Gone (Gone #1) (23 page)

"Why do you need us to go back downtown? Can't you tell me over the phone? My family has been through enough, wouldn't you agree?"

"I can't deny that, but it's policy."

"You think I care about policies? If you have something important to tell us, either tell us over the phone or drive over here yourselves."

"Mr. Mercer, please. We—"

"I'm not dragging my wife back down there. After what happened last night, I'm sure as hell not leaving the house without my son. He's only thirteen. After everything we've gone through, he'll be lucky if we ever leave him alone again."

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "If you really want us to come to your house, I'll talk with my supervisor. I'll see if we can make an exception."

"I think you probably can." Chad hung up before he said something he would regret. He stuck the phone in his pocket and went upstairs to find Alyssa. When he passed the kitchen, he saw her talking with Lydia.

His stomach twisted in knots. Lydia wouldn't tell Alyssa anything, would she? No. She wouldn't want word to get back to Dean.

Chad looked at Alyssa. "I need to talk to you for a moment."

A look of fear washed over her face. "What's going on? I don't like your tone."

"I got a call from the station."

She got up and grabbed his arm, dragging him up the stairs toward their bedroom. "What do they want? What's going on?"

"They got the results on the blood."

Alyssa stopped. She stared at Chad expectantly.

"I don't know, though I'm assuming it's Macy's. They wouldn't tell me over the phone. Anderson wanted us to go down to the station, but I told him that wasn't going to happen, so they're going to come here."

She leaned against the wall. "Do you really think it's her blood?"

"Who else would it belong to? Those were her clothes, right? If it was someone else's they would have told me over the phone, don't you think?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Keep looking. Keep hoping. It's like I said before: sure it was a lot of blood, but it wasn't enough to k…to do any real damage. I've bled more than that when I've been punched in the nose. Obviously, the clothes were removed because they needed to be replaced. The cops found them by the mall, so she probably bought some new clothes, put them on, and dropped those. This is actually good news."

Alyssa looked at him as though he had lost his mind.

"I'm serious. It means she's probably alive, and not too far away. The clothes weren't found right after she disappeared. It was about a week later. So she has to be nearby." Maybe if he kept talking, he would start to believe the crap coming out of his mouth. "It means we have to canvas the neighborhood even more. Maybe we should even accept an invitation to speak to the press again. We need all the public sympathy we can get. If people hear from us directly, you know, the ones who haven't visited my blog to hear from us there, maybe they'll help us look harder."

She looked a little bit more convinced than she had before.

"You know I'm right, Lyss. Once word gets out about this, people are going to want to hear more. It's the perfect time for us to get in front of the cameras and beg for people to help us find Macy."

"I think you're right."

Chad gave her a double-take. "What?"

"I know. You think you'll never hear that again, but you're right. This is probably good news. It gives us hope. She's probably not too far away. Maybe she'll even see the news. If she's hiding somewhere, mad at us for something, maybe seeing us on TV will be enough to bring our baby home."

He nodded, trying not to seem surprised that she had bought his load of horse manure.

"This is actually a good thing. My parents are still planning on coming Monday, so they'll be able to help us out. This is perfect. Everything is coming together."

"All we need is Macy."

Alyssa sighed. "That's all we need. Maybe if us speaking to the cameras isn't enough to bring her home, maybe my parents would do it."

"That's good. Should we tell Alex what's going on? He should know."

Alyssa nodded. "He should."

Chad rubbed his eyes. He wasn't used to Alyssa agreeing with him so much. He went to Alex's door and knocked. He could hear a noise behind the door. It sounded like something heavy falling onto the ground, followed by some rustling noises. "You in there, Alex?"

"Yeah. Come in."

He opened the door. Alex was sitting up in his bed, not wearing a shirt. "Where's your shirt and why are you sweaty?"

"I'm tired. I haven't slept in, like, a week. This is how I sleep now. What's with all the questions?"

There was a rustling noise at the other end of the bedroom.

"What was that?" Chad asked.

"Uh…um, I was playing with Macy's ferret. Yeah, that's it. He looked lonely."

Chad raised an eyebrow. "Don't let that thing get lost. Anyway, the police are on their way over with news about Macy's clothes. Did you want to be there to hear it? They didn't think you should be, but Mom and I wanted to ask you what you want. She's your sister, and if you want to hear the news when we do, you can."

The color drained from his face. "Is it going to be bad?"

"We don't know. But Mom and I think even if it is Macy's blood, it's good news." He repeated his stupid theory to Alex, who also seemed to buy it. "So, we'll see you downstairs?"

Alex nodded.

Alyssa moved next to Chad. "Well, we'd better tell Zoey. She'll probably want to be there, too."

"No!" Color drained from Alex's face. "I mean, I'll tell her. You guys do…whatever it is you have to do. I'll get her and then we'll meet you guys downstairs."

Chad raised an eyebrow. "All right. We'll see you guys down there. Don't forget to put the ferret back in the cage."

Alex sighed. "Yeah, okay."

Chad closed the door and walked downstairs with Alyssa.

Despite everything, the smell of the lasagna made his mouth water. He wasn't sure what Lydia put into it, but hers was the best there was.

"Do you think Alex was acting strange?" Alyssa asked.

"He's thirteen. I'd be more worried if he wasn't acting weird."

"I suppose. Well, I'll let Lydia know what's going on. I'm not sure how much time is left until the food's ready, but it smells so good, it must be close."

