Chapter Nineteen
It was early afternoon on Monday, and Harper and Linc were no closer to finding Kash than they’d been when they first discovered he’d never made it to Portland. Except now they knew another kid was missing as well.
They’d spent most of Sunday talking to the police, searching the neighborhoods around the school, calling everyone Harper could think of to call, and generally being scared out of their minds.
Ginger, the mean girl who’d made such fun of Kash, was also nowhere to be found. And the police had to split their time talking to Ginger’s parents and friends, trying to track her down as well and determine if there was any connection between the missing kids.
Of course, there was. The first person both she and Linc had thought of—Donny.
Ginger’s ex-boyfriend, and the kid who’d been bullying Kash all year.
The police had gone to his house and questioned him.
He’d claimed ignorance, swore that he didn’t know anything about what had happened to “that nerdy little punk.”
Without proof of any wrongdoing, the questioning stopped almost as soon as it had started. And the cops were doing their best to cover all their bases and interview anyone and everyone who might know something . . . but Harper was still convinced Donny was hiding something. Maybe even her son.
Which made no sense. Why would he do that? Kash was a good kid. Kind. What could he have possibly done to Donny or anyone else to make them hate him so much? To take bullying to such a crazy extreme?
The fact that Ginger was missing as well—and possibly with Kash, wherever he was—didn’t make Harper feel any better. Her baby was most likely scared. Hungry. Cold. And she wanted him back in her arms. Now.
Harper couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d spent three nights . . . somewhere. While she’d been enjoying her time with Linc, her son was probably suffering. She felt guilty and heartbroken. And angry. So damn angry.
She refused to think about the worst-case scenario. That he was gone. She’d feel it if he was dead. She knew that without a doubt. But that didn’t make this any easier. Kash was out there, and she needed him home.
It was her turn to lose sleep. Linc had held and rocked her all night .
. . well, for the three hours he’d convinced her to lie down.
She’d spent every other hour pacing, alternating between exhilaration when it seemed as if they might have found something and disappointment when any information they’d learned hadn’t immediately led them to her son.
And when she paced—back and forth, back and forth—everywhere she looked, she’d seen reminders of Kash.
The kitchen, where he laughed as he made dinner with Linc.
The half-painted wall in the laundry room, which he’d been working on by himself.
His pile of clothes waiting to go into the washer.
The telescope in the corner of the living room.
His books on the end tables. It was enough to make her cry .
. . and she quickly grew so sick of crying. Of feeling helpless.
Harper had no idea what she would’ve done without Linc and his family. They’d been her rocks, helping her and Linc every step of the way. And each time she began to spiral, to lose hope, they reassured her that they’d find Kash.
Britt, Chad, Marit, Zach, and Knox had come over a couple of hours ago, along with Evelyn, and even her dad. The house was bursting at the seams.
And today felt . . . different. She had more hope.
Yesterday, it felt as if they’d been spinning their wheels.
Running around without much of a plan, talking to anyone and everyone and getting nowhere.
But first thing this morning, Linc had gone to the high school to meet with the chief of police and their digital forensic officer.
The guy who was best at interpreting and cleaning up digital video.
She’d wanted to go with him, but Linc convinced her to stay home, by the phone, and promised he’d call if they had any information. Harper had hope that today, they’d be able to find out what happened to Kash.
She’d resumed her pacing, the other women busying themselves in the kitchen, when Chad’s phone rang. Harper stopped in her tracks and stared at him as he answered.
“Any news? Right . . . uh-huh . . . wow, okay. Now? Of course. On my way. See you soon.”
Harper was at his side before he’d hung up. “That was Linc, right? Did they find him?”
“Yes, it was Linc, and no, they haven’t found him or Ginger yet, but the footage at the school was huge. It took a while to scrub through it. Come on, we’re meeting Linc there.”
She was more than ready to go. To do something. Anything. Harper didn’t even press Chad for more information. She could ask on the way to town. But if Linc wanted her there, she could only hope that meant they were close to finding Kash.
