Held (Gone #2) (13 page)

He refused to accept the requests, even if it made him look like a jerk. He didn't know any of those people and if they were really interested in Macy, they would just follow his blog. That's where he put everything that he wanted people to know, not on social media. He went to the folder where he kept his copy and paste letters, copied the friend-denial message and pasted it to all twelve of them.

He checked his notifications, got caught up on what everyone was doing—not that he really cared at the moment, but it was a good distraction from what was bothering him. If he couldn't work, then what? His blog made enough to keep Alyssa home, but not him. If he worked at it full time, he would probably be able to pull in enough to keep them both home, but it would take some time.

Chad went back to his blank blog post. What was he supposed to write about? Detective Fleshman had told them not to talk about the phone because they were still processing it. What did it matter, though? It had already been all over the news.

What did the phone even mean? They already knew her clothes had been found covered in her blood. Could the phone tell them anything they didn't already know? If they could get some information out of it, they might be able to find out who she had been calling. Maybe they would even find fingerprints. Or would it have been wiped clean?

He wanted answers, but when it came to the police department, it would take longer than he wanted. They simply weren't able to process things any faster than they were.

Chad got up and went to the kitchen for some coffee. Yesterday's still sat in the pot. For a moment he considered warming some up, but ended up rinsing it out and making a fresh batch. Alyssa would probably want some too. He doubted she had gotten any sleep either.

While the pot brewed, he went upstairs to check on her. He found her in the bonus room, asleep on the couch with the news still going. Why did she do that to herself? He found a blanket and covered her up and then turned off the TV. She stirred and then gave him a confused look.

"What's going on?"

"Just turning the news off. Go back to sleep, Lyss."

"Nothing more about the phone?"

He shook his head.

She looked at the time. "You're not going to work?"

"I'm going to work from home today." He had through next week to use that excuse before he told her that he was out of a job.

"Okay." She closed her eyes again.

Chad went to Alex's room. He was sleeping soundly while his alarm beeped next to him.

"Are you going to get up, Alex?"

"Do I have to?" mumbled Alex.

"You've got school and your alarm is blaring."

"Ugh." Alex pulled his pillow from under his head and put it over his face.

Chad pulled the pillow away from him. "Get up. Want me to make you some coffee?"

Alex shot him a dirty look and then turned his alarm off. "Can't I just sleep in? Why do I have to keep going to school?"

"Does repeating the eighth grade sound like fun?"

Alex sat up and grabbed the pillow from Chad. "My sister is missing and I'm going to be a dad at fourteen. Does it matter if I learn about adverbs?"

Chad sat next to Alex. "We have a lot to figure out about the baby. In fact, it's so early in the game that we don't know if it will last. Do you know how many pregnancies end in miscarriage early on?"

"You're a jerk."

"I'll ignore that. I'm being realistic. Your mom practically lived in fear until she hit a certain point. And even if Zoey does end up having it, wouldn't you two give it up for adoption? Give the baby the best chance possible. There are lots of nice couples who can't have kids, Alex."

"That doesn't change anything. I'll still be a dad. The baby will still be mine even if someone else raises him."

Chad took a deep breath. "All I'm trying to say is that skipping school isn't going to help you. Getting an education is the best thing you can—"

"No, it's not. That's the lies your generation was told. Look at all the people out there with college debt flipping burgers. My generation doesn't want that.
I
don't want that."

"You're not going into debt in middle school. Where did you hear that, anyway?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "I don't want to have this conversation. Look, I'll go to school so you'll get off my back. Deal?"

"I'm not trying to irritate you. But it's important that you go to school."

"There's such a thing as summer school. Who better to do that than me? No one has a better excuse for missing school."

"You really want to spend your summer in school?"

"Forget it!" Alex got up and grabbed some clothes before storming out of his room.

Chad looked around the empty room and picked some of the mess off the floor, putting things on the chair for Alex to organize later. When he got into the hall, he could hear the shower.

Why was it so hard to get along with Alex these days? Chad thought things would improve after their talk the night they found out about the pregnancy, but it looked like it would take more than that.

Alex and Chad had gotten along so well when Alex was younger. In fact, Alex wouldn't leave him alone for a minute, always wanting his attention. It had been annoying at the time, but looking back, his heart ached. Was it possible to get close again? Or was all lost for the teen years?

The landline rang. Chad sighed. The only people that called that number anymore were solicitors and his in-laws. He went down to the kitchen and checked the caller ID. The police department?

"Hello?"

"Chad, this is Detective Fleshman again."

He hated that they talked with him so much they used his first name. "What is it? Why are you calling this line?"

"We called both of your cell numbers, but neither one was answered."

Chad felt his pocket, but it was empty. "What is it, Detective?"

"We need you and Alyssa to come down to the station."

"Again? I thought everything was squared away with the phone."

"This isn't about the cell phone. There's a possible new clue and we want to talk with you before the news gets a hold of this." The detective's voice was solemn.

Chad leaned against the nearest wall. "What do you mean?"

"Just get down here as soon as possible. The shift change is coming up and I want my team to tell you two."

"I'll wake Alyssa."

"Thank you, Chad."

He hung up and stared at the coffee. Why did the detective sound so serious? He took a deep breath. He needed to calm down before he talked to Alyssa, or he would freak her out. He poured some coffee and drank it black.

