49. The Final Piece
THE FINAL PIECE
Islip out the front gate into Naomi’s Honda Civic as a squad car turns down the drive leading to the estate. When we arrive at Twig’s, another is parked outside.
As soon as I step into their living room, Mrs. Calloway wraps me in a hug so tight and trembling, a fireball ignites in my chest. We will get her daughter.
We won’t let anything happen to Kate. Over Mrs. Calloway’s shoulder, Twig sits on the couch, his face ashen.
Mr. Calloway sits beside him in his grease stained overalls, looking very much like a man in shock.
There are two officers present. One is Harper’s brother.
He stands near the window with his hat in his hands, his straw-colored hair ruffled.
I didn’t notice last night, but he’s grown a strawberry blonde mustache, like maybe some facial hair will mitigate the youthful looking pimples still dotting his jawline.
“I went to the place she disappeared,” I blurt.
Mrs. Calloway lets go.
I made my decision on the drive over. I would tell the police exactly where I went. And yet, I immediately regret my word choice.
Disappeared.
I might as well have slapped Mrs. Calloway across the face.
“I mean, the place her phone last registered.” I glance from Twig to Jake to Jake’s partner. “I needed to check. To see if maybe she and Harrison were still there.”
The room is quiet.
A tinderbox ready to explode.
I wait for someone to inquire, “Well, were they?”
But that’s not what Jake’s partner asks.
“Okay,” he says, his voice carefully controlled. “What time was this?”
“Right after Twig called me.” I run my tongue across my front teeth, realizing only now that I haven’t brushed them yet. I glance at the clock on the microwave in the kitchen. “Probably around 9:45.”
“How long did you stay?” the officer asks.
“Not long.”
“A few minutes? Ten? Long enough to look around or just have a glance?”
I blink, confused by his line of questioning. “Not more than a couple.”
“Did you touch anything?”
“No.”
“Where did you walk?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you stay on a trail? Did you go off trail?”
“I stayed on the trail.” I look at Mrs. Calloway and Mr. Calloway, both of them leaning forward like plants hungry for the sun. Like maybe I did find her. Kate was there and she’s fine. This has been a big mixup and she’s on her way home now.
But I can’t tell them that.
It isn’t true.
Jake steps away, into the hall. I hear him speaking into his radio. “Juvenile resident from the estate accessed the Life360 termination point earlier this morning. We’re clarifying timeline now.”
Something about the way he says juvenile resident sets my teeth on edge. So, too, does the realization that they never expected to find Kate or Harrison in the spot their phones last registered. All I’ve done in their eyes is disturb a potential crime scene.
I glare at the officer, like somehow, this is his fault.
“Did you see or find anything unusual?” he asks.
I want to say yes. A glowing rift. A doorway between dimensions. If you go through it, you will find Kate and Harrison. You will find Emma, Sienna, and Lola. You will find Brady and Caleb. And if they can believe it, they will find Ivy Winslow, too.
Instead, I shake my head.
“Nobody else went with you?”
“It was just me.”
Jake returns to the room.
“Look, Selah,” he says, “we understand why you felt the need to go there, and we appreciate you being upfront with us. But from here on out, we need you to stay away from that area. In fact, it’s probably best if you stay here for the time being. Harper’s on her way right now.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
I pull it out and glance at the screen.
“Can Jude come, too?”
Jake arches a pale brow. “Vandenberg?”
“He just texted.” I lift my phone. “I think all of us would like to be together right now.”
The officers share another look.
Jake doesn’t trust Jude. He doesn’t trust Rafe either.
Harper told me as much. According to him, everything started to go awry when the Vandenberg cousins came to town.
Jake, I can tell, wants to say no. Jude should stay on his side of the proverbial tracks.
But his partner loops his thumbs through his belt.
“That’ll be fine, so long as everyone is accounted for. ”
Naomi suggests we go downstairs, where we’ll be out of the way.
Mrs. Calloways hugs us, one by one. “I’ll bring you some snacks.”
“Mom, it’s okay—” Twig begins.
“Of course it is,” Mrs. Calloway interjects, her voice high and uneven. “This is all going to be okay.”
But it won’t.
Not unless we do something.
The three of us shuffle to the stairs when Jake’s partner stops us with another question. “Are any of you friends with Lainey Sikes or Griffin Tate?”
“We’re acquaintances,” Naomi says.
He pulls on his earlobe. “You wouldn’t happen to know where they might be, if not at home?”
We feign ignorance, like we have no idea.
In truth, I think they’re with Harrison and Kate.
Vorat has gotten his two more.
Their job is done.
The only missing piece is me.