Don't Say a Word (Strangers Series)

by Jennifer Jaynes

  Although he didn’t know what a loony bin was, he knew it wasn’t something good by the way Zoe’s voice sounded when she said it. He didn’t like that she’d been mean to Carrie. Carrie seemed nice.

  Right now Carrie’s shoulders were jumping up and down. She was having a big cry, like his mommy sometimes did when she wasn’t happy with his daddy . . . or when she woke up from a scary dream.

  He opened the door wider and took a step into the room, and a floorboard creaked.

  Uh oh.

  Carrie’s crying stopped. She raised her face from the pillow and looked at him, then turned over so he couldn’t see her face anymore.

  He stepped into the room. “Carrie? You okay?” he asked.

  She didn’t say anything. But he hadn’t expected her to. She never said anything. “Why you crying? Your arms hurt?”

  She lay still as though she hadn’t heard, although he was pretty sure she had.

  He shivered, even though he was wearing his favorite Lego Movie pajamas and they were very warm.

  It was just soooo cold in the bedroom.

  Why?

  He received his answer as a gust of wind blew in through the window, making the curtains jump out at him. His eyes went big.

  The window.

  It wide open!

  His mommy would not like that. She liked all the windows closed and locked at all times, especially since the day that scary man had shown up in their yard. He could see that it was really dark on the other side. He didn’t like the dark because he knew that monsters lived in the dark, even though his mommy had told him several times over the years that the only monsters that really existed were bad people.

  He started for the window, to close it, but then he heard a bump that made him hop backward.

  A backpack flew into the room and hit the floor.

  Whoa!

  It had just flown into the room. All by itself! Even Carrie looked up.

  Sammy inhaled sharply. He didn’t know backpacks could do that!

  Suddenly, he saw legs swinging over the window ledge. Then Zoe was inside and replacing the window screen.

  As she pulled the window closed, he stood there, frozen, wishing he wasn’t in the room, because he had the feeling she wouldn’t like that he was there, watching her do this naughty thing. He thought about running, but before he could get his legs to move, she looked up and saw him.

  Her mouth dropped open. “Oh, shit.”

  “That a bad word. You no should say bad words,” he said, in case she didn’t know.

  She rolled her eyes. “Well, no shit.”

  He stared at her, wondering why she’d said that bad word again. “My mommy likes the windows closed and locked,” he told her, in case she didn’t know that either. But he was pretty sure she did.

  She flipped the lock on the window, then turned to him. “Where’s your mommy, Sammy?”

  “She sleeping.”

  “You sure?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “So she doesn’t know I was gone?”

  Sammy shook his head.

  Looking as though she felt a lot better, Zoe smiled, then went to the bedroom door behind him and gently closed it. She came back and knelt down on her knees. “You can keep a secret, can’t you?”

  He blinked at her. Of course he could! He loved secrets! And he had a bunch. Probably more than she had. His stomach suddenly growled, and he realized that he wasn’t just thirsty, he was a little hungry, too. Maybe he’d have to wake up his mommy after all.

  “Sammy? Did you hear what I just said?”

  He blinked, realizing Zoe was talking to him and he’d forgotten to listen. “Huh?”

  “I said . . . big boys. They keep their friends’ secrets. You’re a big boy, right?” Zoe asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And you and me. We’re friends, right?”

  He didn’t think so. Well, maybe. He wasn’t sure.

  “Now, don’t tell your mommy that you saw me coming in the window, okay? Because that’s my secret.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she wouldn’t like that I went out the window, and I don’t want to worry her.”

  “But why you sneaked out? That naughty.”

  She smiled. “Because I wanted to get you and your mommy a surprise.

  Surprises were even better than secrets! “A surprise?” he said, a little wary. “For me?”

  “Yep. And for your mommy, too. Want to see?”

  He nodded.

  She grabbed her backpack and started to unzip it.

  He held his breath, wondering what it was going to be. The Lego Batman 3 game for Xbox? A new Lego figure for his collection? A Mr. Freeze minifigure?!

