Thicker Than Water

by Natasha Deen

  He gives me an easy smile, but I know he’s hiding something. I’m tired of the lies, and I’m tired of asking him to be honest with me. If he won’t give me the answers, I’ll get them myself.

  Chapter Five

  Ayo drops into the seat across from me. We’re at our favorite hangout, Al’s Diner. We can’t get enough of its greasy burgers and milkshakes so thick they can barely get up the straw.

  “Oh, yeah, this is how you start a weekend.” He scans the menu. “Fries and gravy it is. I am starving. What are you having?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “Seriously? You know the menu better than the servers do. What’s up?” He tosses the menu onto the table. “You’ve been acting weird, which is saying a lot. You’re weirdness personified. That means—”

  “I know what personified means. My dad teaches English part time, remember?” The thought of my dad has the volcano in my stomach erupting.

  “Whoa. Look at your face. Whatever it is, it’s clearly about your folks.” Ayo leans back. “They still fighting?”

  “Yeah, but that’s not it.”

  He waits.

  “I don’t know how to say it. You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ve known you since fourth grade.” Ayo grins. “I know you’re crazy. Talk.”

  “If you knew something, something that was important for other people to know, would you tell them?”

  “Yes, of course. So tell me what’s going on with you.”

  I fiddle with the cutlery on the table. Now that I have the chance, I realize how stupid and paranoid I’m going to sound.

  “If you’re waiting for me to read your mind, keep waiting. My superpowers are having incredible charm and getting out of Ms. Henderson’s math class.”

  “It’s my dad. He—he was with Ella the day she went missing.”

  “What?”

  Just then the server comes to take our orders. As soon as she leaves, Ayo asks in a loud whisper, “What are you talking about?”

  I tell him about seeing my dad at the mall with Ella. Ayo just nods, so I keep going.

  “Later, when I was leaving the mall, I saw her get into our SUV.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” says Ayo, his hand on his chin.

  “Dad won’t say anything to the detective. Says he wasn’t at the mall. But now he’s selling our car.” I lean in close and drop my voice to an actual whisper. “Doesn’t that seem suspicious?”

  “Maybe, but maybe not.” Ayo folds his hands on the table.

  “What do you mean, maybe?”

  “Zack, do you remember the time you thought you had meningitis?”

  “I had a sore neck! That’s one of the symptoms.”

  “Yes, but if you have meningitis, your neck is as stiff as a plank of wood. What you had was a bit of a stiff neck. Probably from sleeping on the bus.”

  I get where he’s going with this. “You think I’m overreacting.”

  “Well, you do have a tendency to find conspiracies where there aren’t any. Especially since you decided you want to be a detective.”

  “Then why won’t Dad tell the cops about his meeting with Ella?”

  “Maybe that had nothing to do with her going missing,” he says. “Your dad is one of the best guys I know. He wouldn’t keep information from the cops if he thought it mattered.”

  “I guess, but it freaks me out that she’s missing and my dad is obviously lying about what he knows.”

  “I don’t blame you for freaking out,” he says. “The whole thing is crazy. Loni is always losing her mind over every little thing. Ella can’t sneeze without her mom shoving vitamin C pills down her throat and mainlining chicken soup into her veins.”

  “Still—”

  Ayo smiles at the server as she sets down our drinks. After he takes a sip he says, “Listen, you’re my bro, and overreacting or not, I’ve got your back. So take a breath and think this through. Really think about it.”

  “My dad was with Ella. She got into the car with him. Now Ella’s missing. My dad’s lying about seeing her.” I raise my eyebrows in challenge.

  “Okay, but let’s play the other side. Loni has never allowed Ella to have a life. It’s school, volunteer work and more school. Ella’s never been to a party—she’s never dated. Then she turns eighteen and goes to university miles away from her mother. Suddenly she can go where she wants, see who she wants.” He takes another sip of his drink.

