After Rocky had gone, Jennie went upstairs to wash her face. “What are you going to do?” Lisa hugged a teddy bear she’d grabbed from Jennie’s collection. “I mean … you’ll be okay, won’t you?”
Jennie shrugged. “I’m not going to kill myself if that’s what you mean.” At Lisa’s stricken look, Jennie tipped her head back and groaned. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Please, Jennie, just promise me you’ll be okay.”
“Don’t worry. So they found a shirt. It may not even be Nick’s.”
“Mom and Dad want me to go home. I need some clean clothes, and to be honest I think we’re both getting a little ripe. I’ll be back in the morning. I can stay here though if you need me.”
Jennie gazed into her cousin’s green eyes trying to focus. Lisa looked pale and exhausted. “Maybe you should rest tomorrow. You look beat.”
“Jennie. This is Nick we’re talking about. I’m not giving up as long as there’s a chance we’ll find him.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah, now go take a shower and get some sleep. You’re beginning to smell like yesterday’s road kill.”
They went back outside, and when Lisa and her family had gone, Jennie closed her eyes and leaned her head against the porch railing. You gotta get back out there, McGrady. You’ve got to keep looking. She envisioned herself going to the park where the police had found Nick’s shirt. Then common sense kicked in. No. Lisa’s right. Shower first. And get some rest. She’d feel a whole lot better and be able to think more clearly after a shower and some sleep.
The shower refreshed her. Instead of going to bed, Jennie decided to look around outside again. She walked over the ground where she and Nick had given Bernie a bath, then wandered to the place she’d last seen Nick and Hannah playing. Their laughter echoed in her mind and sliced through her heart. “Help me out here, Nick. I know you’re out there somewhere. What happened to you?”
Jennie was just heading back to her house when a taxi pulled into the driveway. Someone got out, paid the driver, and collected a large duffle bag from the backseat. Judging from the lean, tall shape she guessed it was a man. He had his back turned, so she couldn’t be certain. He turned toward Jennie as the cab drove away. The streetlight made his golden hair shine like a halo. Jennie couldn’t have been more thrilled if the visitor had been an angel. In fact she’d have been disappointed. He saw her about the same time she recognized him. He dropped his bag on the sidewalk and ran toward her, stopping only a few inches from where she stood.
“It’s about time you got here, Johnson.” She raised her hand to brush aside a tear.
“I left as soon as I heard.” Ryan closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. Jennie circled his waist, resting her head against his broad shoulder. After a moment he backed away and dropped his arms to his side. “I probably smell like fish.”
“Maybe a little, but I’m not complaining.”
He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Jennie swallowed. The butterflies were back. He bent and kissed her. Soft, gentle, warm. He was everything Jennie remembered and more. When he lifted his head he smiled. “I’ve been waiting a long time to do that, Jennie McGrady.”
Jennie only half smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.” Not even Ryan could completely ease the pain she’d been experiencing since Nick’s disappearance.
As if reading her mind, Ryan swung in beside her and hung an arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry about Nick.”
“How did you find out?” Jennie asked as she slid her arm back around his waist.
“I talked to my mom. Grabbed the first flight I could get. The cab driver told me the police haven’t been able to find him. I was hoping maybe you had better news.”
Jennie shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. “I’ll tell you about it later.” When they reached the drive, Ryan released her to pick up his bag. He slung it over his shoulder and followed Jennie inside. After getting the traditional McGrady greetings of hugs from Gram and Mom and a handshake from Michael and J.B., Jennie showed him to Nick’s room. He freshened up while Jennie changed Nick’s bed.
“I’ll bet you’re exhausted,” she said when he came in. “If you want to go to bed now …”
“No. I couldn’t sleep. I’d rather sit with you for a while—that is if you’re up to it.”
“I was hoping you would,” she said, leading the way back downstairs. “We have a lot to talk about.” She left Ryan in the entry, went to the kitchen to get a couple cold drinks, and told her family she and Ryan would be on the porch.
Sitting on the porch swing with Ryan, Jennie almost felt happy, which made her feel guilty. It seemed strange to feel so good and so bad all at the same time.
“I can’t believe you’re here. I was beginning to think you didn’t like me anymore.”
Ryan frowned. “How could you think that?”
“You never answered my letter for starters.”
“Oh, that.” He winced. “I guess I’m not much of a letter writer. Besides, it was hard to put what I wanted to say into words. I guess I’m more a man of action.” He settled an arm around her and she leaned against him. They sat together in silence, letting the wooden swing carry them back and forth.
They belonged together, Jennie decided. Like old friends—okay, more than friends. It felt so good having him there. Jennie’s fear of losing him melted away like snow in the sun.
“I know it’s hard for you to talk about it, and you don’t have to, but I’d really like to know what happened to Nick. In fact, I want to know everything that’s happened since we last saw each other.”
“It would take a month to tell you everything.”
“How about we start with Nick. That’s the most important.”
Jennie took a deep breath and plunged in. During the telling, they heard Michael leave. The lights in the spare bedroom went on for a while, then off, indicating Gram and J.B. had gone to bed. Mom came out to remind her not to stay up too long.
Shortly after one, Jennie finished her story. “So there you have it,” she concluded. “You know as much as I do, which isn’t a lot. We don’t have much to go on.”
In the last few minutes, Ryan had taken to wrapping strands of her hair around his fingers. After a while he dropped her hair and reached down for her hand. He wove his fingers between hers and held it up between them. “Jennie,” he said, locking his gaze on hers. “I know solving one mystery together doesn’t make us experts. And to be honest, I didn’t do all that much of the solving. But we made a pretty good team when Gram disappeared. We can do it again.”
