The Amateurs

by Sara Shepard

Seneca’s stomach sank. She’d been so hung over – and so mad at Maddox – that she’d ignored her phone all morning. Oops.

  ‘So I ring up that number you gave me for Annie,’ her father went on.

  Seneca shut her eyes. No.

  ‘It was so strange,’ Mr. Frazier said, his voice getting more and more high-pitched. ‘A cleaning woman answered, and she said the Sipowitz family was in Maine for spring break.’ He was trembling now. ‘So I just got in the car and drove to Delaware. I didn’t know where else to go. Halfway there, I remembered Find My iPhone – and thank God I was the one who set up your cloud ID before sending you off to college. It tells me you’re in New York City. Then it started to move again, and I figured out where you had to be headed. The little blue dot comes to a stop in – surprise, surprise – Dexby.’ He arched his back and stared up at the trees. ‘Suburban Connecticut. Not a bad place to run away to, I guess.’

  Seneca kept her gaze on the ground. ‘I didn’t run away.’

  Her father looked like he wanted to punch something. ‘All kinds of horrible scenarios came to mind, Seneca. I thought someone had kidnapped you. I thought you were dead. This brought back a lot of memories, let me tell you. Not good ones.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Seneca whispered. ‘I should have explained, but …’

  ‘Seneca, you should tell him the truth.’

  Madison had stepped next to her. She grabbed Seneca’s hand and swung it. Then she turned to Seneca’s dad. ‘Hi there, Mr. Frazier. It’s so nice to meet you.’

  Seneca stared at Madison, confused. Mr. Frazier did, too. ‘And you are …?’

  ‘Annie.’ Madison spread out her arms.

  Seneca watched as her father took in the Asian girl dressed in all pink and wearing a stuffed Hello Kitty on her head. ‘Annie from Delaware?’ he said in disbelief.

  ‘My family’s in Maine, but I’m staying with friends here,’ Madison chirped. ‘Seneca was worried you wouldn’t want her to be so far away from you. I’m really, really sorry. I just missed her so much. I really wanted to see her.’

  She looped an arm through Seneca’s elbow and pulled her tight. Seneca tried not to gape at her. How did she come up with this so fast? And would it work? Her father had never actually met Annie after all, just heard all about her.

  Mr. Frazier’s gaze bounced from girl to girl. ‘You’re Annie?’

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Madison smiled.

  ‘Annie Sipowitz?’

  Madison blinked very fast. ‘I’m adopted.’

  Which was true, technically, but her pause had been too long – the game was up. Seneca’s dad snorted. ‘Get in the car,’ he demanded to Seneca, pointing at the Explorer.

  ‘What about my stuff?’ Seneca cried. ‘It’s at her house.’ She pointed at Madison.

  Mr. Frazier nudged his chin toward the Explorer again. ‘She can ship it back. I’ll arrange it. I want you in this car right now.’

  Seneca swallowed hard. For the first time, she peeked at the rest of the group. Brett looked stricken. Madison’s eyes were large and solemn. Even Maddox looked conflicted. No one stepped forward to make up another excuse, though. Then again, what could they say?

  Mr. Frazier slammed into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition. Seneca slid in next to him, staring at her hands. They drove past the Restful Inn, which was still closed. Some of the siding was blackened from the fire. Had it been arson? Had someone been warning them, or was it just a coincidence?

  Her thoughts clicked back to Loren. Whose address was Helena giving for deliveries? A secret boyfriend’s? How long had she stayed in the city before someone killed her?

  Her father stared straight ahead as he turned onto the parkway. The only movements he made were to switch on his turn signal and take another sip from his coffee. Seneca stared at the cars on the highway. In front of them was a Ford pick-up, its bed full of furniture. Beside them was a minivan jammed with kids. Then a slow-moving limo, the words Just Married soaped onto the back and side windows.

  Buzz.

  She looked down at her phone. Brett had texted. Sorry you had to leave. No hard feelings. And then: I know Aerin wants us to be done, but I’ve been thinking about the word on the paper crane. I feel like it means something.

  Seneca felt a leap of gratitude that he’d reached out. Like what? she texted back.

  I’m not sure, came Brett’s text. I thought you’d have an idea.