  “Yeah, but—”

  “But what? She’s seeing the world. Her options are opening. I bet if her mom had let her travel like she said she wanted to instead of going to university, none of this would be happening.”

  “Okay, fine.” I’m frustrated he won’t come onside with me. It makes me wonder if this is how Ella felt when she told me she was thinking of quitting and I told her to stay in school. “Let’s play your game. Ella has decided to run away and live a new life. Why hasn’t she texted her mom?”

  “Because she’s pissed at her.”

  “Why didn’t she text me?”

  “You’re one of her best friends. Instead of siding with her, you took her mom’s side.”

  That hurts. “Of course I did. The first year at university is rough. Everyone knows that. She just needed a bit of extra time to settle in.”

  “Or maybe she realized she doesn’t want to be a doctor and needed someone to hear her. And not even one of her best friends would listen.”

  “Okay, okay.” I try to keep the irritation out of my voice. If this is how I made Ella feel, no wonder she was super mad at me. “So she’s angry at me, her mom, the whole world. But the police are involved. If she’s fine, why doesn’t she tell them? Loni was on the news—”

  “They were the local news stations. What if Ella’s out of the country?”

  “The police have no record of her booking a flight or catching a train.”

  “Are you sure?” he asks.

  “No, but wouldn’t that be one of the first things they’d check?”

  “Good point. Say she took a bus to another city.”

  “But—”

  “My point is, Ella could be quite far away. Maybe in some tiny town.”

  “And?”

  “And unless she has access to Wi-Fi or the national news picks up her story, she may not even know any of this is going on. I’ve been checking her online feeds,” he says. “She hasn’t posted anything since she disappeared. Maybe she’s still getting notifications, or maybe she’s unplugged from everything because she doesn’t want to deal. Think about it. You know Loni would be blowing up Ella’s phone—texts, phone calls, app messages.”

  I scowl at him.

  “What?”

  “I hate it when you’re logical.”

  Ayo grins. “Not just logical. I’m right.” He leans back. “Go ahead, you can say it. Ayo, you’re right.”

  “You have a point, but we don’t know if you’re right.”

  “That was close,” he says, “but you had too many words in there. Try again. Ayo, you’re right.”

  I toss the empty straw wrapper at him.

  The server comes with our food. For a while there’s no talking, only eating. Then we’re back to talking about regular stuff—school, tests, his annoying little sister. But I still can’t stop wondering about my dad.

  Ayo can see it. He shoves his empty plate aside and says, “What’s really going on?”

  “Even if you’ve explained away the Ella thing—”

  “With logic.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Something else is up with my dad. I feel it.” I shake my head. “There’s something else. Something in the air.”

  “I can tell you what’s not in the air. Your dad being a criminal.”

  “Why wouldn’t my dad say anything? If that’s what it is, why wouldn’t he just let Loni and the police know?”

  “Maybe if he did, Ella would be in big trouble. I bet he’s giving her time. That’s your dad’s way. He always gi
ves people time to make the right decision.”

  “I guess, but holding back information is a crime.”

  “There has to be a reason,” says Ayo. “Your dad wouldn’t risk his job or his family over something stupid. He’s not like that. I bet if she’s not back in a couple of days, he’ll say something.”

  “You really think she’s okay? That she just took off?”

  “I do. Trust me. With a thousand cousins, I grew up surrounded by drama. One of them was always taking off. They always came back.”

  “Yeah, but your family’s wild.”

  He laughs. Then he says, “I don’t blame you for worrying though.”

  “How do I stop?”

  “You don’t. Let’s figure this out together. The cops are looking into Ella. How about if you and I figure out what’s really going on with your dad? You said he’s acting strange. Maybe it has to do with Ella. Maybe it’s like your situation.”

  “Huh?”

  “You have information, and you’re not going to the detective, right? Maybe he’s in the same boat.”

  “I never thought of that.”

  “There’s a logical answer to all of this,” he says. “You and me, we’ll find out what it is.”

