Fear

Zoey watched as the kids piled out of the doors. She’d spent the whole morning parked across from the middle school. Sure, there was a cop car outside, but they couldn’t see everything. 

She’d camped out on the other side of the school, and now that it was lunchtime, kids were outside eating. 

Zoey scanned the mass of kids for Ariana. It was too hard to tell from across the street. Part of her wanted to get out and take a closer look. Who was she trying to kid? What she really wanted was to keep Ariana home, where she would be safe. But her parents were Ari’s legal parents, so Zoey had no real say. They thought she’d be better off at school, so there she was.

Maybe she was staying inside. Ariana had noticed the cop car across the street, so she had to know that more was going on besides Alex being missing. She was a smart girl.

Then Zoey froze. Ariana strolled out of the building, holding hands with Scout. 

Holding hands?

They were also laughing. Zoey craned her neck for a better view. The couple meandered around, greeting other kids but mostly talking to each other. Gazing adoringly into each other’s eyes. Not letting go of their hands.

How could this happen? They were only twelve. 

Zoey took a deep breath as she remembered what she was doing at twelve. Alex hadn’t been much older when the two of them had first started having feelings for each other, and that was what had led to Ariana’s existence. Alex had only been fourteen when she was born. Zoey had been sixteen.

Her stomach twisted and turned. She needed to talk with Ariana, and soon. If she didn’t, Zoey and Alex could be grandparents before they turned thirty.

She narrowed her eyes at Scout. The little predator. 

Zoey’s phone played a peppy tune. She jumped and reached for it on the passenger seat. It was Chad.

If her stomach twisted any further, her intestines would snap apart.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Are you at work?” 

Zoey glanced over at Ari and Scout, now leaning against a large pine tree still holding hands. “No. I took the day off.”

“Can you come over here?” Chad’s voice shook. “There’s news about Alex.”

“What is it?”

“I think it’s best you hear about this in person.”

Zoey turned on the radio and searched for a news station.

“This hasn’t been released. Nick called me, thought we should know.”

“What is it?” Zoey repeated. Everything spun around her. She was afraid to ask if Alex was dead, but it was the only question that sprang to mind.

“Can you come here?”

She sighed in defeat. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” 

Zoey ended the call and started the engine. She took deep breaths, trying to clear her head. If Alex was dead, she didn’t know what she would do.

How would she ever tell Ariana? Could she live through the loss? Would she forgive herself for not telling him her true feelings?

Focus. 

Chad sounded upset, but not breaking-down upset. If his son had been killed, he wouldn’t have kept himself as together as he had. And he probably wouldn’t have been the one to call her with the news.

She glanced over at Ariana and Scout. They were talking with a big group of kids. Still holding hands, but at least they weren’t alone.

Zoey relaxed a little and entered the flow of traffic. 

“Alex is alive.” She repeated that over and over, until she entered into the neighborhood she grew up in, then parked in front of the Mercer’s house.

She closed her eyes and pulled herself together before getting out of the car. 

“Alex, come home,” she begged.

Zoey’s entire body shook. Her purse fell to the pavement. She reached down for it but missed. It took three tries before she grabbed it. 

Whatever news she was about to hear, she was sure it would change everything for the worse. A coldness swept through her. An icy chill that had nothing to do with the cold fall weather.

Somehow she managed to stumble her way to the front door without tripping. Her feet were as heavy as lead weights. The boots may as well have been made of cement.

Chad opened the door before Zoey knocked. “Come in.”

“Is it okay with Alyssa?”

“Don’t worry about her. We’re all stressed about Alex. She’s sleeping, anyway.”

Zoey stepped inside. “What’s the news?”

“Have a seat.”

She swore. “That bad?”

Chad closed the door, then they went over to the couches in the front room. He sat as close as he could on the one across from her and cleared his throat. “They found Alex’s car.”

She stared at him. “What does that mean?”

He squeezed his hands together. “I don’t know, but it’s smashed and covered in blood.”

“Like the shirt.”

Chad nodded. “Right.”

Zoey rubbed her temples. “But still no sign of him?”

“No. We don’t know if any of the blood is his—not on the shirt or the car. But they’re both his.”

Her mind ran wild with horrific images. She finally found her voice. “Are they any closer to finding him?”

“I don’t know. It feels like someone is toying with us.”

Zoey shook, the icy chill overcoming her. Tears blurred her vision.

Chad came over and put his arm around her. “You’re freezing, Zo.”

All she could do was nod.

He grabbed a blanket from a recliner, wrapped it around her, and put his arm around her again. “Are you okay?”

Zoey shook her head. She wouldn’t be okay until Alex walked in through the front door she’d just come through.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Alyssa appeared. Zoey jumped up. “I was just—”

Alyssa shook her head. “You’re fine, Zoey. I’m sorry for the way I reacted the other day. I was… There’s no excuse. I was just rude. I’m sorry.”

Zoey stared at her, unable to find words. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself, only growing colder. Everything turned white.

Chad put his arm around her. “Why don’t you lay down?”

She tried to find her voice. 

He led her to the couch and helped her lie down. Alyssa covered her in another blanket and tucked a throw pillow under her head.

Shivering, Zoey closed her eyes.