“Like Lord Voldemort?”
“Worse. His name is Tad Ludington. It will give you nightmares now, though. You’re too young.”
“I definitely don’t want nightmares,” Danny said. “I have them already.”
“About Sierra?”
Danny nodded. “I think she’s in trouble.”
“I think she is, too,” I said. “Do you think she ran away?”
“She wouldn’t run away without me,” Danny said. “We have to stick together. That’s what she always says. Everyone is crazy except for us.”
I could see that. “We’ll do our best to find her,” I said. “Until then, you need to be careful and keep your head down. Your parents aren’t trying to hurt you, but they don’t seem capable of helping you right now either.”
“I know,” Danny said. “They’re cray-cray.”
I snorted. “Is that something Sierra said?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then make sure you don’t forget it,” I said, lifting my head as Jake approached. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve come to an understanding,” Jake said. “Mr. Jackson is going to jail for the time being, and Danny is going to his grandparents’ house for the evening.”
“Really?” Danny looked relieved. “Cool.”
“I have a social worker to watch you until your grandparents get here,” Jake said. “It’s going to be about an hour.”
Danny balked and grabbed my arm. “I don’t want to go with someone else,” he said. “Can’t I stay with her?”
Jake uncomfortably shifted from one foot to the other. “I believe Ms. Shaw has plans.”
“They can wait for an hour,” I said, catching Eliot’s gaze and frowning as he smirked. I turned to Danny. “Do you have video games?”
Danny nodded. “I have the new Star Wars Battlefront game.”
“Sold,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. “Prepare to be crushed.”
“You’re a girl,” Danny said. “You can’t crush me.”
“I’m about to teach you a very important lesson,” I said.
“What? That girls are as good as boys at video games?” Danny asked.
I shook my head. “I never lose,” I said. “That’s why I’m going to find your sister no matter what.”
“Okay,” Danny said. “I’m not calling you ‘your highness,’ though.”
“That’s fine,” I said, shooting Eliot a quelling look in case he decided to interrupt our conversation. “Only Eliot has to call me that. That’s his special lot in life.”
“I’m definitely going to throw up,” Jake muttered.
19
“You were pretty amazing with the kid today,” Eliot said several hours later, studying me from across the table at one of our favorite Middle Eastern restaurants as he played with the bottom of his wine glass. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that side of you before.”
Was he making fun of me? “I … what do you mean?”
“It’s not something bad,” Eliot cautioned. “It’s just … you’re generally not so open with people.”
“I think that’s a dig,” I said, dipping my bread into the hummus. “I’m open with people. I’m always talking and telling people exactly what I think. How is that not open?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Eliot said. “You talk big and you like to boast. You like to be mean and sarcastic. You were good with the kid, though. You kept him calm when everyone else was freaking out. You could’ve added to the problem. Instead you made it better. I was impressed.”
“I didn’t do anything special,” I said, my cheeks coloring. “I … he’s in a bad spot. His mother told him to do terrible things to his stepmother, and his father is a raving lunatic. Everyone is calling each other sluts and whores, and he’s worried about his sister.”
“Did he tell you anything good?”
“Only that he didn’t want to go into the lotion store with his sister, and Sierra wouldn’t have taken off without telling him,” I replied. “I get the feeling they stuck together through all of this because they couldn’t rely on anyone else.”
“That right there,” Eliot said, leaning forward and pointing. “That’s different. Is it because he’s a kid? If an adult was in the same situation you would make fun of him until you ran out of white trash jokes.”
“I don’t make white trash jokes.”
Eliot arched a challenging eyebrow.
“Well, I don’t usually make them in front of the white trash in question,” I conceded. “He’s sad. He’s worried about his sister. All his parents seemed to be worried about is their drama. From his point of view, no one cares about Sierra but him.”
“Yeah, that bugs me, too,” Eliot said. “You’d think they’d be pounding on Jake’s door demanding answers and updates. Instead, they’re more worried about what you’re doing and the kid eating candy. What’s that about?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“You didn’t take long writing your story,” Eliot said. “Did you touch on the arrests?”
“I couldn’t ignore them,” I answered. “They’re going to be the lead story on the news tonight and they have video footage. I tried to make the search for Sierra the top angle, but there’s not a lot there.”
“What’s your next step?”
“I have no idea.”
“You must have some idea,” Eliot countered. “I know you. Your mind is always working.”
“I was hoping we could work out a deal tomorrow,” I hedged.
“Oh, I’m going to hate this,” Eliot muttered. “You already took naked Saturday away from me. What are you going to do to me tomorrow?”
“Actually I thought we would play a game,” I said, pasting my best “we just made up and you have to help me even if you don’t want to” expression on my face. “Every time you win, I have to do something naked for you. Every time I win, you have to do a search for me.”
“I think the nudity sounds like a win for both of us.”
“I don’t disagree,” I said. “I think it’s going to be a balanced afternoon, and we don’t need to leave the house to do any of it. I figured we could also discuss house things in between all of the other games we’ll play.”
