I sigh and roll my eyes.
“Mr. Grodin? Miss Hansen?” Captain Chaster comes into the room with the piece of paper folded in his hand. “We have some news.”
“What is it?” my mom asks in a panicked rush.
“Well, we found one of the accomplices,” Captain Chaster says. “We found him locked in a room down in the cellar.”
Maxwell and I share a look.
“You mean there’s more?” Mom asks.
Captain Chaster nods. “According to the information your daughter and Mr. Grodin gave us, there are three people involved.”
“So where are the other two?” Mom demands.
“We don’t know. We didn’t find them there. We’re keeping an eye out though, and we won’t give up until we find them.”
Mom looks at him for a moment before hurrying out of the room with Lynne, as if she couldn’t bear the news alone.
I sit there, listening to the fading footsteps of Captain Chaster, feeling defeated. Our abductors are still out there?
Will they come back and get us?
Would they take us back to the Salmon Room?
Or are they too scared now that the police are involved?
“Sara?”
I look up at the soft sound of Maxwell’s voice. “Yeah?”
“Should we go?” he asks.
“You can go,” I say, slumping into the couch. “I just need to be alone for a moment.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Silently, I listen to Maxwell’s feet brushing against the carpet as he walks out of the room, leaving me alone.
I sit there alone for what feels like five minutes, chewing over my questions until they don’t make sense anymore. After a moment of torturing myself, I stand up and head to the front door, where I can hear a cluster of voices and see colorful lights. I step outside and look beyond those lights to see the first ray of the sun poking out behind the horizon, making the sky bleed the most beautiful shade of rose-gold that I have ever seen.
“Sara!” a familiar voice shouts.
“Leigha?” I look away from the sunrise and look around.
“Oh my gosh!” says another voice I recognize. “I can’t believe you’re still alive!”
“Zoe?” Before I can make out their faces, I’m wrapped in their arms in a massive bear hug.
“Are you okay?” Leigha cries, squeezing me.
“Yeah, as long as you guys don’t squeeze the air out of me,” I tease, even though I know right now isn’t the right time to tease.
“That’s not funny,” Leigha pouts as she and Zoe back off. “We thought you were dead.”
“Impossible.” I force a smile. Leigha must have just woken up. She’s still in her XXL T-shirt–the only type of shirt she wears to bed–over her tiny body with her Eeyore pajama bottoms and her fuzzy, purple, flip-flop slippers.
“We missed you,” Zoe says. She’s wearing a large brown sweater that covers her model-frame and a black pair of leggings with brown faux Ugg boots. Her shiny black hair is twisted into a high ponytail, but there are a few wispy strands resting on her forehead.
“I missed you guys, too.” I smile, but I choke on tears that, once again, come pouring out of my eyes.
“Sorry that Owen couldn’t come. His dad grounded him from using the car,” Leigha explains.
“That’s fine as long as I have you two.”
“Miss Hansen?” A spindly officer comes over with a pen and notepad. “Can we get your number in case we have any more questions that we need to ask you?”
“I can go home?” I ask excitedly.
“Once we get your number,” the officer replies, looking down at his notepad. “And once you get your medical examination.”
Quickly, but carefully, I tell the officer both my cell phone number and house phone number.
“Thank you.” He nods his head goodbye before heading to a police car.
“Come on,” Leigha says, intertwining her arms with mine. “Let’s go, okay?”
I open my mouth, about to say something, but am interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.
“Max!”
Turning my head in the direction of the voice, I see a girl with pretty red hair and large blue eyes dressed in a cute, off-white puffer jacket with faux fur lining the hood, a pair of blue skinny jeans, and flat, knee-high boots, run through the thicket of vehicles and fling her arms around Maxwell’s neck. She stands on tiptoes and brings Maxwell’s face down to hers, pressing her lips against to his.
Caitlin.
Pain ripples through my chest just looking at them together.
You’re hers until we get out of here. It was what I had said to him a few days ago in the Salmon Room.