  Just as she was about to reach in, her hand stopped, and she looked up at him.

  She wasn’t smiling anymore. She bit down on her lower lip. “Okay, now you’re going to have to promise me that you’ll keep my secret, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m serious, Sammy.”

  He put on his most serious-looking face. “Okay. Me, too.”

  She stared at him. “Say the whole sentence.”

  “What sentence?”

  “I promise I won’t say a word.”

  “Okay. I promise I no say a word.”

  She smiled again and pulled out the surprises.

  He smiled, and jumped up and down.

  CHAPTER 25

  ALLIE LEFT THE preschool, Sammy in tow. She’d received a call from the school’s secretary saying he’d vomited in class—no doubt having caught the twenty-four-hour bug that had been making its rounds.

  As she turned onto the main road, she glanced into the rearview mirror to find Sammy dozing. She turned her attention back to the road, and her thoughts drifted to Gary’s truck being found only a quarter mile from their house. Her hands went clammy as she wondered if Gary had been watching them this whole time. If so, why? What was he planning to do?

  And, if he did have plans, what was he waiting for?

  She realized she was white knuckling the steering wheel. Calm down, Allie, she told herself. Don’t get all worked up. There’s a good explanation for the truck. Gary probably just abandoned it, then skipped town. Seriously . . . a truck is hardly anything to be frightened about.

  As soon as they got home, Allie tucked Sammy into bed and queued up Lego Movie on the television, then went to the kitchen to warm some soup and brew him some tea.

  Bitty and the twins were sitting in the kitchen, books and notebooks spread across the table, finishing up their homeschooling work for the day.

  “Little man pick up a virus?” Bitty asked.

  “Yeah . . . I think so.”

  “Fever?”

  “No. Thank God. At least not yet.”

  “You going to work from the home office?”

  Allie knew it would be tricky trying to work with clients while Sammy was home. She’d attempted to before and it hadn’t gone smoothly. Not even close. “I’m going to try. I have three more clients on today’s schedule.”

  “Carrie has two appointments in town this afternoon, but I can reschedule if you need some help with Sammy.”

  “No, you don’t need to—”

  “I can help,” Zoe volunteered. Her eyes darted from Allie to Bitty. “I’ll watch him. It’s not a problem. I don’t have any appointments today . . . and I wanted to stay home anyway.”

  Allie considered the offer. Zoe seemed capable, and if they needed anything, Allie would only be a few feet away.

  This is just what you need. Don’t be so overprotective.

  “I’m good with little kids,” Zoe said. “I used to watch my little brother all the time.”

  Sammy didn’t feel sick to his stomach anymore. In fact, his stomach didn’t hurt at all. He felt almost as good as he always did, so he didn’t want to stay in bed for the rest of the day. Plus, his mother said Zoe was going to watch him for a few hours. And maybe playing with Zoe would be fun.

  Hi
s mother was in her home office working . . . and Grammy and Carrie had just left the house. Zoe had smiled at them when they left, then locked the door behind them.

  She turned around and opened her mouth to say something. But before anything could come out, he asked: “You got more gummy worms?” The gummy worms had been his surprise. Five of them! All red and green—and even though they smelled a little weird, they were so tasty! His mommy didn’t let him have store-bought candy very often—she and his grammy were always busy trying to make healthy desserts—so the worms were a real treat.

  Zoe grabbed his hand and pulled him to the living room, to the leather couch that Carrie usually lay on. She knelt down and whispered, “You didn’t tell your mommy, did you? About our secret?”

  He shook his head. “I keeped our secret.”

  “Good. Thank you. I just don’t want her to worry, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Pull out your Lego figures, and I’ll get you two worms.”

  “Three.”

  She stared at him. “Okay, three. What colors do you want?”

  He thought about it carefully. “Red and green.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

  Sammy pulled out his blue canvas basket where he kept all his minifigures and picked out his favorites.

