“What now?” Katharine asked.
“That depends on Mary Bliss,” Matt said. “I think she should bring in the police. They can do more than we can. You’ve got Erin’s license plate number—they can put out an alert on that. They can try to find Brownlee down in Panama City.”
“No,” Mary Bliss said adamantly. “No police. Erin’s not a criminal. She’s already in trouble. She’d be terrified if the cops stopped her. There’s no telling what she’d do.”
Mary Bliss walked quickly to the living room and looked out the window. Randy Bowden’s car was in the driveway. It was past eleven, but there were still lights on.
“I’m going over to the Bowdens’ to talk to Josh,” Mary Bliss called over her shoulder. She was out the door and across the street before her own front door had closed.
She walked around to the back of the house and knocked on the kitchen door. She could see Josh through the glass. He was standing with his back to the counter, eating a huge slab of pizza. She rapped sharply on the glass.
“Josh! I need to talk to you.”
He rolled his eyes, put down the pizza, and let her in.
“What’s up, Mrs. Mac?” he asked.
“You know what’s up. Erin’s run away. I found her cell phone. The one Coach Brownlee gave her. I know all about them, Josh. Is that where she’s gone? Is she with Coach Brownlee?”
Josh squirmed and looked around the room. Just then, Randy walked in.
“I thought I heard voices,” he said. “Did you find Erin?”
“No,” Mary Bliss said. “I was just asking Josh to be straight and tell me what he knows.”
“He told you everything he knows this morning,” Randy said, sounding annoyed. “Didn’t you, Josh?”
Josh squirmed again. He picked at the cheese topping on the pizza.
“Didn’t you, son?” Randy repeated, his voice stern.
“Is she pregnant?” Mary Bliss asked.
Josh blushed. “She thought she might be. But it was a false alarm.” He still wouldn’t meet her eye.
Randy clapped a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Josh! What the hell are you talking about? Who got Erin pregnant? Was it you?”
“No, sir,” Josh said, his face sullen. “It wasn’t me. I told you that.”
“She’s been sleeping with Isaac Brownlee. Her soccer coach up at the high school,” Mary Bliss said. “I imagine Josh was the only one who knew about it.”
“Is that true?” Randy was incredulous.
“Yessir,” Josh said. “I told her it was a bad idea. But she says she’s in love with him, and he’s in love with her. Ha!”
“Where did Erin go when she left last night?” Mary Bliss asked. “She didn’t take the cell phone. She had her car and a little money her grandmother gave her. Have you talked to her at all?”
Josh’s face was getting red. He looked up at Mary Bliss. “You lied to her,” he said, furious. “How could you tell her he was dead? How could you? What the hell kind of bitch are you?”
“Josh!” Randy said.
“Ask her, Dad,” Josh said. “See if she’ll tell the truth now. I bet she won’t. She’s as big a liar as Mom. She told Erin, she told me, she told everybody Mr. Mac was dead. It was all a big, stinking lie.”
“Mary Bliss?” Randy looked from his son to her. “Is he making this up? Is Parker alive? Are you really capable of something like that?”
“You have no idea what I’m capable of,” Mary Bliss said, a threat implied in her voice. “Josh. Tell me where Erin has gone. I know you know. Is she with Coach Brownlee?”
“That prick?” Josh said, contempt dripping from his voice. “Hell, no. He left town. Erin told him she was late. That she might be pregnant. He didn’t care. He and his wife went down to Panama City. He doesn’t give a shit about Erin.”
“Then where?” Mary Bliss said. “Where did she go?”
“Key West,” he said finally. “To see her dad. She came by here last night. She needed money. I couldn’t leave my brothers alone, so I gave her my ATM card. She took fifty dollars. It’s all I had.”
“Where in Key West?” Mary Bliss asked. “What makes her think Parker is down there?”
“He is,” Josh said. “She talked to him.”
“When? Where is he? Does she know for certain?”
“He’s somewhere in the Keys. He calls her from different phone booths. On her cell phone. She tried calling him back, but he never answered.”
“When did this start?” Mary Bliss demanded. “When did she first hear from Parker?”
“Like, last week, I think. When she thought she was pregnant. She told her grandmother she was in trouble. I think Mr. Mac calls the old lady sometimes. Erin gave Meemaw her cell phone number, and he called her, like, earlier in the week. But he made her swear not to tell anybody. Especially you.”
“She told you,” Mary Bliss pointed out.
“I’m her best friend,” Josh said. “The only one she trusts.”
“God,” Randy said disgustedly.
Mary Bliss kept on ignoring him. “Does Parker know Erin is coming down there? How does she plan to find him?”
“I told her, it’s a big place down there. You don’t even know where he is. Or if he’ll help you. She didn’t care. She was outta here.”
“She hardly has any money,” Mary Bliss fretted. “Maybe a hundred bucks. That won’t even cover gas and food.”