“Thank God you are alright,” she says just loud enough for me to hear. She kisses him again, and yet, as much as it kills me to watch, I can’t seem to take my eyes off of them.
When Caitlin pulls away from Maxwell, she wraps her arms around his middle in a hug. Maxwell’s gaze lifts upward so his eyes lock with mine.
With a shuddering breath, I rip my eyes away from him and stare at the ground ahead of me as Leigha, Zoe, and I make our way to my parents, who are standing near our car.
“Who is that?” Leigha asks in hushed whisper, seeing where I had quickly looked away from.
I don’t want to say. I feel if I tried to explain to her who Maxwell is, I’ll break down crying. So instead, I say softly, “He’s just some guy who was down there with me.”
“He’s cute.” Zoe places her arm around my shoulder and brings me in for a hug.
I lean against her but soon break away to enter my parents’ embrace, where they squeeze me until it feels like I can’t breathe anymore.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, looking at both my mom and dad.
“Let’s wait for the EMT’s first,” my dad says to me in a serious tone. “They’ll be here in a minute.”
“Dad, please. You can take me to a hospital. I just want to get out of here.” Away from Maxwell. “Please, Daddy?”
Dad looks at me as if debating whether to stay or go. After a moment, he shakes his head. “I have to let them take a look at you.”
Sadness washes over me but I get what Dad is saying. He just wants to make sure I’m okay.
It only takes about thirty minutes for the EMT to arrive and give me an examination. They figured that I’m fine, just a little dehydrated. They had cleaned the little cut on my head and placed a bandage over it. After that, they examine Lynne, then Maxwell.
“Now can we go?” I ask Dad as Mom places Lynne in her car seat.
“Yeah. Get in the car.”
I quickly hurry to the car and crawl into the back, where Lynne is buckled into her car seat and is sleeping softly.
“I can’t believe we have you back,” Mom says when both she and I are buckled up. “I think I’m going to cry again, I’m so happy.”
I wriggle closer into my seat and stuff the blanket we keep in the car around me as I relax in the heat that comes pouring out of the vents up front. Sleep is starting to wear me down, making my eyes droop. Leaning my head back against the headrest, I glance out the window and see Caitlin and Maxwell standing close to one another. He looks just as tired as I feel. He runs a hand through his thick brown hair that curls at the edges as his eyes travel in our direction. But before we can make eye contact, I glance down at the fuzzy blanket, keeping my eyes off Maxwell, even though I know that this is the last time I’ll ever see him again.
“Are you okay, Sara?” Dad asks, looking at me through the rearview mirror.
I look up at him as we pull out of the gravel driveway. I’m anything but fine. It feels like I’m losing everything, even though I’ve just got back everything that I’ve wanted for the last week and a half. As much as I know I should tell my parents this, I don’t. Instead, I bite the inside of my lip until it hurts before answering, “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Dad offers a small smile through th
e rearview mirror before turning onto the main road and speeding off towards the horizon.
Chapter 15
One Week Later
People linger in the house, carrying crystal glasses of white wine while talking to one another excitedly. For Lynne and my return, Mom and Dad have organized a large celebration party consisting of our friends, their friends, the neighbors, and the relatives. The party takes up the backyard, which Dad decorated with fairy lights and a buffet table, and the first floor of our two-story house. Somewhere, my dad has the radio playing Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon.
The sun is sinking fast behind the horizon, and people are starting to go. Most of my family is gone except for my Aunt Robyn and Uncle Daren with my cousins, Lani and Jake. All my friends are gone except for Leigha and Zoe, but a few of my parents’ friends are still here.
I sit on a plastic lawn chair in the backyard, sipping some pink lemonade and watching the remaining guests mingle. I’m starting to get tired, but I don’t want to leave the party. I like being surrounded by people–it makes me feel safe.
“What are you doing, wallflower?” Leigha asks, hurrying over to me with Zoe by her side. Her face is half hidden by shadows, but I can see her wide smile. Her brown eyes glisten with a smile of their own.
“Yeah, come on,” Zoe says, brushing the hair she has pulled up into her trademark ponytail off her shoulder. “You’ve been moping long enough.”