“Have I ever told you I love the way your mind works?”
“A few times,” I said. “I want to run family members of all three of our main participants and see what we come up with. I want to argue about how much Star Wars stuff I can have in the new house. I also want you to call me ‘your highness’ at least three times.”
Eliot snorted. “I’m glad you’ve got this all figured out,” he said. “What else?”
“Isn’t that enough for a Sunday?”
“A normal Sunday? Yes,” Eliot said. “You’re not normal, though, and this story is eating away at you. I haven’t figured out why yet, but I’m working on it.”
“It’s not some big secret,” I said. “It’s just … no one saw her leave. No one saw anyone take her. The cameras mysteriously missed her exiting that mall. She did the literally vanishing without a trace thing. That should be impossible in this day and age.”
“Because of all the technology?”
“And all the busybodies,” I added. “Everyone pays attention to what everyone else does. Everyone has cell phones at the ready. Even if no one stepped in to stop Sierra from being taken, how did no one notice and refrain from taking video? It makes absolutely no sense.”
“I never realized you were such a softie for kids,” Eliot mused. “It’s kind of cute.”
I stilled. “I don’t really like kids for the most part.”
“You could’ve fooled me.”
My stomach flopped as a possible double meaning for Eliot’s words flitted through my head. “Eliot, um … there’s something I have to tell you.”
“Oh, man. Don’t ruin our night. Please don’t ruin our night.”
“I don’t want to ruin our night,” I said. “It’s just … I’m proba
bly never going to want kids.”
Eliot narrowed his eyes. “Okay.”
“I’ve never liked them and I’ve never wanted them,” I said. “It never occurred to me to tell you until you brought up moving in together. I … if you want kids, I don’t think you’ll want to stay with me.”
Eliot’s expression softened. “Is that honestly what you’re worried about?”
I nodded. “I don’t want to lose you, but … I can’t have kids when I don’t want them.”
“I know you don’t want kids, Avery,” Eliot said. “I figured that out on my own a long time ago. You don’t like sharing, and you’re not someone who wants to give up your time to take care of someone else.”
“You knew? Doesn’t that bother you?”
Eliot shook his head. “I don’t want kids either.”
“Seriously?” I couldn’t help but be surprised. “Don’t most guys want kids?”
“Maybe,” Eliot conceded. “I’m not most guys, and you’re definitely not most women. I love you for who you are. I don’t want to change you. When I picture our life together, there aren’t any kids. That’s okay. You know that, right?”
“Most people have gone out of their way to make me feel bad about not wanting kids,” I admitted. “People always thought I was weird. They thought it was something I would grow out of.”
“I feel the same way,” Eliot said. “I don’t think that’s ever going to change. Somewhere down the road, though, if it did change, I don’t see why we couldn’t adopt or something. I’m much happier with the idea of us traveling and doing absolutely nothing on weekends instead of taking care of kids. If that makes me selfish, well, too bad.”
I wanted to kiss him. The relief was that real. “I love you.”
Eliot widened his eyes at the resoluteness associated with the statement. “I love you, too,” he said.
“We need to eat really quickly,” I said. “I’m going to rock your world tonight when we get home.”
“That sounds fun, your highness,” Eliot said, reaching for his glass of wine. “I’m glad this puts you in such a good mood.”
“You have no idea.”
Eliot smirked. “Besides, you’re enough of a kid for both of us,” he said. “If I ever feel the urge to beat my head against the wall and argue with someone immature I’ll always have you.”
“I’m losing the love, Eliot.”
“Maybe we should get this to go then.”
“WAIT, that’s not the way it works,” Eliot argued the next afternoon, reaching for the video game controller. “You can’t cheat. We’re supposed to be competing on an even playing field. That’s why we had to compromise and play Monopoly instead of anything else on your stupid Xbox.”
“I’m not cheating,” I said, attempting to hold the controller out of his reach. It wasn’t easy since we were snuggled together on the couch and I was in danger of falling off of it. “It’s still my turn.”
“Whatever,” Eliot said, making a face as he turned back to his laptop. “You’re a cheater. You know that, right?”
“I know nothing of the sort,” I argued. “I am the queen of the Xbox world. You’re going to owe me extensive searches tomorrow.”
“I was going to do the searches without the game,” Eliot said, focusing on his laptop. “I think we should get a split-level.”
“I don’t know what that is,” I said, turning away from the television and focusing on Eliot’s computer. “Is that a type of house?”
“You’re so smart on some things and such a rube on others,” Eliot said, shaking his head. “A split-level has two floors – three for us because we’re going to want a big basement. Basically it just means the master bedroom is on the main floor and the three other rooms are on the second floor.”
“Why is that important?”
“Because when we get really old we won’t want to climb stairs,” Eliot answered.
“Oh. That makes sense.”
“I know,” Eliot said, flicking my ear. “You want a pool. What neighborhoods do you like?”
I shrugged. “I don’t care. Wherever is fine.”
