from what little light was coming through the window.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"You have to. Why are you so freaked out?"
She frowned, sighing. He was right. Even though she didn't want to talk about it, she needed to. She was still shaking. "I was going to go out for a smoke, but then I ran into someone in the hall."
"My parents?"
"No."
"What do you mean? Who?" Color drained from his face.
She leaned her head against his shoulder and then told him the entire story, shaking. Zoey left out the part about him calling Macy Heather. It was too weird, and it was a stupid detail, wasn't it?
Alex wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. "Are you okay?"
"I am now. I was so afraid he had gotten to you. I was way more worried about you than anything else."
He looked her in the eyes. "We need to get my parents."
She shook her head. "No. I don't want to talk about it again."
"You have to tell them everything you told me. Some guy broke in here, Zoey. He could have hurt you worse than he did. What if he's still in here? Or if he took something? What if he comes back?"
Fear washed over her. "Just hold me."
He pulled her closer. "We still need to tell them. It's for all of our safety. Somehow he got in even though we have a security system. That's not good. You said you're worried about me, right?"
She nodded. "I was so scared I lost you. I can't lose you. I can't." She clung to him.
"Then you have to tell them. He could come back after you go back home. What then?"
Zoey shook again, tears running down her face.
Alex rubbed her hair. "Come on. We need to get my parents."
"Okay."
He wiped her tears with the back of his hand, and then kissed both of her cheeks. "I'll be with you when you tell them."
She nodded again.
"It'll be okay. I'm sure he's gone by now."
"Let's get this over with."
He grabbed her hand and led the way to his parents' room.
Telling
Alex was surprised to see his mom and dad in the bed together. They were even snuggled against each other. He almost hated to disturb them, but the thought of an intruder in the house drove fear straight into his core, especially after what the man had done to Zoey. They needed to get the d-bag and throw him in jail.
"Mom! Dad! Wake up."
They both sat up, mumbling.
"Someone was in the house."
His dad stared at him. "What?"
"Zoey saw him."
"What? Are you okay?" his mom asked, looking at Zoey.
Alex squeezed her hand, and she went over the story again.
His dad jumped out of bed. "We need to call the cops. How did he even get in? I set the alarm before I went to bed. Did one of you turn it off?"
They both shook their heads.
Zoey started crying. "Do I have to tell the cops? I don't want to relive it again."
Alex's mom climbed out of bed and gave her a hug. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, Zoey. We promised your mom we'd keep you safe, and then this happened. We need to tell the police so they can catch him."
"Then we're changing all of our locks and codes. Lyss, you call them while I check everything out. You guys all stay in here." He put on a robe, grabbed a baseball bat, and left.
"I'm going to call the police. You two sit down. This might take a few minutes," said his mom.
They sat on the bed, Alex not letting go of Zoey's hand. His parents hadn't noticed their hand-holding, but then again, it was still dark. He could see his mom scrolling through numbers on her phone. "Officer Anderson? This is Alyssa Mercer. Our house was broken into…yes…no…okay. Thanks. Goodbye." She put the phone down, and looked over at Alex and Zoey. "They're going to come over and check things out. Probably the same ones who talked with us down at the station last night, since they've already been working with us."
"Should we go downstairs?" Alex asked. He squeezed Zoey's hand again. He could hear her sniffling, but he didn't dare wrap his arms around her like he wanted. Then again, maybe his mom wouldn't think anything of it under the circumstances.
"Let's wait for your dad to get back. We don't even know if the intruder is still here." She looked at Zoey. "How long ago did you see him?"
"I don't know. I was pretty cold when I woke up in the garage, so I had probably been there a while."
She gave Zoey another hug. "I'm so sorry. I feel horrible."
"It's not your fault."
Alex scooted closer to Zoey, and the three of them sat in silence until his dad returned. "No one's here now. I checked everywhere."
"What about the alarm? Was that still set? Is anything gone?"
"The alarm is set, and no, I didn't notice anything missing. Who knows what might have been taken? But running into Zoey could have distracted him enough to leave." He turned to Zoey. "You could be a hero in all of this."
"I might have given him some bruises, but I'm no hero."
"We're all safe, and you're the only one who saw him. I'd say you're a hero."
One thing Alex appreciated about his dad was that he was good at making people feel better when they were upset. He always found some angle that no one else would ever think of, and then cheered the person up. Alex let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her. "I agree. You're braver than you think."
The doorbell rang. His parents ran out of the room. Alex helped Zoey up and gave her a kiss he'd been wanting to since they entered his parents' room. "It's going to be okay. Are you?"
She sighed and leaned her head against his. "I hope so. I don't know how much more I can take. Everything with Macy and now this."
He rubbed her back. "I know. How much are we supposed to put up with? Maybe after this, our parents won't make us go back to school."
Alex grabbed Zoey's hand, and they went downstairs. Zoey dropped his hand once the grown-ups were in sight. His parents were sitting in the living room with the same three cops from the night before.
The only two places left to sit were at the opposite ends of the room. He let Zoey pick one, and then he sat in the other. He kept his eyes on her, hoping that would express his support as she went over her story for the third time.
When she was done, Detective Fleshman turned to Alex. "Did you see or hear anything?"
He shook his head. "I was sleeping. I didn't hear anything until Zoey came and got me."
"What did she say?"
"Um, she said something about being glad I was okay."
"Then what?"
"Then I asked her what happened, and she told me exactly what she told you. Then I said we needed to tell my parents, so we did."
Officer Reynolds looked at Zoey. "Can you think of anything you left out? Anything, no matter how insignificant can help."
Zoey hesitated, but then shook her head.
"What is it?" asked Detective Fleshman.
"It's stupid." Zoey bit her lower lip.
"Let us be the judge."
Zoey looked at Alex and then back to the detective. "Well, he said I shouldn't be in Heather's room. But I was in Macy's room. Maybe he had the wrong house."
"Could be," said Anderson. "Or it could be important. Thank you for telling us." He scribbled on his notepad.
"Is there anything else, Zoey?" asked Reynolds.
Zoey shook her head.
The policemen were done asking questions and said they wanted to look around. When the room cleared out, Alex sat next to Zoey, wrapping his arm around her. "What's the deal with Heather?"
"I have no idea. I feel dumb even bringing it up."
"Maybe it'll be a major clue. You never know."
Tears filled her eyes. "Maybe. I just want to forget about it."
"I know. Me too."
Alyssa came back into the room. She started to say something, but then saw how upset Zoey was. She sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around her. "I can't apologize enough for what happened. Are you going to be okay?"
Zoey nodded. "I don't want to talk about it."
She kissed the top of Zoey's head. "We need to tell your mom about what happened."
"No." The tears spilled onto her face.
Alex felt helpless. He wanted to move his mom out of the way and comfort his girlfriend. "I can tell her what happened, Mom. Don't make Zoey go over it again. She's been through enough."
"You're so sweet, Alex. You've always been such a good friend to Zoey. Don't worry, I'll call Valerie in the morning and let her know what happened. Our house will be safer now. The police are going to have someone watch our house. That, and we're getting all the locks changed as soon as the stores open in the morning."
Gone (Gone #1) Page 14