  Seneca moved to write back, but her dad gave her a sharp glare. Anguish cloaked her again. If only she’d just looked up Loren’s Facebook last night instead of kissing Maddox. Her head would have been clear this morning; they might have interrogated Loren anyway, but they wouldn’t have looked like clueless idiots. She could have convinced Aerin to press forward with the investigation, argued that they were one step ahead the whole time. She would have heard her phone ring and taken her dad’s call and smoothed everything over with him, too. He wouldn’t have driven up here in a panic, and she’d still be in Dexby, parsing through this new timeline, figuring out the word on the crane, figuring out everything.

  This was all her fault. Every bit of it.

  She gazed miserably out of the window again. The Just Married limo lumbered along in front of them, the cheerful message on the back irritating her. Beneath Just Married was a sloppy drawing of a heart with an arrow through it. Inside were presumably the couple’s names: Kyle Brandon + Hayley Isaacs. On the side windows was the same heart, but whoever drew the thing couldn’t fit their full names inside so just soaped their initials: K.B. + H.I.

  A light flickered on in Seneca’s brain. Then another. She thought of tiny letters elsewhere, then gasped. ‘Stop the car.’

  Her father snorted. ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Pull over.’ Seneca’s heart was pounding. ‘Please. It’s an emergency.’

  Her father gave her a long look, then rolled the car to the shoulder. ‘Well?’

  ‘I need to go back.’

  ‘You what?’

  ‘I need to go back. I need to talk to someone.’

  ‘Can’t you do that over the phone?’

  Seneca felt frantic. ‘Look, I know I haven’t given you many reasons to treat me like an adult lately, but I need you to trust me on this. I’m not doing anything weird. I just need a couple of days. Then, when I get home, I promise we’ll talk. About everything.’

  Mr. Frazier stared at her. ‘I just drove four and a half hours for you.’

  ‘I know. I will explain, I promise. But you have to give me a few more days.’

  He shook his head. ‘No. No way. Not unless you tell me what you’re doing.’

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘I just … can’t.’

  ‘Sorry. Then you have to come home.’

  Seneca’s throat closed. ‘Okay. Fine. One of the people I’m hanging out with up there is Aerin Kelly, okay? The girl whose sister was kidnapped right around when Mom …’ She trailed off. ‘We met online. We’re friends. Those other kids have been through stuff, too.’ She glanced at him. ‘Being with them … helps.’

  Mr. Frazier looked shocked, and Seneca felt a twist of guilt. She’d never played the I’m-still-messed-up-over-Mom get-out-of-jail-free card. It was a great play – and true, even – but she’d always resisted the urge. She knew that if she told the truth, she’d get that obsessive, neurotic, wracked-with-worry dad back; the same one who marched in doctor after doctor to see her, the same one who sat outside her bedroom door day after day to make sure she didn’t smother herself with her pillow, the same one who called her in high school six times a day to see if she was coping. She couldn’t stand to be that much of a burden. Not again.

  But still, it wasn’t a lie. Seneca had no intention of bullshitting with Aerin about their murdered family members, but just knowing Aerin had been through it – and Brett, too, though to a lesser degree – gave her steadying comfort. Aerin’s life hadn’t been easy, either. Aerin struggled. That halo Seneca had recoiled from that first day here now felt reassur
ingly recognizable – maybe it was okay to have the halo. Maybe it was okay to be angry and searching and a hot mess. And Seneca had gleaned all that just by getting to know Aerin a little bit. If she left now, if she went back to her old house and holed up in her old room, she feared she’d slip right back into her old habits. She had to keep trying to solve this case. It was the key, somehow.

  More cars swished past. A semi-truck blew its horn. Mr. Frazier puffed his cheeks and slowly blew out a breath. ‘How do I know you’re telling the truth?’

  ‘Call Aerin’s mom. I’m staying with that girl, Madison, but I met Mrs. Kelly, too.’

  ‘Why didn’t you just say this is what you were doing instead of lying about Annie?’

  Seneca shrugged. ‘Because I didn’t want you to freak out.’

  He rolled his jaw. ‘What do you think I was going to do, lock you in the house? Forbid you from speaking to people?’

  Seneca stared at the dashboard. No, Dad, I thought you were going to throw me back into terrible daily therapy sessions, she thought but didn’t say.

  ‘Is there any way you can just continue to talk to this Aerin person on the phone?’

  Seneca shrugged. ‘She and I had a fight. That’s why I’d like to go back. To apologize, to make sure everything’s okay.’ She hadn’t realized how important it was to her until right then. Maybe her drive to stay hadn’t just been about the break in Helena’s case. It was about this, too.

