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Once Gabriel and I were dressed, I kept the book bag with me to carry the notebook and we left to go back to Nathan’s house.
When we arrived, the front door was hanging open.
Gabriel put himself ahead of me, peeking around the corner and looking in.
Voices came from the living room. First it was just Victor. It was followed by North.
Uh oh.
I urged Gabriel in before North had too long to get upset by anything that Victor told him. Gabriel shut the front door first before going in further.
North was standing near the coffee table. Victor and Silas were sitting on the couch.
Dr. Green was by the back door, looking out toward the pool.
The moment we crossed the threshold, North picked up his head, his face contorted with rage suddenly became confused.
I wanted to go to him, but resisted. I simply stood by, swallowing quietly and waiting.
The others stood, looking at me.
Gabriel came up behind me and put an arm around me and a hand on my shoulder. He squeezed me to him gently. “Is Nathan here?”
North looked back at the others before returning his dark eyes to me and answering. “He’s gone. He took off in Kota’s car.”
I pressed my lips hard together and looked down. I shouldn’t have waited. I needed to but he needed me more. “Tell me we can track him?” I croaked out.
Footsteps behind us at the door shook us all out of our glum state, aware, cautious.
Luke came in, followed by Kota.
With Mr. Blackbourne coming in behind them. No tie. No coat. The collar of his shirt undone.
My body shook without prompting. They were all here. They all knew.
Mr. Blackbourne took one look at me, and he nudged Kota and Luke out of his way.
I stood still, ready.
Gabriel moved aside and Mr. Blackbourne picked up my chin, holding it steady.
I looked at him with blurry eyes. “We have to find him,” I said as steady as I could.
With a determination, his eyes turned into sharp steel. He kept his gaze on me but he spoke to the others. “We will. Won’t we?”
“Drag him back by his ears if I have to,” North said.
Mr. Blackbourne spoke, “And we’re not going to have a discussion about him going to Lily before.” He released me to look over my head at the others. “And we’re not going to blame him for what happened here.”
“We’re not going to blame him,” I said, before anyone else could say anything. When I looked around, the others seemed to agree with me. Resolute expressions all around.
“It’s likely he’s just driving without a place in mind,” Mr. Blackbourne said, moving away from me. He pulled his phone out and started checking at maps. “He’d return when he calmed down. But I still want an organized search.”
Mr. Blackbourne went over the major roads, starting from Summerville and going inward into Charleston. He pointed out likely spots he might stop along the way. Connections with the police department were open, just in case of an accident.
The idea he could get into an accident after all of this scared me. If Nathan was very upset, would he crash?
Just a precaution, I tried to tell myself. But I was terrified he thought to do this.
Kota lingered with me while the others got to work planning routes.
I reached for his hand, holding it. “Do you know anywhere he might have gone?”
“Before, I would have said to you,” he said, frowning. He turned to me. His glasses were a little dirty around the edges. His eyes had dark circles. He squeezed my hand back. “Or he might go to one of our houses. But after this...”
And we were in his home, a place he should have been able to retreat to. Only he didn’t come here.
“Someone should wait for him here,” I said.
“I will,” Kota said.
My lips twitched. I wanted to say more. To thank him for staying behind. I didn’t think I could sit in the house and wait.
Within minutes, I was out in Mr. Blackbourne’s car, but with Victor’s plate on the back. Victor drove, with Luke in the back. They’d given me a pack: bottle of water, chips, bottle of coffee, a banana. Food for the road so we didn’t have to stop.
The others had split up in various cars. We were to take the highway and check the off ramps and the gas stations along the way.
Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green took another main road in Dr. Green’s car, taking Gabriel to get stitched before continuing on. Silas and North took the black SUV through county roads and rural areas around the city.
I sat up front next to Victor, the food in my lap untouched. My stomach was twisted too hard to eat.
The route Victor took seemed to take forever. Stopping at every exit to check the gas stations, combing the streets. I sent texts constantly to Kota, to North and the others.
Did you find him yet?
Any word?
Where is he?
I hovered over my cell phone. Luke hung over the back of my seat.
“He’ll show up,” Luke said. “He’s just upset.”
“We’re all upset,” Victor said. “But he’s right, Sang. Don’t worry. He’ll come back.”
I swallowed thickly, looking out the window. I wanted to believe them.
It was the last moment I saw him, the anguish in his face. I couldn’t get rid of that memory. It was stronger than the memory of Danielle and him now.
I’d screamed at him. I meant for him to stay. Only he ran.
I scared him.
If he got into a wreck, it’d be my fault.
Luke reached around, rubbing my shoulders and massaging. He did it quietly, and while I appreciate it, my mind was still deep in wondering where Nathan had gone.
Victor’s phone rang. He looked at it once and then hit a button to silence it, leaving it in the dash. “My parents. They need to wait.”
“What would they want now?” Luke asked.
“Who knows,” Victor said. He waved off the phone, looking over at me. “This is more important.”
Luke sighed, releasing me to sit back in his seat. “We need the house, Victor. We need to be out. So we don’t have to slow down for your parents.”
Victor breathed in through his nose and then out of his mouth. “Yeah. And...I’ve looked at some options. It’ll take time, but after all this, I think they’ll all see how badly we need this. We just need to pick a spot.”
I was looking out the wide window as Victor rolled to a stop for a red light. We’d just pulled off the highway again. “We need to be careful. Because of Volto.”
“I don’t want to wait on Volto,” Luke said.
“Me, either,” Victor said. He reached over to me and took my hand. “We can’t wait.”
They were right. After last night, his warning, he showed he could get away with what he wanted. He’d lie. He’d terrify us. He’d try to kill Nathan. He had to be stopped.
“What did Danielle and Marie end up saying, anyway?” Luke asked. “Did they actually have info?”
Victor coughed and then squeezed my hand. “I made them tell me what they were holding back after the pictures. Danielle didn’t want to, not until I took her phone and threatened to post everything to the internet if she didn’t comply.”
My eyes widened. “You did that?”
He smirked and shrugged. “I could still do it. After I delete all the photos she took of Nathan and her together. Which reminds me. Next stop, I want to get that done.”
Luke nudged him in the shoulder. “But what did she say? About Sang?”
“She didn’t know the name. She only knew where they could find it. Marie said there might be information somewhere in the house, but she remembered finding an old book with a photo. An old sepia tone photo or something that had your dad standing next to someone else. Not your mom, not your grandmother. Someone younger.”
“Where is this photo?” Luke asked.
“She hasn’t seen it in years,” Victor said. “But she remembered there was something written on the back. She thought it was a name.”
I hadn’t run into any photos like that. We had very few photos in the house at all. “I wonder if it is in all that junk in the shed. Or maybe my dad has it.”
“Sounds like something their family would keep secret,” Luke said. “I’m surprised it wasn’t destroyed.”
Victor nodded, and then his phone on the dash vibrated. He checked it again. He groaned and threw it back. “My mom. Ignore it.”
“Maybe you should answer so she’ll stop calling,” Luke said.
Victor seemed to think about it and did. He stayed on the phone as he drove.
I was sort of grateful for it. It left me room to think, but I had to put it all aside for now.
I’d deal with it later. Nathan was more important.
He was who mattered now.
I’d give the information back and forget it forever, if I could just make everything okay again.