Whether it was the strength in his hand or the sincerity in his eyes, Jennie felt almost invincible. Maybe they could make a difference. Maybe they could succeed where everyone else had failed.
After deciding they’d be much better investigators in the morning, they turned out the lights and went upstairs. “Feel free to use the bathroom up here. I’ll use the one in Mom’s room or the one downstairs.” She reached for the light switch in the bathroom and flipped it up, grabbed her toothbrush from the holder on the counter, and opened her bedroom door. “Night,” Jennie whispered. She waited until he found the light switch in Nick’s room, then stood for a moment outside her mother’s room. She’d avoided Mom most of the day. Now she felt guilty and something else. She wanted to share the strength she’d found in being with Ryan.
Opening the door, Jennie crept in. “Mom,” she whispered—loud enough to be heard if Mom was still awake, but quiet enough not to wake her if she’d fallen asleep.
“Come in, sweetheart,” Mom whispered back. The stained-glass bedside lamp washed the room with dozens of warm colors. “Want to crawl in here with me?”
Jennie’s immediate reaction was to say no. It had been a long time since she’d been in her parents’ bed. When she was little she used to snuggle in between them after a bad dream. She wasn’t little anymore, and she wasn’t having a bad dream. Reality was much scarier. “Sure,” she agreed. “Just let me get my pajamas and brush my teeth.”
Jennie returned to her room and got ready for bed. She felt embarrassed about going back into Mom’s room, but managed to convince herself that with Nick gone, Mom needed her.
Daylight brought warmth, but little else. Whatever strength she’d found in Ryan’s presence the night before had disappeared with the darkness. She awoke at seven a.m. in her mother’s queen-sized bed. Mom was already gone. Jennie wished she could stay holed up under the fluffy down comforter all day. But Ryan was there. He’d come to help. The thought motivated her enough to get up and dressed.
Gram and Mom were the only ones in the kitchen when Jennie arrived. “How would you like to take a drive in the country?” Gram asked. “I’ve been talking to Susan about it and she thinks it will do you a world of good.”
“A drive? How can you think of going for a drive—” Seeing the scheming look in Gram’s eyes, Jennie grinned. “Never mind. I think a drive is just what we need.”
“Good. We’ll see if Ryan and J.B. would like to accompany us.”
Their drive just happened to take them west on the Sunset Highway to the Pacific University campus where Gram and J.B. located the names and phone numbers of Cathy’s professors. Ryan and Jennie managed to locate and talk to Cathy’s roommate, Angela Jones or Angie, as she preferred to be called. Actually, she talked to Ryan—couldn’t take her eyes off him. Jennie wondered what Angie would think if she knew Ryan was about two years her junior. Unfortunately, Jennie was never able to work it into the conversation.
The girls shared a house with two other female students, both of whom had gone home for the summer. She and Cathy were taking summer classes. Angie explained all that in one breath as she led Ryan and Jennie into the small living room that looked like a reject from the psychedelic sixties. “Would you like something to drink?” she asked.
“Diet Coke if you have it.” Jennie folded her long self into a florescent pink beanbag chair, hoping she wouldn’t look too ridiculous getting up. Ryan said he’d settle for anything as long as it was cold and nonalcoholic. Angie seemed to think that was hilarious. Ryan sank into the lime green bag next to Jennie. When Angie left the room he leaned toward her. “Can you believe this place?”
Before Jennie could respond, Angie came back with their drinks—three cans on a tole-painted wooden tray, which she placed on the floor in front of them. She took a can of root beer, popped the top, and dropped to the floor, crossing her shapely legs as she went down. She ended up about six inches from Ryan’s lap. “I hope you’ll forgive the mess. I’m getting ready for a show. I’m majoring in art.”
And minoring in men, Jennie thought as she opened her can of Coke and took a drink. Warm. She glanced at Ryan. His can was so cold it was already sweating. “What can you tell us about Cathy?” Jennie asked in a voice she hoped was more friendly than her thoughts.
Angie gifted Ryan with an impish grin. Jennie could have sworn she batted her eyes. “Cathy’s like really nice. Smart too. I mean she’s majoring in psychology.” She laughed. “We make a good team. I’m mostly right-brained. You know—creative. She’s mostly left—analytical.”
That didn’t fit Chuck’s description of airhead and screwball. “So, you’d consider her pretty stable?”
“Stable?” Angie shrugged. “I guess that depends on what you mean. She’s like dependable, you know. You can trust her.”
“But …” Ryan supplied the transition and Angie went with it.
“She picks these loser guys. The last one slapped her around a couple of times. Her shrink thinks it’s because her dad was such a strict disciplinarian.”
“Does she have a boyfriend now?” Jennie tried to shift into a more comfortable position, only managing to sink deeper into the chair.
“Who doesn’t? I mean right now I don’t, but then I’m not looking …”
I’ll bet. Jennie pinched her lips together to keep from making the comment aloud. “But Cathy did. What was his name?”
“Judson Miller. He’s a senior. A law major, I think. In fact, I was really surprised she took that babysitting job. They were supposed to get together on Monday.” Angie shrugged her shoulders and leaned closer to Ryan. “She must have forgotten. Judson came by to pick her up. She hadn’t said anything to me. Naturally, I didn’t want him to think she stood him up, so I told him where she was.”
“Did he seem upset?” Jennie asked.
“That’s putting it mildly. After he left I got worried—you know, like maybe I shouldn’t have told him where to find her. I got to thinking maybe she didn’t want him to find her.”
“When did he leave here?”
“You don’t think he …” Angie left the question hanging there like a threatening black cloud.
Jennie’s thoughts raced ahead. Could Judson have gone to the Stuarts’ in an angry rage? Could he have forced Cathy to go with him at gunpoint? If so, what had he done with the children?