  Mr. Frazier stared blankly at the steering wheel. Seneca watched as the dashboard clock ticked from 3:34 to 3:35 before he spoke again. ‘Well, I’d like Mrs. Kelly’s number at least.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘And you can have two more days, if that family will have you, but that’s it. I want you on a train by 8 p.m. on Easter Sunday.’

  Seneca nodded, thrilled. ‘Thank you.’

  He didn’t look very happy. ‘If I find out anything weird is going on, I’m coming back.’

  ‘Nothing weird is going on, I promise.’

  He nodded, then met her gaze. His eyes were filled with tears, but his smile was encouraging. ‘I hope you find what you’re looking for.’

  Seneca lowered her eyes. It occurred to her that she hadn’t told him the worst of it – the school part. Summoning strength, she breathed the worry away. She just had to get through this first. Then she’d tell him everything. ‘I hope so, too,’ she whispered.

  Mr. Frazier still looked torn as he shifted into drive once more, pulled out of the shoulder, and did a U-turn. As they started back, Seneca caught sight of the limo again, now parked in the rest stop on the other side of the highway. There were those names again in the Valentine heart. Kyle Brandon. Hayley Isaacs.

  H.I. HI.

  What else did that stand for?

  CHAPTER 24

  Maddox’s head was still pounding murderously even after inhaling a one-pound bag of cashews, shooting a Red Bull, and choking down three aspirin. He sat at the kitchen table, staring at the daisies Seneca had bought for his parents. The flowers were still perky and fresh. They’d lasted longer than their friendship.

  Ping. It was another text from Catherine. Had a sexy dream about you last night.

  Maddox put his head down on the table. He didn’t want to write Catherine back. Anything he would say would be dishonest. And yet he’d been the one to set the ball rolling by kissing her first. Be careful what you wish for, he thought sarcastically.

  There was a cough, and Madison appeared in the doorway. Silently, she crossed the room, scraped back a chair, and sat down. Maddox could feel her staring. ‘What?’ he asked impatiently.

  ‘This is all your fault,’ she said in a low voice.

  Maddox pressed his hands over his eyes. ‘Meaning?’

  ‘Seneca wouldn’t have acted like that if you hadn’t done something to push her away. And then, when her dad came, you just stood there like a moron and let her go.’

  Maddox made a face. ‘What was I supposed to do? Get into a fistfight with him?’

  ‘You could have come up with something.’

  ‘She threw me under the bus!’

  ‘We both know why. I saw you two on the patio last night. I saw you push her away. What were you thinking?’

  ‘It’s complicated.’ He winced. He hadn’t meant to use the same words as he’d used with Seneca when he’d pulled away from their kiss.

  Madison scoffed. ‘Complicated how?’

  ‘I can’t …’ He trailed off.

  He’d wanted to tell Seneca how he felt – and how those feelings had only coalesced when they’d kissed, and how actually he was being the good guy here because he didn’t want to two-time anybody – weren’t girls supposed to appreciate that? But then there’d been that … incident on the street. Stop, or I’ll kill you. In that strange, raspy woman’s voice – or had it been a guy, disguising his voice? Or had it just been a mugger, as the police had told him, and he was way overthinking this? They promised they’d call him with a follow-up report if they caught the person, but so far he hadn’t heard a word.

  Anyway, after all that had happened, he’d felt too scattered to have a heart-to-heart with Seneca. He’d promised himself to do it this morning, but by then it had been too late. She wouldn’t even look at him.

  He glanced up. Madison was still glowering at him, waiting for an answer. ‘Why’d you pull away from her last night?’ she demanded.

  ‘Because I’m with someone else, okay?’ he admitted. ‘And I’m trying to be a good guy and not cheat on anybody.’

  Madison wrinkled her nose. ‘You don’t have a girlfriend.’

  As if on cue, there was another ping from his phone. Hello? Catherine wrote.

  Madison glanced at the phone before he could shut off the alert. Her eyes widened. ‘Oh my God, you’re kidding. Not her.’

  Maddox suddenly felt defensive. ‘Why not her, Madison?’

  Madison rolled her eyes. ‘She’s crazy. As in certifiable.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  A guilty look crossed Madison’s face. She hitched forward in the chair. ‘I didn’t want to say anything before because she’s your coach and whatever, but I know some of her sorority sisters from when she was at UConn. They said Catherine’s a psycho. Especially when it comes to boyfriends.’