Josh laughed bitterly. “She’ll be okay. She took your Visa card. Last week. You know, when she thought she was pregnant. I think she was maybe planning this all along. Even before you guys had that fight last night.”
“My Visa? It’s no good,” Mary Bliss cried. “It’s two months in arrears. If she tries to use it, they’ll take it away and cut it up.”
Josh shook his head. “Man. I thought my mom was fucked up.”
“Josh!” Randy warned.
“Has she called you at all?” Mary Bliss asked.
He shook his head. “I was at work all day. Just got home. Anyway, she doesn’t have her cell phone with her, right?”
“That’s right,” Mary Bliss said. She’d made up her mind. “Listen, Josh,” she said. “I know you hate me right now. But I need a favor. For Erin. I’m going after her. Tonight. To Key West. Can you stay over at my house tonight? And bring your cell phone, all right? In case she tries to call you that way. If she calls, try to get her to tell you exactly where she is. Tell her I’m sorry. Really, really sorry. Make sure she stays right where she’s at. Then call me. On her cell phone. I’ll have it with me the whole time. All right? Can you do that?”
Josh looked away, still angry at her.
“He’ll do it,” Randy said.
Mary Bliss put both hands on Josh’s shoulders. He tried to twist away from her, but she held on tight. “Promise me, Josh. Erin could be in a lot of trouble. Anything could happen to her. I mean it. Promise me you’ll help me find her.”
“Whatever,” he mumbled.
“What can I do?” Randy asked. “Shall I go with you?”
“I’m fine,” Mary Bliss said reflexively. “But thanks.”
She ran back across the street. Matt was talking on the kitchen phone. He put his hand on the receiver. “Did the kid talk? What did you find out?”
“It’s like you thought. Erin’s gone to Key West to find Parker. I’m going after her.”
Mary Bliss ran upstairs to her bedroom, with Katharine not far behind. She got an overnight bag out of the closet and threw in a change of clothes and a toothbrush. She hesitated a minute, then went into Erin’s room and got a change of clothes for her daughter and added it to the bag.
“Just like this?” Katharine asked. “You’re going to take off in the middle of the night?”
“Yes,” Mary Bliss said. “Don’t try to talk me out of it.”
“I won’t,” Katharine said. “Do you have any cash?”
“No,” Mary Bliss admitted. “Maybe five bucks. And my credit cards are useless.”
“I’ve got cash at the house,” Katharine said. “Maybe five hundred bucks. You can follow me home and get it. Take my American Express card too. I’d go with you, but I don’t want to leave Charlie home alone this soon.”
“I’ll be fine by myself,” Mary Bliss assured her. “But the money will help. Thanks. You really are the best.”
“Don’t try to drive all night,” Katharine warned her. “Stop at a hotel. Not some fleabag either. Do you have any kind of a plan?”
“Yeah, do you have a plan?” The women looked up. Matt Hayslip stood in the door. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on driving to Key West tonight.”
“That’s just what I’m planning,” Mary Bliss said.
“You can’t go off half-cocked like this,” Matt said. “Let me do some legwork. I’ve put in a call to the sheriff’s office, asked them to put out an APB on that Range Rover of Parker’s. They’re going to send patrols by that phone booth on Duval Street. If Parker’s down there, they’ll find him. And they’ll find Erin too.”
Mary Bliss pushed a strand of hair out of her eye. “I told you, I don’t want the police scaring Erin. Why can’t you let me do this my own way?”
“Because you don’t know what you’re doing,” Matt retorted. “You’re scared and you’re panicky, and you’re not thinking things through clearly.”
“I’ve thought it through very clearly,” Mary Bliss said, her teeth gritted. “I’m going over to the nursing home right now. Eula knows where Parker is. She gave Erin his phone number. And now I’m going to go over there and wake her up, and if she doesn’t tell me every damn thing she knows, I swear to God, I’ll twist her head off with my bare hands.”
Katharine gave her a wan smile. “I’d pay money to see that. Come on, then, let’s get your cash and get you going.”
Matt shook his head in disbelief. “You’re just going to let her go like that? Alone?”
Katharine was already out the door, tagging after Mary Bliss. “You don’t know Mary Bliss very well, do you? Nobody lets that girl do anything.”
“At least let me go with you,” Matt called, hurrying down the stairs after the women. “It’s eight hundred miles to Key West. That’s a sixteen-hour drive, Mary Bliss. We’ll get there quicker with two drivers.”
“No way,” Mary Bliss said. “You just want Parker. So you can get your client’s money back. This isn’t about Parker anymore. It’s about my child. And me. And if she sees you, she’ll take off running in the opposite direction.”
Mary Bliss hefted her overnight bag onto her shoulder. “I appreciate everything you’ve done, Matt. Really. But I’ve got to do this alone.”