“I haven’t been moping,” I protest. I look down and brush away the wrinkles in my knee-length, white spring dress. I had picked it out so that it would hide the ink stain on my leg. Though, Mom has made me a doctor’s appointment for next week so they can see if there is any way to get rid of it.
“Yes, you have.” Leigha grabs my hands.
“Fine,” I say, letting her pull me off the chair and towards the house. The grass tickles my toes which are strapped to my white sandals, but even that can’t make me shake away the image of Caitlin and Maxwell together. There was clearly something there, and yet, there had been something between Maxwell and me.
“Come on,” Leigha says, tightening her hold on my hand. “It’s chilly out.”
“Yeah,” Zoe agrees, rubbing her bare arms.
Crossing the lawn, Zoe, Leigha, and I walk into the house, where I realize just how chilly it really is outside. It makes the house feel like a sauna.
“Sara!” When Mom sees us, she waves me over to Uncle Daren and Aunt Robyn and my two cousins, who stand by the door, ready to leave. “Say goodbye to Aunt Robyn.”
“And not me?” Uncle Daren says in mock disappointment.
I part from Leigha and Zoe and head over to my mom, plastering a smile onto my face. Standing next to her, I face my uncle and aunt. “Bye, Uncle Daren. Bye, Aunt Robyn. Thanks for coming.”
“We’re are so glad to have you back, sweetie,” Aunt Robyn says, wrapping her pudgy arms around me.
“In one piece,” Uncle Daren adds, even though it’s not funny. Mom gives him the look in response.
“See ya, Lani,” I say, squatting down to be eye-level with my six and eight-year-old cousins. “By, Jake.”
“Bye, Sara,” Lani says while Jake nervously hides behind Uncle Scott’s legs.
I stand up and say to my mom, “I’m going to hang out with Leigha and Zoe, okay?”
“That’s fine,” Mom says, flashing me a smile.
I spin on my heals and rejoin Leigha and Zoe, who are waiting for me by the bottom of the stairs. We head upstairs to my room, ditching the rest of the guests, and shut the door behind us to muffle the noise from below.
“Ah.” Leigha closes her eyes and spins, making the ends of her dress flutter upwards. “It’s so good to have you back.”
“You’re so weird,” I say with an eyebrow raised. I walk over to my bed, sit down, and start to unlace my sandals, which have been digging into my skin for the past hour.
“Why are you doing that?” Leigha asks, watching me take off my shoes with her eyebrows scrunched together.
“Leigha!” Zoe hisses, whipping her head to look at Leigha.
“Because my feet are sore?” I let one sandal drop to the floor then look at them with a frown. “And what was that?”
“What was what?” Leigha asks with even wider eyes.
“That look on your face.” I point at Zoe for a second before working on my other foot.
“What look?” Zoe frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. A buzzing sound from her phone goes off in her back pocket. A look of shock slips over her face, but she quickly composes herself, yanks her phone out of her pocket, and hurries out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“What was that?” I ask, dropping my last sandal onto the floor and wiggle my toes. I can tell Leigha and Zoe are up to something, and it bugs me that I don’t know what it is.
“I don’t know.” Leigha shrugs her shoulders. Then a look quickly crosses her face. “Hey, Sara?”
“Hmm?”
“Who was that boy with you?” Her voice is soft and mysterious sounding, totally unlike the way she usually talks.
“What boy?” I ask, knowing who she is talking about. I just don’t want to talk about him.
“You know.” She crosses the room and sits on the end of the bed with me. “That one from the scene. The one that ginger girl was groping all over.”
“Leigha!” I turn to her, shocked.
“What?” Her eyes bulge innocently. “She was groping over him.”
“That’s because she is his girlfriend,” I say. “And her name’s Caitlin.”
“Okay, but who was the boy she was groping over?”
“I told you already.” My voice sounds a little harsh. I instantly regret it.
“Yeah, you told me the next day when Zoe and I finally got it out of you. But I want to know what the boy was to you.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, playing dumb as I tangle my fingers into the see-through layer of my dress.