There was a flurry of activity as she and Chad prepared to head to the high school. Zach volunteered to stay back at the house with the women and her dad, while she, Chad, and Knox all headed out the door.
The ride to the high school was tense, and Chad was driving well above the speed limit. He told them that he didn’t have a lot of information, just that Linc said the video surveillance at the high school was promising.
Harper frowned upon hearing that. What did that even mean? She trusted Linc, but she needed a lot more than “promising” right about now.
Chad didn’t park right away, simply drove up as close to the entrance as he could and dropped off Harper and Knox, saying he’d park and be inside in a moment.
Harper jogged to the doors, and to her relief, Linc was right there waiting for her. She threw herself into his arms. “Did you find him?”
“Not yet, but we’re getting close,” he reassured her.
His arms warmed the cold, dead places inside her better than all the sweatshirts and fuzzy robes ever could. In his arms, she felt whole. But as much as she wanted to simply stand there and let him comfort her, she needed to let him go so they could get on with finding Kash.
“Come on, after watching the videos, the principal immediately acted. As a result, there’s someone in his office we think has something to tell us.”
Harper frowned as Linc took her hand and led the way. She didn’t know who might be able to shed light on the situation, but she didn’t care if it was the devil himself, as long as they got the information they needed to bring Kash home.
Chad caught up to them as they entered the main office. Linc didn’t pause, striding past the secretary’s desk to the principal’s office.
Inside, Harper saw a boy she didn’t know, and someone who she suspected was his father standing behind him with his arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face. The boy was staring at the floor and didn’t even look up when they entered the room.
The principal was also there, as were three police officers, one of them sitting behind the desk, doing something on the computer. The room was extremely crowded with the addition of Harper, Linc, Knox, and Chad, but no one seemed to care.
“Right. Miss Bates, if you’d please go stand over there,” one of the officers said, pointing to a spot behind the desk that would allow her to see the computer screen.
She realized it was the police chief who’d spoken. She’d never met him, but now that she was paying attention, she saw the badge on his chest that indicated he was in charge of the department.
Linc kept himself between her and the kid in the chair, acting as a barrier.
Harper assumed he was the reason they were there.
That he knew where Kash was. She wanted to lash out, scream at him to tell them what he’d done, but she took a deep breath.
Yelling wouldn’t help the situation. She had to trust Linc and the officers.
She moved into position, and the officer at the computer turned his head and nodded at her before looking back at the screen.
“When we went over the videos from Friday, we got glimpses of both Kash and Ginger, the other teenager who’s missing,” the officer said.
“It took a little while to track their movements, but here’s what we found.
” He clicked on something, and a video began to play on the screen.
It was a little grainy, but clear enough that it was easy to distinguish between the people walking the halls of the school.
The officer pointed out two people. “This is Ginger. And that’s Donny.”
Harper inhaled. Donny. She and Linc had suspected that kid from the beginning. Had told the police he was the connection between Ginger and Kash.
Deep down, she hadn’t wanted to believe that a bully could do something so much worse than just pick on her son.
But clearly she’d been wrong. And why not?
Donny had bullied Kash relentlessly for months, Ginger right by his side for most of it.
Though, Harper recalled Kash telling her that the two had broken up.
She watched the video as Donny walked next to Ginger. There was no sound, but it seemed clear that he was taunting her. He’d walk backward in front of her, then drop back to her side.
It almost happened too fast for her to make out, but since she was watching so intently, she saw the moment he reached out and snatched Ginger’s phone from her back pocket.
The teenage girl reacted immediately, trying to grab it back. But Donny easily kept it out of her reach, teasing her with the phone.
Harper watched as Donny jogged away, turning around and waving the phone. Ginger followed quickly, looking pissed.
The pair walked out of frame, and the officer immediately clicked on another video. Harper saw the duo approaching a set of doors that led outside. Ginger followed Donny right out the door, probably still demanding he give the phone back the whole way.
The view switched to an outdoor camera, and her gaze followed the pair as they walked across the parking lot and off campus, toward a neighborhood.