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“But… I…” Addy’s voice thickened, like she was about to cry. Then she burst into tears, babbling and sobbing on the other end of the line.
“Christ,” Ali muttered. “All right. Come inside. But only for a minute, okay? I really do need to leave soon.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Prescott,” Addy wailed. “I just… I need to talk to someone about Amerie.”
Ali’s voice carried faintly over the sound of his footsteps on the floorboards. “Let me grab you a glass of water,” he said. “Sit down over there.”
More footsteps echoed through the phone, along with Addy’s blubbering.
“I’m so sorry,” she finally said, sniffing loudly. “I feel so stupid. I used to think there was some sort of crazy conspiracy going on with Amerie, because everything about her situation was so… weird. But now I know she was just on drugs the whole time. I… I can’t believe it.”
“It’s all right. None of us had any idea how much she was hiding,” Ali said soothingly. “And I’m sure she probably tried to tell you some crazy stories at some point. But now we know the truth. She’s just a very disturbed young woman.”
“I know.” There was a pause while Addy loudly blew her nose. “The thing is… I know we had a fight recently, and we weren’t really talking anymore. But now that she’s run away, it’s made me realize how much I miss her. I can’t believe she just left like that. No goodbye or anything!”
Addy sounded full-on hysterical now, sobbing between words and blowing what sounded like giant snot bubbles on the tissue or handkerchief Ali had given to her.
“Yes, it’s very hard to deal with. For all of us,” Ali said. He was speaking rapidly, like he wanted to rush her out of the house as soon as possible.
Addy inhaled deeply. “I know you’re busy, and this will sound totally crazy, but would you mind if I went and sat in her bedroom for a while? I think that might make me feel a bit better. With all her stuff there, it’ll make it feel like I’m actually hanging out with her. You know what I mean?”
“I’m sure that would be nice, but I really have t—”
Addy cut off Ali’s negative response by bursting into tears all over again. “I miss her so much,” she blubbered. “Please!”
Ali let out a heavy sigh. “All right. But I really do need to leave now. So how about this?” he said. “I’ll let you stay here, but when you leave, you have to remember to turn the deadlock on the front door so it locks behind you, seeing as you don’t have a key.”
Addy sniffed loudly. “I can do that. Thank you so much, Mr. Prescott.”
“You’re welcome, Addy. Just remember—turn the deadlock.”
Footsteps loudly echoed through the house again. A couple of minutes later, Addy whispered into the phone. “I’m watching him through the curtains,” she said. “He’s driving away now.”
“I can’t believe you actually got him to leave you there alone,” Piper said. “That’s impressive.”
“I know,” Addy said, voice tinged with amusement. “I’ve spent my whole life watching neurotypicals and figuring out their patterns, so I know exactly how you guys emotionally manipulate each other.”
“You need to head upstairs,” Piper said. “Third floor, fourth door on the right.”
More footsteps echoed down the line. “Okay, I’m here. What now?” Addy asked.
“Look at the third row of the shelf that runs along the back wall. Find a dark green book with gold lettering on the spine. It has a little gold rosette on it too,” Piper said. “When you find it, press on it.”
A faint grinding sound came down the phone. “The shelf popped out, and I see a doorway behind it. But it’s locked.”
“Shit.” Piper’s lips thinned. “Um... go to my dad’s safe in the ground floor home office. I think he might have spare keys in there. Don’t worry, I know the code.”
Five minutes later, Addy made it into the safe and slowly went through its contents. “I see jewelry, paperwork, photos… oh! Keys!”
“What do they look like?”
“They’re all attached to a big keyring.”
“Take the whole thing,” Piper said. “Try every key.”
Another couple of minutes passed without any sound apart from footsteps on the floorboards. Then a faint click emanated from the phone, and Addy let out a gleeful squeal. “I’m in!”
“Thank god,” I murmured, shoulders sagging with relief.
