Missing Pieces (13 page)

Chapter 52

Kael’s parents have a small house
with only three bedrooms, but downstairs they have a pool table, air hockey, and a big-screen TV. We put down our sleeping bags and started to play pool.

“I get the winner,” Duncan said as he ran down the stairs. I didn’t even know he was coming, but it was okay.

We played cutthroat pool and a couple of other games before Kael’s mom took us to the video store and to pick up some pizza.

We wandered the aisles looking at movies. One person would suggest a video, and the other two would shoot it down as lame or too much of a girl movie.

We had moved to the action/adventure section when Kael pecked me on the shoulder and pointed. “Isn’t that your sister?”

Leigh stood outside with Randy, talking to a police officer on the sidewalk. The officer pointed to Randy’s truck, and Randy said something. Finally the officer walked away, and Randy and Leigh came inside the store.

Leigh looked surprised—and I think disappointed—to see me. I waved, and Randy smiled that what-are-you-doing-here-little-kid? smile. I told them I was here to find a movie, and they went to the comedy section.

On the way back to Kael’s, Duncan said, “What did that cop want with your sister and her boyfriend?”

I shrugged. But of course I knew.

Chapter 53

I woke up groggy
with something crawling over me. It was Frodo, and his little claws sank into my skin. I yelled for him to stop, but he wouldn’t. I grabbed him, and he was shaking all over. I could feel his little heart beating through his rib cage. Pippin whined at the back of the truck, pressing against the window.

“What is it, boy?” I said.

Hayley was still sound asleep, and it was dark outside.

Then I heard it.

The rev of an engine. Headlights flashed along the side of the truck camper. I fumbled in the dark for Bryce’s camera.

The vehicle sped up and seemed to be heading right for us. The lights got brighter and brighter, and I saw the reflection of something in the corner.
The camera!
I turned it on but everything was fuzzy—the dogs had licked the lens.

I quickly tried to wipe it with my shirt. The lights were close now, and someone whooped. Hayley sat up and screamed, light streaming through her hair.

I pointed the camera just as I heard the sickening sound of our new mailbox leaving this world. I zoomed in on the truck, but my hands were shaking so much that I couldn’t focus. Pippin and Frodo must have thought the world was coming to an end because they cowered.

“What was that?” Hayley said.

“Bryce’s plan worked. But he’s going to kill me for falling asleep.”

Chapter 54

It wasn’t Ashley’s fault
that she missed the action. We tried to watch the tape, but the auto-focus feature didn’t react quickly enough in the darkness. All she got was a mess of motion through a dark, streaky lens and Pippin and Frodo whimpering.

After church Sunday I went with Sam to the hardware store to pick out a new mailbox. I couldn’t believe how big the one was that he picked, and then he also chose a smaller one.

“Which one are you going to get?” I said.

“Both.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see.”

Sam also put a heavy bag of concrete in the cart. I couldn’t imagine what he was going to do.

Back at the house, he had me take a bucket of water and the wheelbarrow to the garage. When I got there, he had the big mailbox on the ground, facing up.

He mixed the concrete in the wheelbarrow, put the smaller mailbox inside the big one, and poured the concrete around it.

Sam is a strong guy, but it took everything he had to wheel his invention out to the street and lift the thing onto the post.

“I don’t get it,” I said.

“The guy swinging the bat will,” Sam said. “It’ll be like trying to smash granite with a toothpick.”

“Okay if I paint another target?” I said.

Sam smiled. “Put one on both sides this time.”

Chapter 55

I was looking at Danielle’s baby picture
Sunday afternoon when Mom walked into my room. “Who’s that?”

The whole story tumbled out like she had opened the door to a stuffed closet.

“Why do you think she hasn’t tried to find Danielle before now?” she said.

“I don’t think she knows where to start.”

“Is Bryce helping with this?”

I nodded and told her about Mr. Cheplosa’s computer program and what we hoped to do with the new photo.

Mom looked at the floor and took a breath. I could tell she was trying to think of what to say that wouldn’t hurt my feelings.

“What?” I said. “You don’t like us investigating this?”

“Ash, I don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm, but don’t get your hopes up, okay? Sometimes people . . . well, sometimes they have a hard time letting go of things.”

“You think Mrs. Garcia is crazy?”

She shook her head. “I’m not saying that. But she’s a mom. And for her to involve you . . .”

“Mom, it was my idea. I went to her.”

She nodded. “Go ahead and help as much as you can, Ashley, but don’t be surprised if this goes nowhere.”

Chapter 56

Mr. Cheplosa wasn’t in his room
when we got to school Monday morning, so Ashley and I went to our lockers, put our lunches away, then returned. His door was still locked.

Ashley told me what Mom had said, and it didn’t surprise me. I’d had the same feelings but didn’t want to tell her.

A few minutes before the first bell Mr. Cheplosa ran up with an armful of papers and books, fumbling for his keys while kids milled around in the hall.

Inside, Ashley pulled the photo from a big envelope.

“That will work fine,” he said. “I’ve got to start class right now, but I’ll have this done by lunch.”