  When Zoe came back, he ate his worms really slowly so he could taste every bite. Zoe lay on her stomach on the floor, resting her face in her hands, and watched him. When he finished eating his worms, she listened patiently as he named each and every one of his forty-one figures . . . then started naming them all again. When he was done, he looked at her and saw that Zoe was frowning.

  “Why you looking like that?”

  She shrugged. “You just remind me of my brother.”

  “You have a brother?”

  “I did.”

  “Where is he?”

  Her eyes got shiny. “He’s dead.”

  Goose pimples popped up on Sammy’s arms. “Dead?”

  “Yeah. He died.”

  Dead, died. Those words made his stomach feel yucky. Just like it had at preschool right before he vomited in Miss Tina’s class while he was building his purple birdhouse.

  He didn’t want to talk about her brother anymore.

  “Guess what?” he said.

  “What?”

  “After preschool, I going to kindergarten.”

  Zoe’s sad face turned a little happier. She sniffed and sat up. “Well, that sounds exciting.”

  He yawned and felt his eyes droop a little.

  “Are you tired?” Zoe asked. “Want to lay in bed and watch a movie?”

  He nodded. “I want to watch ants.”

  “Okay.” Zoe picked him up and carried him to his mommy’s bedroom. Then she covered him up in his mommy’s bed just like she was a mommy and played the ants documentary on the television. As she cleared away his used tissues and refilled his crackers, his eyes got even heavier.

  “I like ants,” he said.

  “You do?”

  He nodded.

  “Do you like me, Sammy?” she asked.

  He thought about it. “I think so.”

  She smiled.

  “But it two bugs in a rug. Not three,” he said. He didn’t want Zoe, the wanna-be bug, to sleep with him and his mommy anymore. He didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  Zoe’s smile slipped off her face. Her dark eyes got shiny again and little pink circles popped up on her cheeks. “It can totally be three bugs, you know. It doesn’t have to be two.”

  “Yes it do.”

  “No, three’s better. I mean, really. Everyone knows that.”

  He shook his head.

  “It is. You can be okay with that, right, Sammy? With three?” She raised her eyebrows high, and made the face Piglet made when she wanted a dog treat. “Please?”

  “Two,” he said, using his most serious voice.

  Zoe’s eyebrows fell back into place. “Whatever. You’ll change your mind.”

  “No, I not.”

  She looked away from him, and they watched the ants documentary together, but after a little while, he felt his eyes close.

  When he woke up again, Zoe, the wanna-be bug, was lying next to him, reading a book and wearing one of his mommy’s blue T-shirts.

  “Your mommy was just in here checking on you, but you were asleep. She said she’d be back in twenty minutes.”

  He yawned and stretched his arms.

  “Would you like more soup, honey?”

  He stared at her. His mommy and Grammy called him honey. But he thought it was kinda silly for Zoe to call him that. He didn’t really know why, he just did.

  He shook his head. “I not hungry.”

  “Okay, well, let me know. Want me to put something else on? Curious George?”

  “Okay.”

  She found the disc on his mommy’s bookshelf and slid it in.

  “Why you wear my mommy’s shirt?” he asked.

  She picked up her book again and glanced at him. “Why not? Mothers and daughters share, silly. Didn’t you know that?”

  “Huh?” he said in surprise.

  She stared at him for a moment, then smiled. “I’m just kidding. I know she’s not my mother.”

  But for some reason he didn’t think she’d been “just kidding.”

  “But we do look a lot alike, don’t we?”

  “What?”

  “Me and your mommy. We look a lot alike. Don’t you think?”

  They both had the same long dark hair. The same big eyes. Except his mommy’s eyes were gray like a wolf’s . . . and Zoe’s were green like a . . . like a green gummy worm. Zoe was even wearing her hair in a ball on the top of her head like his mommy did. So yes, they did look alike. But he didn’t want to tell Zoe he thought so.

  “Well, do we?” Zoe asked. “Look alike?”