  Relief hits in a sudden rush. I don’t have any answers, but at least now I have someone I can talk to, someone who’ll help me figure it all out.

  Chapter Six

  We order dessert, and I go over everything I know. When I’m done, I sit back. “I know it sounds flimsy, but”—I hold up my hand when Ayo tries to interrupt—“lots of cases are solved with less.”

  “Real-life cases?”

  “Maybe—yes! I can’t think of any right now, but yes.”

  Ayo pulls some money out to pay for his meal. “Step one is easy. You think your dad gave Ella a ride somewhere, right?”

  I nod.

  “Cool. Let’s check the vehicle’s GPS history. It’ll tell us where he’s been.”

  “Man, that was so obvious. Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Because you’re smart, but you’re not as smart as me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “And you overreact. A lot.”

  “I do not!”

  He laughs. “They should have named you Chicken Little. You always think the sky’s falling.” He slides out of the booth.

  “That’s so not true.” I follow him to the door.

  “This from the guy who thought he saw a dead body on the way to school.”

  “It was foggy,” I remind him, “and that bush looked like a person.”

  “Drama queen.”

  “Shut up.”

  We head back to my house. Both Mom and Dad are home. They’re in the family room. Dad’s reading, and Mom’s working on a puzzle. For a second it stops me. It’s been weeks since I’ve seen them do anything but glare at each other.

  “Do you mind if I borrow the car?” I ask Dad.

  “Where you going?” He drops his newspaper and gives Ayo a quick nod.

  “The bluffs.”

  “Fill the gas tank?”

  “Deal.”

  “We’re out of bread,” says Mom. “Can you get some while you’re out? Grab some milk too.”

  “Double deal.”

  “You need to be back in two hours,” she continues. “I have an alumni meeting.”

  Mom’s keys are in the bowl on the table. Instead of taking them, I go to Dad’s messenger bag and hunt through his stuff. If he asks, I’ll say I was looking for his keys.

  I root around but don’t find much. Some pens from the hotels he stays at when he’s at his conferences and a sandwich bag with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Nothing incriminating. No notes from Ella, no evidence I can overanalyze. I can hear Ayo mocking me.

  I tell Ayo what I found—or didn’t find—as we head to the garage. He climbs into the passenger seat while I open the garage door. Then I get inside the SUV and check the interior. “He cleaned the car.”

  “Don’t freak out, bro. He’s selling it. Of course he’d have it cleaned.”

  Once we’re a couple of blocks from the house, I pull over. When I open the GPS history, all I get is an empty screen.

  “He cleared out the locations too.” I look at Ayo. “What does that have to do with selling the car?”

  “It’s a risky thing, selling the car directly. There can be a lot of crazies out there. Clearing the history just makes good sense. You want a total stranger knowing where you live, your regular routine?”

  “Why do you always have an answer to everything?”

  “Because you never have an answer to anything.” He grins.

  “You’re hilarious.”

  “Listen,” says Ayo. “You wanted to check into what your dad was doing because you think he’s got information on Ella. So far, you haven’t found anything.”

  “A lack of evidence doesn’t mean a lack of—” I don’t know how to finish the sentence in a clever way. “Still, something might have happened.”

  “You said Ella was back in contact with her dad, right?”

  “Right, but I don’t know anything about him. Besides, Detective Tyron is looking into that.”

  “Okay, so he’s got that handled. And now that we’ve seen your dad doesn’t have any secrets—”

  “We don’t know that, not for sure. There might be something on his phone.” I check over my shoulder and then pull into the traffic.

  “Good luck getting his phone. Good luck getting anyone’s phone.”

  “I know. It’s glued to his hand. I’m going to check his office first. I’ll try to sneak a peek at his phone when he’s sleeping. I bet his code is my birthday or something easy like that.”

  Ayo casts me a worried glance. “I’m not sure you should do that. Not unless we have actual proof your dad and Ella’s disappearance are connected.”