  Maddox scoffed. ‘That’s not a nice thing to say.’

  ‘Why would her sorority sisters lie?’

  ‘Don’t girls lie about everything?’ Maddox retorted weakly, but Madison had already shrugged and started up the stairs. ‘Get rid of her, Maddox! She’s toxic!’ she called out. He let out a frustrated groan and waved his arms crazily at her behind her back, then rested his head on the table with a thud.

  Just as he was gathering his energy to get up, the doorbell rang. Maddox leapt up, frowning. Maybe it was Seneca. Maybe she’d somehow found a way to convince her dad to bring her back. His heart sped up at the prospect, and he headed toward the door, preparing what he was going to say.

  Instead, it was Catherine’s face on the other side of the glass. Maddox yanked the door open with a start, looking his coach up and down. ‘W-wow,’ he stammered. Catherine was wearing a fitted dark pink dress that grazed the top of her thighs. Her hair was curled, her lips looked shiny, and she smelled like lemons, one of Maddox’s favorite scents. Only, there was kind of a strange look in her eye, like she’d pulled an all-nighter and was wired on espresso. She looked kind of pissed, too.

  ‘Hey,’ Catherine said, fiddling with a lock of hair. ‘So I was driving by, and I thought I’d stop and see what you’re up to.’ She cleared her throat, then stared at her shoes – the sexiest black heels he’d ever seen. ‘I haven’t heard from you. Were you out somewhere yesterday?’

  ‘Uh …’ Images of New York flashed through his mind – the party, his conversation with Seneca, their kiss. ‘I had a family thing,’ he answered.

  ‘Oh. Well, that makes sense why you couldn’t text.’ She laughed nervously. ‘I was starting to feel
like a desperate loser.’

  Maddox shut his eyes. He was an asshole. He was totally stringing this beautiful girl along. She didn’t deserve it. ‘Listen,’ he said soberly. ‘I think … well, I think maybe we made a mistake.’

  Catherine’s eyebrow arched. ‘Excuse me?’

  Her voice was sharp. Maddox felt a swirl in his gut. ‘What you said the other day was right. You’re my coach. I’m your client. I’m afraid that if we start something, my training might suffer.’ It seemed like a good reason, one that wouldn’t hurt her feelings.

  A nasty laugh escaped from Catherine’s lips. ‘Since when do you care about your training?’

  He felt stung. ‘Since always!’

  ‘Oh, please. This is about that Seneca girl, isn’t it?’ Her nostrils flared.

  ‘It isn’t,’ Maddox lied, horrified at the turn this had taken. ‘I swear. I just …’ He swallowed hard. ‘I don’t …’

  Catherine crossed her arms over her chest, a very sinister look settling on her face. ‘Your training won’t suffer if we’re together, Maddy. I promise. But guess what? If you do dump me, it just might.’ She pointed to her phone in her hand. ‘I guess you’ve forgotten that I’m good friends with the coach who gave you your scholarship. I can suggest that he withdraw the offer.’

  Maddox’s mouth dropped open. ‘You can’t do that!’

  She smiled sweetly. ‘Let’s not test me, shall we?’ She leaned forward and kissed him squarely on the lips. When she pulled back, there was a satisfied, superior smile on her face. ‘Do we have an understanding?’

  Maddox’s heart was thudding, and his chest felt tight. He eked out a very, very small nod.

  ‘Perfect,’ Catherine said, squeezing his hands. Then she spun on her heel, her skirt lifting provocatively. ‘See you at practice tomorrow!’ she called over her shoulder, and sauntered down the lane.

  CHAPTER 25

  Friday evening, Aerin poured the rest of the bottle of red wine into her glass, not bothering to mop up the drips that spilled on the carpet. She was standing in the doorway of her sister’s bedroom, staring in. There was that perfect attendance award from Helena’s senior year on her bulletin board. There were those pictures of her and Kevin on the family’s boat. There was the cross-body Coach bag Aerin had bought for Helena for Christmas the year she went missing. For a while, the family had left Helena’s gifts under the tree in hopes that she’d return. That March, around the time her dad moved out, the presents were finally moved into Helena’s room. By the summer, Aerin had gone in there and ripped all the gifts open, play-acting what she and her sister would have said to each other had it really been Christmas. Oh, Helena, that eyeshadow kit from Sephora is gorgeous! Can I borrow it sometime? And, A mini iPad! Lucky!