  He shook his head. “No. Uh-uh.”

  “Yes, we do,” she insisted. “We could totally be mother and daughter.”

  “No.” He shook his head.

  “Whatever,” she said, gazing down at her book. “We do,” she whispered. “And one day we will be. She’ll be my mommy, too.”

  He crossed his arms. “No, she not.”

  Zoe’s eyes went small. “Why do you think we’re here then?”

  “You just here for a little while. Not forever.”

  “Whatever, Sammy. You’re wrong. Just wait and see.”

  Allie pushed away from her desk and rubbed her eyes. It was after nine o’clock, and she had just processed a huge stack of paperwork.

  With Zoe’s help that afternoon, she’d gotten through all of her remaining appointments without any distractions, which was a huge relief. Sammy was now in bed fast asleep . . . and, hopefully, would sleep through the night and feel even better tomorrow.

  Zoe poked her head in. “Are you busy?”

  Allie smiled. “Nope. I’m done for the day. What’s up?”

  Zoe hesitantly stepped into the room. Her hair was in a messy topknot and she was wearing a pair of new red-and-white polka-dotted pajamas. “I just wanted to tell you good night.”

  “Good night. And thanks again. You helped a lot today.”

  The girl beamed. “You’re welcome. Anytime you need me to watch Sammy, I’m more than happy to help. My schoolwork takes me all of an hour or two to do. Then I just have my chores . . . and I can do them pretty fast.”

  “Well, how about watching him tomorrow? I’m not going to send him to preschool, and I have five clients on my schedule.”

  “Yes!” Zoe said, happily. Then her eyes widened. “Oh! Wait. I have something for you! Just wait right here. Don’t move!”

  Less than a minute later, she returned with her hands behind her back. “Guess which hand,” she said, looking giddy.

  “The left one.”

  She made a face. “Aw, dang it. You guessed right.” She reached her left hand out and revealed a glass heart. She held it in front of Allie. “Ta-daaaa!”
she said.

  “It’s for me?” Allie asked.

  Zoe nodded, smiling.

  “Thank you,” Allie said. She turned the delicate, handblown heart around in her hands. “Where did you get this?”

  “It’s mine. I’ve had it for a long time. But I want you to have it now.” Zoe’s eyes sparkled the way Sammy’s did when he was excited.

  “It’s . . . beautiful,” Allie said, setting it on her desk. “I’ll put it right here.”

  Zoe gazed at the heart on the desk, then turned her attention back to Allie. “Do you know what it is? The heart?”

  “What?”

  “It’s my heart. And I just gave it to you.”

  A little while later, as Allie checked in on Sammy, she couldn’t get Zoe off her mind.

  It’s my heart. And I just gave it to you.

  Zoe’s words made Allie feel uncomfortable. She needed to talk with Bitty. To find out where the heart had come from. She realized she’d forgotten to ask about the iPod and the earbuds, and would have to ask about them, too.

  The phone rang.

  Allie jumped, then frowned at herself because she had.

  My God! Get ahold of yourself.

  When she reached the kitchen, she found Bitty sitting silently at the table with a cup of tea between her hands. Allie didn’t like the look on her face. She almost didn’t have to ask.

  “Who was on the phone?”

  Allie could tell Bitty was hesitant to answer her question. “I don’t know. The call came from a private number . . . and whoever it was hung up.”

  Allie felt her shoulders sag. “Oh, God. Not again.”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid so,” Bitty said, her voice weary.

  “It was Gary, wasn’t it?” a soft voice asked in the distance. “On the phone?” Both women turned and were surprised to see Zoe standing at the mouth of the hallway.

  The girl’s forehead furrowed with worry. “I heard you say he might be back. Is it true? Is he? Is he back?”

  CHAPTER 26

  EARLIER THAT AFTERNOON, Carrie had lain on the couch, her eyes closed, but not all the way. Through her eyelashes, she had watched Sammy carefully organize his minifigures.