Page 30 of Five

“Maybe he’s at home,” I say, pulling on my shorts and slipping my feet into my shoes. “I’m gonna go over there and check. Because you’re right, we need to sort this out immediately.”

Five’s house is locked and empty and there’s no car in the driveway, so even though I really want to break in via Kate’s window and look around, it’s stupid. And I’m pretty sure Ford has this place wired up like a bank vault. If that alarm is set and I break in… I don’t even want to imagine what comes next. So I leave.

Back in my car, I text him. Where are you?

And then I stare at my phone for exactly seven minutes praying for a response, before giving up and heading into downtown to check all the places he might be.

First stop, FoCo Theatre. I park at Shrike Bikes, since it’s across the street, and then jog over and go inside. Sparrow is running the place while her parents are out of town for the Disney trip. And it’s packed—as usual, since the lunch rush is just starting. The theatre doesn’t just show movies and have cool film festivals. It’s a restaurant and a coffee shop as well. A staple in this college-town community since it’s only a couple blocks away from campus.

“Rory!” Sparrow calls over the heads of a billion hungry college students. “Did you come to help?”

I’m about to say no, but then I realize she looks stressed. Sparrow Flynn is more qualified than most to run this place. She grew up in it, after all. But at only twenty years old, she’s still susceptible to all the things that can, and will, go wrong when the parents leave town.

So I say, “Sure. Let me grab an apron.”

I’ve spent my fair share of summers and weekends helping out here too. So I tie up my hair, throw on an apron, and get to work making sandwiches and salads.

It’s surprisingly calming. This familiar work in this familiar place. And even though I have a shit storm of problems brewing on the horizon, I let them fall away as I get back into the swing of being…home.

“So you and Five, huh?” Sparrow says with a wink, once things calm down. “Oliver told me this morning.”

“That little shit needs to mind his own business. He’s the one who caused all this mess by telling me to come home without Five knowing.”

“Don’t be mad. We all want what he wants. You two to finally get that fairy-tale happily ever after. If you two can’t manage it, what chance do the rest of us have?”

Good question. If Five and I aren’t meant to be together, even though we’re meant to be together, then just what the fuck, fate?

“But you’re on track now?” Sparrow asks.

“Have you seen him?” There’s a little desperation in my voice. I can hear it, so Sparrow does too.

She shakes her head. “Oliver says he spent the night with you on the back porch. But I didn’t see him when I got up. He must’ve already left.”

“Do you know why he’s in town? Exactly, I mean? He told me about some meeting in Denver but…” My words trail off because Sparrow’s face turns serious all of a sudden. “What?”

Her eyes dart around, taking in the lobby. Like she’s making a decision about something. Then she leans in close and whispers, “I have a bad feeling about that meeting.”

“Why?” I say. “I mean, I do too, Sparrow. But you tell me why and then I’ll tell you.”

“Come on,” she says, grabbing me by the wrist. “Let’s talk in my office. Sarah?” she calls to the redhead girl at the cash register. “Can you cover me for ten?”

Neither of us wait to see what Sarah says. We jog up the stairs to the higher floors in the old, historic building, and stay silent until we’re inside Sparrow’s makeshift office with the door closed.

“What’s going on?” I ask, once that’s done.

“Look, I don’t know anything for sure, but something weird is happening. The night before my parents left for Disney, Ford and Ash came over and there was a big hush-hush meeting”—she does air-quotes for that word—“and they all disappeared into my dad’s office for like two hours.”

“Hmm,” I say. “Were my parents there?”

“Nope,” Sparrow says. “But they came by the next day and there was pretty much a repeat of the whole thing. I didn’t suspect anything, ya know? Why should I? Nothing has ever really happened. And to be honest, when my mom and dad sat me down and explained the whole thing to me before I left for college… well, I kinda didn’t believe them. Remember?”

“I do,” I say. She called me up. I was home for the summer that year.

“You had to talk me into it. Well, fine. My parents are criminals. Great. OK. I got over it. But again, two years go by and absolutely nothing happens. So I just drop it. Haven’t thought about that shit in a long time now. But then Five came, and you came, and everyone is acting weird. Just what the fuck is going on, Rory? It’s freaking me out!”

“I don’t know,” I say. “I didn’t realize anything was up until… Well, Five mentioned something weird about a meeting in Denver, but he gave me no specifics.”

“Don’t you think we earned those specifics?” Sparrow asks. “Where is he? I’ll ask him myself. We’re a team, remember? He can’t just keep shit from us, ya know?”