  “Why? If it will help—”

  “Your dad’s a guidance counselor,” he says. “There’s confidential stuff on his phone. Emails, documents.”

  “So? I’m not looking for dirt on the kids he sees.”

  “Confidentiality rules are fierce. He could get in real trouble.” He taps my hand. “Listen, man, I know we’re playing detective, and I know you’re worried about Ella. But you have to think about your dad too.”

  “I am. That’s why I haven’t gone to the police. If I’m wrong, it could cost my dad big-time. What if the police decide he’s a person of interest? That’s questioning and rumors. It will ruin his job.”

  “The same thing will happen if you start messing around in his office and phone. It’s a breach of confidentiality. It could cost him his job—or worse.”

  “I wouldn’t tell—”

  “The truth will out, Zack. My grandma always says that. And she’s right. It always does.”

  “Then how am I supposed to get the information?”

  “I don’t know, but you’re the one who wants to be a cop. Police officers have to do things by the book. So do you.”

  “I’m not a cop yet.”

  “Consider it practice—”

  “Ayo—”

  “No.” He shakes his head. “No way, Zack. When my family immigrated here, it wasn’t easy. Seeing a therapist saved me, okay? She helped me figure out the mess in my head. It was a big deal, being able to talk to someone and knowing they’d keep my secrets. I won’t let you violate someone’s privacy. You do that, and I’m out—out of your crazy hunt, and out of our friendship too.”

  I believe he means it. But I’m stuck in this weird triangle. Ayo on one side, my dad on another, and Ella on the last. Out of all of them, Ella’s the priority. She’s the one who might be in physical danger. Still, maybe I don’t need to go through Dad’s phone just yet. This isn’t a fight I’m willing to have with Ayo. At least, not right now. “Okay. I’ll leave the phone out of it,” I say.

  “Good. Let’s focus on Ella’s dad.”

  “We should head home and check Ella’s online stuff,�
� I say. “If her dad was kicking around, he might have commented on one of her posts.”

  “Fair, but we can’t go back yet. We told your folks we’d be at the bluffs. It’s going to look weird if we suddenly come back. Besides, we can check her stuff right now on our phones.”

  “I know, but Mom has cook-up rice at home.”

  “With beef and hot peppers?”

  I nod.

  Ayo squints at the cloudless sky. “Hmm. Looks like rain. We should head back.”

  We stop at the grocery store and pick up the bread and milk. I fill up the tank with gas.

  “Back so soon?” Dad asks as we walk in. He grins and fist-bumps Ayo.

  “Thought it might rain,” I say. “Where’s Mom?”

  “On the phone with Loni.”

  Ayo and I lock eyes.

  “Why?” Ayo asks. “What happened?”

  Dad shrugs. “I don’t know. The phone rang. Your mom picked it up. Then she went to the bedroom and closed the door.”

  “I’ll put the bread and milk away,” says Ayo. “Why don’t you see if you can find out what’s going on.”

  I head down the hallway. I tap softly on the door, then step into the room.

  Mom’s sitting on the bed. She spots me and holds up her hand. “Okay, okay. No, I’ll talk to Zack when he gets home.” She listens, talks for a few more seconds, then hangs up. “Good timing.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “You ever heard of a kid named Gavin?”

  “No. Who is he?”

  “Believe it or not, he was Ella’s boyfriend.”

  “Ella had a boyfriend?” The question comes out louder than I meant it to.

  “Ella had a what?” Ayo’s question rings out from down the hall.

  Mom moves past me and heads back toward the kitchen.

  I chase after her. “It can’t be—she would’ve told me. She tells me everything.”

  “Did you know that Ella had a boyfriend?” she asks Ayo.

  “No! I didn’t think Ella liked anyone,” he says.

  “Well, apparently she did.” Mom sits down at the table. “It wasn’t a long-term thing, but she and this guy were dating.” She makes a face. “It didn’t end well.”