Chad nodded. He went into the living room and saw the police cruiser pull up across the street. Now there were two cop cars sitting in front of their house. He stuffed his tools in a corner behind a chair and then opened the front door before they even had a chance to knock.

Chad exchanged greetings with the police, and they all sat down in the living room. Alyssa joined them, and Alex came down with Zoey a minute later.

The news had been what they all expected. The blood was Macy's, and even the cops agreed it wasn't a fatal amount. There was still plenty of reason to keep hope alive.

Even so, it felt like someone had punched Chad in the side of the head. He had known those would be the results, but hearing it out loud brought the truth to a whole new level. He looked over at Alyssa, who was staring out the window with tears shining in her eyes. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

She started sobbing, shaking almost violently in his arms. "We'll find her," he whispered. "This is good news, remember?" He wasn't sure if he bought it any more than he had earlier, but he had to hold onto the hope that she was still alive. He had to.

Crushed

Macy barely had enough time to get ready before Chester's parents returned. They kept her busy walking around the farm, having her help with the chores. Every move she made hurt; she couldn't walk without the sores rubbing against her clothes.

She smiled through the pain so they wouldn't know anything was wrong. One wrong move, and she would go back into the dungeon. She might not get out if there was a next time.

The sores were so painful she had no chance of a getaway. Her joints still ached from being forced into one position for days. Even if she didn't have to worry about Chester running after her, it would hurt too much to get far.

After pouring some feed for the pigs, Macy sat down to rest. Tears stung at her eyes. She forced a smile. That's what Heather would do.

Ingrid walked by a minute later and stopped. "Heather, why does your dad insist on so many road trips? Three days this time. What did you two do for three days?" Ingrid patted Macy's shoulders. "And how did you manage to fall down two flights of stairs? Those bruises look so painful."

"Just clumsy, I guess."

Ingrid shook her head. "I'm sure you were distracted. I can't imagine how hard everything is for you. What with your mom being gone, he shouldn't drag you around, forcing you to stay in a car for days on end."

Macy looked into her eyes. She opened her mouth to say she wasn't Heather, but images of the cellar flooded her mind. She just shrugged.

George came over. "Tired? Poor girl. Does being around the animals help? It always did when you were little."

"Yeah, sure."

"We should tell Chester to take a road trip on his own," Ingrid said. "We can watch Heather. It would do her a world of good, especially since she has to deal with the divorce. It's too much."

"You know how he is," George said. "Remember that one kid picked on him every day?"

Macy looked up, suddenly interested.

"Juan, wasn't it?" Ingrid asked. "He was always envious of Chester."

"I don't know about that, but they were always fighting," George said. "Seems Chester came home beat up nearly every day for a while, but he just kept going back to school. When times are tough, he won't let anything stop him. Now he's forcing Heather to push through."

"He's a stubborn one. Seems those teachers should have done more for him." Ingrid shook her head. "They were old-school, even for that time. Boys will be boys, they told me every time I complained."

"The teachers practically encouraged the other kids to make fun of him. That's what Chester always said."

Ingrid patted Macy's arm. "We're upsetting Heather. Let's talk about something more cheery. Would you like your dad to take a vacation while you stay here?"

Macy's eyes lit up. "Yes, please."

George picked up a pitchfork that was lying on the ground and leaned against the wall. "I should convince him to go back to Paris. He needs to try harder to get Karla back. Heather is her life. Why would she throw everything away? And why wouldn't Chester fight for her?"

Ingrid cleared her throat. "We ought to let Heather get some rest."

When Macy finally made it to her bedroom, she was so tired that she climbed into bed without putting on pajamas.

Aside from being physically wiped out, she was mentally tired from pretending to be someone else. But the last thing she wanted was to go back to the horrible room under the barn again, so she kept up the facade. Spending time with the animals in the barn was a painful reminder of where she would go again if she didn't do exactly what Chester wanted.

Her mom was off in Paris, sowing her wild oats. Her dad was the deranged lunatic who had nearly left her to die just to prove a point. The kind elderly couple were her grandparents. The farm was her home, and she had no friends aside from the animals. This was her life.

When she looked into the eyes of the animals, they almost seemed to know that she was unhappy. She could plaster on a smile for George and Ingrid, but there was no fooling the large, brown eyes of the cows and horses. When she was near them, they stared at her as though staring into the depths of her soul. Macy had felt understood each time she made eye contact with them. They knew her secret somehow, and they were going to keep it safe.

She moved aside the pillow to pick up her teddy, but it wasn't where she had left it. Dread washed over her. Even though she was fifteen, she needed that bear. She had slept the previous night with it in her face the whole time.

Macy picked up the pillow, lifting it over her head. Nothing. She put it back and looked around on the floor. It could have fallen off, even though she had been careful to leave it right next to the pillow that morning. She wanted to keep it safe, comfortable even. Obviously, it was a toy, but it was more than that.

Not caring about her sores, she crawled around on the floor, looking for where the bear could have gone. It wasn't under the bed or the dresser. It was nowhere.

She had to get it. She picked up the covers from the perfectly made bed. Chester made her keep the room pristine, so she would have seen a lump if it was there, but she had to look anyway. She moved to the closet, searching for it in there.

After she had looked everywhere three times, she threw herself onto the bed and sobbed into the pillow. It was gone. Chester had to have taken it. Was it another cruel way for him to control her? Had he given it to her just to give her hope so that he could take it away, crushing her yet again? Trying to confuse her as to her own identity?

Could he be any worse? He wanted her to accept him as her dad, yet he acted like the world's biggest jerk. Hadn't he ever heard of winning people over by being nice?