Maybe they just needed them go downtown for something routine. He could convince Alyssa of that, but he knew better.

Chad heard footsteps. Alex appeared and glared at him.

"Want me to make you some breakfast?" Chad asked.

"You're a jerk."

"Still?"

"Why'd you go through my stuff?" Alex's eyebrows came together.

"Go through…? I didn't go through anything. I cleared a path to the door."

Alex folded his arms. "Leave me alone." He turned around and ran out the front door.

Chad walked to where he could see outside, and watched Alex walk to the bus stop where a group of kids were already waiting. At least Alex would be at school while he and Alyssa were at the station. He drank the rest of his coffee and headed back to the bonus room. She was still sleeping on the couch. He hated to wake her, but what choice did he have?

Crushed

Alyssa and Chad sat holding hands in the police station waiting room.

"What's taking them so long?" Alyssa asked. She pushed the heel of her boot against the leg of her chair trying to squash the horrible thoughts forcing their way into her mind.

Chad squeezed her hand. "This might be good news."

Had he lost his mind? She gave him a look that told him how she felt.

"Think about it. When they found Macy's clothes they rushed us in, remember? If they're making us wait, it can't be that urgent. It could be good news."

What was wrong with him? Was he just talking to hear himself speak? She gave him an annoyed look.

"Well, so far they haven't found anything indicating that she's come to any harm."

"Yeah, but you know what they say about the first twenty-four hours," Alyssa said.

"I can think of several famous kidnapping cases where kids were found alive months and even years later."

"So you think she was kidnapped now? You don't think she just ran away?"

Chad gave her an exasperated look. "I was just giving you a worst case scenario that turned out well."

"This really isn't the time for worst case statistics. I know which ones you're referring to and they were forced to live as young wives for sick, old men. I can't let myself think about that happening to Macy."

"That didn't happen each time. I'm just—"

"Mr. and Mrs. Mercer."

Officer Reynolds stood by the front desk. He gave them a weak smile and tipped his cap. "We're ready for you two."

Even though Alyssa was still irritated with Chad, she held his hand as they followed Reynolds to a back room. Detective Fleshman and Officer Anderson came into the room as Chad and Alyssa were getting seated.

Chad looked at them. "What's going on? Is it the phone?"

Fleshman shook his head. "We don't know what to make of that, but that's now why we asked you to come down here."

Chad's face clouded over. "Why are we here then?"

Alyssa noticed that the three policemen's faces were solemn. "Is something wrong?"

Anderson nodded and then sat down next to Alyssa. "We needed to see you right away because it's going to be everywhere soon."

"What?" Alyssa demanded. "What is it?"

Looking back and forth at them, Anderson cleared his throat. "A body has been found."

Alyssa gasped. Tears filled her eyes and spilled out. She shook. He had to be lying or wrong, or both.

Reynolds knelt next to her. "No one knows if it's her. The body—we can't identify the face."

Chad stood up, letting go of Alyssa's hand. "What does
that
mean?" He was practically shouting.

Fleshman walked in front of him and spoke in a soothing tone. "The body was found in Clearview. We haven't seen it, but it's coming directly here to rule out it being Macy. Our team will check it against dental records and we'll move on from there."

"But what does that
mean
?" Chad repeated.

Alyssa felt cold, and she couldn't stop shaking. "Wh…when will we know?"

"That's our top priority, but at the same time, we're going to quadruple-check every step of the process. Another thing: just because the body can't be identified by the face that doesn't mean that we can't use other markers. Does she have any identifying marks that would help? Birth marks? Tattoos or piercings?"

Unable to deal with the thought of Macy's
body
, Alyssa put her face into her hands, sobbing. Someone put a hand on her shoulder and she was vaguely aware of Chad speaking.

They had to be wrong—they just had to be. It couldn't be Macy. No. She was safe somewhere, even though they didn't know where.

The air felt like it was crushing Alyssa from all sides. She struggled to breathe. What if it
was
Macy? Was that why they had found next to no clues up until now? She gulped for air, still shaking.

Something touched her back. It was probably Chad's hand, but instead of being a comfort, it felt like he was pushing her further into the suffocating nothingness around her.

Alyssa jumped up, looking around the room. She couldn't focus on anything, barely even aware that she was at the police station. Oxygen was lacking, and she felt light-headed.

The others surrounded her. They appeared to be talking, but she couldn't hear anything over the sounds of her fear. She threw her hands out in front of her.

Was someone screaming?

It was her.

Tears ran down her face, pouring like never before. They ran down her neck, drenching her shirt's collar. Chad's arms wrapped around her, and she fought him.

Alyssa may have still been screaming, but she couldn't tell. She had to get out of there and find Macy. Why hadn't they looked harder?

She wouldn't be able to go on if Macy was…she couldn't even think the word.

Officer Reynolds was inches from her. His mouth was moving, but she still couldn't hear anything. They were wrong—whatever body they found, it wasn't her child. It belonged to someone else.

Her stomach and chest felt like they were going to simultaneously explode and implode. She gave into the weakness overtaking her, and she went limp in Chad's arms.

She was vaguely aware of him readjusting himself, trying to keep hold of her. Soft, rich oxygen filled her lungs and the sounds of talking around her filled her ears. Chad held her tightly, running his hands over her hair.