My disorientation fades like the dispersing fog over Stark Lake. Standing in only a camisole and panties, I wrap the blanket around myself and head toward the back door.
With each step anticipation builds. There’s a person behind the sheer curtain.
Pushing the curtain to the side, I find Becky standing outside, fidgeting as she waits to knock again.
A twist of the deadbolt, and I pull the door inward.
She already has the screen door open. “Jesus, Jillian, answer your damn phone.”
I look past her to the parking area where a blacktruck with large tires speckled in mud is running. I spot the driver through the windshield as the diesel exhaust makes its way to the open door.
“Hank is here?” I ask as Becky enters.
“He drove me.”
Pulling the blanket tighter around myself, I ask, “What’s going on?”
“Well, it’s afternoon and no one could reach you. Your mom called me in a state of semi-panic.”
I purse my lips. “My mom wouldn’t panic about me.” And then it hits me. “Shit, this is Sunday. I told her I’d go to church.” I spin around taking in the empty wine bottles still littering the countertop. “I had a bit to drink last night.”
Becky picks up one of the bottles and examines the label. It’s one of the bottles that I picked up from St. Julian. “At least you drank good stuff.” She shakes her head as she puts it back on the counter. “Church isn’t why your mom has called. It’s Julie.”
My pulse immediately kicks up to double-time, and a sense of urgency prickles my skin. “What about Julie?”
“She told Shannon that she was spending the night at her friend Marty’s house. Marty said she was at Julie’s...you know the routine?”
I nod. Becky and I did the same thing when we were their age.
“Marty’s mom, Maggie Thompson, called Shannon this morning.”
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah, between Shannon and Maggie they’ve calledall of Julie and Marty’s friends. No one knows for sure what happened to them.”
“Both of them?” I ask, stunned.
“Both. They were both seen last night by multiple people at a party out at the McKenna farm.”
“Shit. Shit,” I say as I begin to pace about the kitchen. “I knew about the party. Julie told me yesterday.”
“She did?”
“I saw her at the park. She first asked if she could tell Mom she was staying with me—her and six others. When I said no, she invited me to the bonfire.”
“Well, Sheriff Manes is looking for any information. Did you go there?”
“I drove over in the afternoon after I left the park.”
“Why?”
I let out a breath. “I don’t know. I was concerned, but I called Liv and we both thought it was better to stay away from underage consumption.”
“Well, Blue Gil isn’t taking another missing person lightly—or two. Church services were canceled at all three churches. Those people too old to search stayed and prayed. Everyone else is out looking.”
It’s then I turn toward the front windows. The blue sky of yesterday is filled with shades of gray, the trees are blowing in the wind, and it looks as if it could begin to rain any minute. I turn back; Becky has on a jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots. “Have you been searching?”
“Not yet. We were at home when Shannon called.”
