Page 116 of Not a Word

And then Brent heard something downstairs.

He sat up in bed, held his breath, listened.

“Christ,” he said. “The front door. Catherine’s back.”

She wasn’t.

Forty

Moments before Gage had left his house, his cell had rung. He’d already had the phone in his hand and, seeing who it was, answered before it rang a second time. He didn’t want his parents asking who he was talking to.

“Hey,” Gage said.

“Hey, kid, look,” said Holden, “where are you right now?”

“Home.”

“What’re you doing?”

“Just, you know, parents.”

“What’s that mean?”

“The usual shit. Nothing to worry about.”

“Can I pick you up?”

“What for?”

“I’ll explain when I get you.”

“Okay.”

“But not out front. I don’t know how your dad would feel about us hanging out right now. Kind of had a bad scene with him and your mom a while ago.”

“I can go out the back way, meet you one street over.”

“Deal.”

He slipped out of the house undetected and without his skateboard and two minutes later, Holden’s old Honda CR-V appeared on the street one over from Gage’s place. Holden left the motor running as Gage jumped in on the passenger side, the door creaking on rusty hinges.

“Sorry to drag you away,” Holden said, taking his foot off the brake and hitting the gas. “Sorry about everything, really.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’ve been trying to get hold of Alicia, you know? Been calling and texting and she should be off work by now but she keeps putting me off. I really need to talk to her, and if I can’t talk to somebody, I’m gonna start doing something I shouldn’t, and right now, I’m ready to get so high that I’d be looking down from space, you know? More than ever, right now, I need a clear head, to be able to deal with all this. And you and me, we got a good rapport, right?”

“Right.”

“I’ve told you stuff I never told anyone else except Alicia, and you’ve been good about keeping the lid on it. Maybe I shouldn’t’ve, but I’ve always believed you need to know the truth about this family.”

Glumly, Gage said, “I wish I’d never known.”

“Shit, I get that. Sorry to dump on you.”

“So where are we going?”

“My mom’s,” he said.