Except it wasn’t Luke’s name that appeared on my phone.
It was Mel’s.
Mel.
I stared at it for a second.
Had things gotten so bad that Ro had to involve her? Was she calling to yell at me?
It was what I deserved, if she was. I braced myself for the impact her words would have on me.
Stay away from us,she might say.
I told you not to hurt him.
Look what you’ve done.
I took a deep breath and answered.
Mel’s first words to me were “Tell me he’s with you.”
“What?” I said. Stupidly, my first thought was relief. Mel didn’t sound angry. Maybe she didn’t know—
“Tell me he’s with you! Please! Just tell me he’s with you!” Mel shouted into the phone. I felt confused, alarmed, as her hysteria registered for the first time.
I sat up in bed. “Mel, what are you talking about?”
“Ro. You drove together. You’re always together, and now they’re here and they’re saying ... they’re saying ...” Her words were barely making sense, and I heard a woman’s voice in the background. Naomi’s voice?
And then a male voice I couldn’t place.
“Where are you?” Mel asked now. Her voice was shrill and desperate.
“I’m at home,” I said, my heart starting to beat faster in my chest. Mel was never like this. Never. Not when Ro fell off his bike and broke his elbow when we were nine. Not even when Dr. Cohen admitted his affair to her. In one of our shed meetings, Ro had told me what he’d overheard that night. Mel’s voice had been quiet and calm, a controlled sort of anger.
Something was very, very wrong.
“Okay, so is he with you? Is Rowan there? I tried telling them you’d be together. They’re saying he cut through Freetown Road, that he was heading to the interstate. But he wouldn’t be on the interstate. He’s with you.”
Her words were starting to sink in now. Rowan.
Not Luke, but Rowan.
Something had happened to Rowan.
Ro would have had to go on the interstate if he was going to State, if he was following Luke back to school.
My mouth was completely dry, my stomach churning.
“They said he didn’t have his phone. That maybe he would have been able to call for help if he had it,” she said. “But he wouldn’t need to if he’s with you.”
I launched for my bomber jacket and checked the pockets. Both were empty.
Ihadhad Ro’s phone earlier tonight, but I’d lost it somewhere. Or maybe he’d taken it. Could he have gone back to the beach for it? He had to have.
Even as I thought through what Mel was saying, as I tried to rationalize and assure myself that Ro was all right, panic seared through every cell in my body and a low hum was building in my ears.
“Is he with you?” Mel asked again, desperate and frantic. “They’re saying they found the Ford.”