“Wherever is not fine,” Eliot argued. “You picked a house in this neighborhood and thought it was a dandy idea. I don’t think you should be able to pick the neighborhood.”
“What’s wrong with this neighborhood?”
“Seriously?” Eliot made a face. “The guy next door kicked his own ass and told the police his brother did it. The guys across the street smoke more dope than Cheech and Chong. The people on the other side of you have a pit bull that laughs at me whenever I leave in the morning. Oh, and that’s on top of the people down the street who insist on letting a rooster run free in the middle of the city. This neighborhood sucks.”
I couldn’t argue with any of that. Still … . “The pit bull laughs at you?”
“He barks and it sounds like he’s laughing,” Eliot replied, refusing to be embarrassed. “It’s terrifying. Besides that, this neighborhood isn’t safe. I worry about you running around after dark when I’m not here.”
“It’s not like I do a lot of running around.”
“I still don’t like it,” Eliot said. “I think we should move closer to Hall Road. That gives us access to the shopping, but we’ll go into one of those suburbs north of there so the traffic isn’t too bad and it’s quiet.”
“Oh, I see what you’re saying,” I said. “You want me to move from a neighborhood where I’m the epitome of goodness in the middle of a bad element to a place where I’ll be considered the bad element.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t care where we move,” I said. “Just don’t pick a spot that’s more than a twenty-minute commute to the newspaper. That will bug me.”
“I don’t want that either because the shop is right by your office,” Eliot said. “I don’t want to spend hours driving when I don’t have to. I do like the idea of having more restaurant choices, though. I hate the restaurants around here.”
“Oh, come on,” I protested. “You know you love that chicken place.”
“That’s why we eat there four times a week,” Eliot said. “There’s nowhere else to eat. What do you think of this house?”
I glanced at the house on his computer screen. “It looks fine.”
“You’re not even trying,” Eliot argued. “Turn the game off.”
“I need to earn more searches from you.”
Eliot snagged the game controller and turned off the console. “I’ll run a hundred searches for you tomorrow if you pay attention to what I want right now.”
I blew out a sigh. “Fine,” I said, leaning my head on his chest and watching as he clicked through the photos. It was a beautiful house. “The basement isn’t finished.”
“I know that,” Eliot said. “We can pay to have the basement finished.”
“What are we going to do with three guest rooms?”
“We’re only going to have one guestroom,” Eliot clarified. “The other two rooms are going to be offices. One for you and all of your crap, and one for me so you don’t get your crap on my crap.”
“How romantic.”
Eliot chuckled. “You know what I mean,” he said. “We’re going to need places to get away from each other when we disagree. I like the idea of no one being able to run away during an argument. I don’t like the idea of us having to be on top of each other during a fight.”
“Do you foresee a lot of fighting?”
“Have you even met yourself?”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “I’m fine with all of this,” I said. “I just don’t want a yard that can’t have a fence. I don’t like people and I don’t want them wandering in our yard whenever they feel like it.”
“I agree with you there,” Eliot said, kissing my forehead. “When do you want to start looking?”
“As soon as we know what happened to Sierra.”
Eliot rubbed the back of my neck. I could tell he was debating how to answer.
“What if we never find Sierra?”
“We have to,” I said. “She might be dead. I know that. I’m not getting my hopes up for an outcome I can’t guarantee. I have to know, though. It will drive me insane otherwise.”
“Okay,” Eliot said, giving in. “I’m going to set up showings for houses right after that, though. It’s probably going to take a little while for us to agree on a place so we need to start looking as soon as possible.”
“Fine. If the hot real estate agent hits on you, though, I’ll have to beat her up.”
“Duly noted,” Eliot said, tickling my ribs. “Now, what do you think of this one?”
I settled in next to Eliot, happy to let him show me a hundred houses. If this was going to be our new life, I figured we should probably make decisions about it together.
That’s growth, right?
20
“Why are we just sitting here?”
Eliot shifted a look in my direction as he double-checked the GPS coordinates on his phone the next morning. “Where is the love? I romanced you for twenty-four hours straight. You were putty in my hands when I put you to bed last night. What happened?”
“First, don’t say ‘put me to bed’ like I’m a child,” I said, staring at the modest two-story house on the south side of Huntington Woods. “Second, I’m still putty in your hands. You just can’t play with me until we have answers.”
Eliot wrinkled his nose. “That came out dirtier than you expected, didn’t it?”
“Yup.”
“Then I’ll let it go,” Eliot said, turning back to the house. “This house belongs to Boyd Newman. He’s Sandy Jackson’s brother. I want to watch the house for a minute before we approach.”
“Why?”
“Because, unlike you, I like to play things safe.”
“That’s not what you said last night when I challenged you to a game of naked Hide and Seek in the back yard,” I pointed out.
“It doesn’t count if you wear underwear,” Eliot countered.
“It does when you live in a house with a laughing pit bull next door.”
“Ugh. I’ll never live that down,” Eliot said.
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