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“You’re not stupid,” I corrected. “It’s just like the waves. Take a breath and swim through it.”
She nodded, then said. “He’ll either be in my maroon Toyota or Mom’s black Hyundai. It’s an SUV, and she has her toll pass in the front window.”
“That’s my girl,” I said, searching out the front windshield for either of those makes or models. It was hard on the highway with it being so dark outside, but it got easier in the well-lit streets of our neighborhood. April kept her face pressed to the window, her skin looking pale against the dash lights and streetlights pouring through.
My phone went off loudly, along with April’s. “What is it?” I asked.
She held the phone up, her voice shaky as she said, “Missing person alert. Man missing in a maroon Toyota Camry. Thirty-six years old. Six-four, brown eyes, brown hair. May be aggravated and confused.”
Each word made my stomach turn.
When we got to her house, she jumped out of my car without a word, hurrying to her front door, and I followed her inside, needing to know that everything would be okay.
Her mom met us in the living room, holding both of April’s arms. “I still don’t have any new information, but they put out a missing person alert for him. Hopefully they’ll be able to find him before something bad happens.”
April’s voice was steady, reassuring to her mom. “They’ll find him, Mom. It’ll be okay.”
Her mom nodded, taking a deep breath, and then her eyes flicked toward me. “You must be Diego. I’m Grace. I’m so sorry to ruin your night.”
So this was where April got it—the thoughtfulness. “My night’s not ruined. I just hope we can find him. Do you want me to drive around the neighborhood?”
“Can you stay here with April so she’s not alone?” Grace said. “I’ll go out and see if I can find him at the gas station or somewhere close. Call me if he comes back.”
There was worry in April’s eyes, but I said, “Of course.”
April nodded. “Be safe, Mom.”
When Grace walked out the door, April said, “I’m going upstairs to change real fast. I’ll be right back.”
I nodded. “I’ll be here.” I sat on the couch for emphasis.
Her smile left just as quickly as it came before she turned and went up the stairs. While she was gone, I glanced around the living room, seeing this piece of her for the first time.
There weren’t many decorations on the walls, but there was a big picture of April with her parents above the mantel, no glass in the frame. She looked younger here, maybe twelve or thirteen. Her mom looked younger too, less lines in her face. The man, her dad, had a strong face, square jaw, broad shoulders. He was a wall of a man between April and Grace, with kind brown eyes and a short brown beard.
“That was right before Dad was deployed,” April said.
I nearly jumped, not having heard her come down the stairs. But now she walked toward the photo, leggings hugging her curves and a big Army T-shirt hanging from her frame.
“Dad had been gone just a few months before he got injured. That’s the last photo of the three of us before...” She let the words hang between us, because we both knew what she meant.
The last photo before their lives changed forever.
“Where do you think he is?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Sometimes I think he forgets he’s injured, or he thinks he should just be able to go do what he wants. Usually, Mom can talk him out of it, but something must have happened tonight.”
I hated to see the concern in her eyes. “I can tell how much you love him.”
“I do,” she breathed. “Sometimes I feel guilty for wishing things were different.”
It was the closest she’d ever let me in, and I could see the vulnerability in her posture, in the water falling from her eyes.
“Of course you do,” I said softly, standing to put a hand on her back.
She stood still for less than a second before stepping away. “You don’t have to stay here,” she said. “You can go home if you want to. Maybe catch an after-party with Xander and Terrell.”
I shook my head. “Did you hear your mom? She asked me to stay here with you.”
