Listen

“I was with Sha

“No,” Sha

“Gabby Caldwell,” Frank said. Maybe repeating her name would help Zoey find her humanity. “That’s her name. Gabby.”

“I know who she is,” Sha

Murray said, “Let’s all sit down and discuss this.”

Sha

Zoey stared at the carpet.

“Zoey?” her mother said. “Don’t be rude.”

“Look,” Murray said, “we’ll tell you what we do know, all right? Gabby thought she was being invited to a party. She snuck out of her house, joined up with a girl named Caydance Sanders. You know Caydance, correct?”

“Of course she knows Caydance. They’re best friends.”

“But Gabby wasn’t being invited to a party, was she, Zoey? Caydance took her out to the rest stop, tied her to a tree, and left her there.”

“We know Caydance Sanders! She would never do something like that!”

“Ma’am, she admitted that to us forty minutes ago. She told us the entire plan.”

“Plan?” Sha

“Zoey, tell us how you were involved in all of this,” Murray said.

“She was not involved in this!” Sha

Frank looked at Murray, then closed his eyes and shook his head. “Wow.”

“What?” Sha

“That’s why you didn’t go untie her, right, Zoey?” Frank asked.

Even Sha

“Zoey?” Frank asked again.

Sha

“Not quite,” Murray said. “The plan was to leave her out there for ten minutes, right, Zoey? Caydance took her out there, tied her up, and you were supposed to come untie her. What then? Were you going to leave her out there in her skivvies to hitchhike back home?”

“This is ridiculous! Ridiculous!” Sha

Finally Zoey unwrapped her arms and stared at Frank. “It’s not my fault. I tried to explain to my parents I had somewhere important to be, and they didn’t care. They grounded me, and I couldn’t even call. It’s not my fault!” Her glare turned to her mother, then back down to the carpet.

Sha

Sha

Frank cut her off. “Did Zoey tell you that someone’s life was in danger or indicate in any way that she needed to go help Gabby?”

Sha

“Did she ever mention Gabby specifically?”

Sha

“And you knew your daughter was home all night?”

“Yes, of course. I checked on her at about eleven and she was asleep.” At the word asleep, Sha

Frank tried not to react, but they all knew how cold this was coming across.

“I think we need a lawyer,” Sha

Zoey watched her mom, then looked at Frank. “So Caydance told you all this, huh? The little rat.”

“Caydance admitted to it but didn’t come to us. Someone else gave us a tip that led us to save Gabby. If that wouldn’t have happened, Gabby would be dead right now.”

“Whatever.” Zoey sighed.

“Shut up!” Sha

Frank got up, not sure what was about to happen next. “Ma’am, please. Just calm down. Yelling is not going to solve anything.”

“Weird,” Zoey quipped. “That’s what she’s always saying.”

Sha

“Not anymore, ma’am. Your daughter confessed.”

Frank turned to find Kay in this madness, but the front door was wide open and she was gone.

20

Kay swerved into her driveway, her tires peeling rubber against the concrete. She grabbed the keys out of the ignition and threw the door open. She didn’t bother closing it as she ran to the front door, the quickest way into the house. It was locked. Her hands shook as she tried to insert the key. Four attempts later, it slid in and she swung the door open. Punching in the alarm code, she hurried to the kitchen.

Kay dropped the keys on the counter, trying to catch her breath.

Je

Kay shook her head, but no words would come out. She tried to compose herself, taking deep breaths.

Je

Kay took one final deep breath. Her hands were still shaking, but she couldn’t help that at the moment. She tried a calm, motherly smile as she slid onto the barstool next to her daughter. “Honey…” Her eyes stung with tears, and she knew Je

“Gabby’s safe, remember? Everything’s okay.”

“No, everything is not okay. I need to tell you that… I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Je

“I understand now.”

“Understand?”

“Caydance, Zoey… they are horrible, horrible girls.”

What had earlier been an uninterested expression vanished. A bundle of new expressions flashed over Je

“I sat there and told you that you should try to be friends with these girls. You tried to tell me, and I didn’t listen to you. I didn’t. All I could see was what I wanted for you.” Kay wiped the tears that had dripped down her own cheeks. She looked directly into Je

Je

Kay gripped her as tightly as she could, held her, wishing she could swaddle her and rock her and sing to her like she used to. Instead, she stroked the back of her head over and over, rocking her body back and forth just a little. Je

Frank spotted him immediately and trekked through the middle of the park until he reached the bench that his friend sat on. Damien didn’t even look over as Frank plopped himself down, his belt and all its contents rattling against the cold wood.

“Hey,” Damien said. He looked like he was staring at clouds.

“Hey.”

Damien sighed and finally glanced at him. “Busy morning?”

“We caught the suspects in the kidnapping.”