“Total bull,” Leigha says, seeing through my lie. Why do I have to be such a crappy liar?
“He was nothing,” I lie again, turning to face her while trying to hold back the wave of emotion that is threatening to break down the wall I’ve worked so hard to put up. “Why do you ask?”
Leigha shrugs and looks down, then peeks over at me. “Do you like him?”
“What?” How does she know? Am I really that obvious?
“Five minutes,” Zoe announces, stepping back into the room. She shoves her phone deep into her back pocket with one hand and uses the other hand to shut the door.
“Five minutes for what?” I look over at her, confused.
“Nothing.” Zoe frowns.
“Come on. Tell me,” I plead. I have to know what they’re hiding.
“It’s none of your business,” Zoe says, shifting her weight from one foot to another. I always consider this her model pose. “Now stop being nosey,” she orders.
I give her a pouty sigh and ask, “What time is it?”
“Umm . . .” Leigha twists herself around so she can see my alarm clock on my nightstand. “7:55.”
I yawn, stand up, and walk to the door. Opening the door, I listen to the voices that float up the stairs. It’s a jumble of noise as people talk at once. “I don’t know how Lynne can sleep through all this noise.”
“I know. I wish I could sleep like that,” Leigha says from behind.
Craning my neck, I look at my clock. 7:56.
“Hey, do you guys want to go to the mall tomorrow?” Zoe asks.
“Can’t,” Leigha says, standing up from the bed. She crosses the room towards the window, where she plays with the translucent curtains. “I have to babysit, Parker.”
Zoe groans. “Again?”
“Yep.”
I turn, closing the door to shut out the noise. “Didn’t you just babysit him, though?”
“Yeah, but you know my mom.” Leigha rolls her eyes.
“What about earlier tomorrow, like . . . at ten?”
“I can see.” Leigha drops the curtains and turns to look at the clock. So do I. It’s 7:57.
“Seriously, what’s in three minutes?” I ask, tired of being kept out of the secret. We never keep secrets. Leigha even told Zoe and me about her family problems. It isn’t good for our friendship. Leigha had read that in one of the magazines she subscribes to. “Do you guys have to leave or something?”
“Yeah,” Zoe says in a monotone voice. When she looks up at me, I can see that there is no emotion in her dark–almost black–eyes or her face. Just like a supermodel. “I have to leave. I read this article saying that if you go to sleep before ten, you’ll have more energy in the morning and not have such big rings around your eyes.”
“Really?” I say suspiciously.
“Yeah,” she says deadpan.
That was it: I give up. Apparently, whatever they’re hiding, they don’t want me to know. Sulking, I cross the room and walk over to my dresser to dig for pajamas for when Leigha and Zoe leave.
“What are you doing?” Leigha asks, her voice an octave higher with panic.
“Getting PJ’s for tonight?” I cast a glance over my shoulder as I close my dresser drawer and throw my pajamas onto my bed. Leigha is looking nervously at Zoe, who looks like she’s about to slit Leigha’s throat with her straining eyes and tight features. I turn to face them better, cross my arms over my chest, and look between the two. “Seriously, what the hell is going on with you two?”
Leigha pinches her lips, looking ready to explode like an over-filled water balloon.
“Leigha, don’t you–” Before Zoe can finish, the doorbell chimes, echoing through the house.
“Who is that?” I ask, swinging my head to the closed door.
“Sara!” Mom calls from downstairs, her voice soft and distant. “There’s someone here for you!”
“What?” I glance from Leigha and Zoe. Leigha has a big smile stretched across her face as she balls her hands together excitedly while Zoe has a silhouette of a smile on her posed face. Shaking my head in confusion, I cross the room, pull open the door, and slip down the hall. I hurry down the stairs, but halfway down I stop, when I see Mom standing at the door, her back to me, talking to a boy with thick dark hair and well-structured face. At my presence, his emotionless brown eyes look up at me.
Through the Glass (A Storybook Novel 1) Page 16
