Lila James
Every moment passed slower than the last. Lila scooted as far away from the guy next to her as possible. He reeked of body odor and spoke to the woman next to him with a raspy voice.
Where was Morgan? The police had already taken Zion and Rowena in to look at the jacket. They were waiting to take Lila until Morgan got there.
The door opened, and he walked inside.
Lila jumped up, glad to get away from the guy next to her. “Where have you been?”
Morgan frowned. “I ran into traffic near the school. Had to take a detour. Have you seen the coat?”
She shook her head. “They wanted me to wait for you.”
“Do you know anything?”
“No. The Powells are looking at it now. They’re going to get us soon. I’ll tell them you’re here.” Lila hurried over to the desk and let the woman know Morgan was finally there.
When she turned around, the waiting room was even fuller than just a moment ago. She stood next to Morgan between a pop machine and a window. Some of the other people were talking so loudly, she could hardly think.
Lila wanted to go back to the desk and demand someone bring them back. She and Morgan didn’t belong there. They just needed to see the jacket and get out of there so they could get back to trying to figure out where their son had gone.
Her mind quickly went back to Morgan and his lies. How could he hide a marriage, divorce, and a child from her for all these years? Did he really trust her so little? Why even marry her? Why—?
The guy she’d been sitting next to howled with laughter, a sound so obnoxious she wanted to cover her ears. People around the waiting room exchanged annoyed glances.
Once he calmed down, someone called for Lila and Morgan. She raced over, eager to get out of the waiting room.
The officer led them through a door, unlocking it with a keycard. They went down a narrow hallway and finally stopped outside a door. The officer turned to them, his face serious. “We’re going to show you a jacket. You need to tell us if you recognize it as your son’s or the other boy’s. It’s evidence, so we can’t have you touch it. We only need to know if you know who it belongs to.”
Morgan and Lila agreed. Her stomach twisted in knots and lurched. Would they recognize it?
“Where are the Powells?” Morgan asked.
The officer unlocked the door with his keycard. “You can see them after this.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“They’re waiting in another room. We’ll discuss the jacket together after you see it.”
Lila’s heart leaped into her throat. “Did they recognize the coat?”
“We can talk about it after you take a look.”
Lila’s knees went weak. Surprisingly, Morgan put an arm around her and steadied her. He held her up as they followed the officer into the room.
The first thing she noticed was a long table. On it was the coat, but she could hardly see it at her angle. She and Morgan walked closer. It was a black leather jacket with a fluffy white interior. And it also had several gashes throughout.
“Do you recognize it?” asked the officer.
Lila glanced at Morgan. They both knew who it belonged to.
Morgan turned to the deputy and nodded. “It’s Emmett’s. He’s worn it to our house plenty of times.”
Lila covered her mouth, the reality of the situation hitting her. Her son’s friend loved that coat, and he wouldn’t have willingly let anyone harm it, much less cut it up like that.
The boys were in serious trouble, if not worse.
The officer spoke, but Lila couldn’t take in any of the words. All she could think about was Atlas alone and scared somewhere, probably hurt. Maybe even severely injured. She couldn’t let herself think of anything worse than that.
She shook, and Morgan’s grip around her tightened. They left and followed the deputy to a room with a long table and a mirror. Another officer and the Powells sat across from them. Rowena sobbed in Zion’s arms.
The sight was more than Lila could take. It was like a dam breaking and a river bursting free. She crumbled against Morgan, who held her and rubbed her back. He led her to the table, and they sat. He kept his arms around her.
The officers spoke with the husbands. Lila tried to listen, but Emmett’s jacket kept flashing back into her mind. Where were the boys, and what had happened to them? What was keeping them from returning home?
She took a few deep breaths then looked up at the officers. Tried to focus on their words. It took a minute to gain her bearings and fill in the blanks. They’d found Emmett’s coat outside the old asylum, behind the building. That was the only thing of theirs they found, aside from the drug paraphernalia but that had been sitting there for months, so that meant the boys hadn’t used it.
Lila struggled to breathe normally. She glanced over at Rowena, who was wiping tears from her eyes.
“We didn’t find any blood at the scene, but a forensics team is taking a closer look. There could easily be trace evidence too small to be seen. We’ll keep you updated. Do you have any more questions?”
Lila wanted to ask where Atlas was. That was the only question she really wanted an answer to, but nobody could tell her that. Or if someone could, they weren’t talking.
One of the officers led them back to the waiting room. The four grieving parents headed outside. The sun and fresh air felt like a refuge.
“Where are our children?” Rowena demanded. “We should go to that mental hospital ourselves and look around. Nobody could find more evidence than a worried mother!”
“I’ll go with you.” Lila stepped away from Morgan. “I want to see that place for myself.”
“Hold up,” Zion said. “It’s a crime scene. They aren’t going to let anyone near it. You heard what they said—there’s a forensics team there now. We show up, we could destroy evidence.”
“Emmett could be there!” Rowena pulled away from him. “I have to do something. Don’t you understand?”
“Don’t you think I want to tear that place apart, too?” Zion put his arms around her again. “Believe me, I do. But we have to trust in the process. They’re doing everything they can to find our boys.”
“It’s not enough!”
“I agree,” Morgan said. “We need to do more. There has to be something we can do.”
“Let’s talk to the media,” Zion said. “We can hold a press conference and get the word out far and wide.”
Lila wiped her eyes. “I’ve been posting on social media. One of my posts has been shared over twenty thousand times. It might be a lot higher now. Last I checked was this morning.”
“Good.” Zion nodded. “But reaching out to the TV stations, the newscasts, will reach more people. There are still people out there who get their news from the evening broadcasts.”
“You can reach them?” Morgan asked.
He nodded. “I’ve spoken with plenty of reporters. There are more than a handful of them I can call.”
“Aren’t they already covering this?” Rowena asked. “I haven’t watched personally, but two local missing boys would make the headlines, I’d think.”
“They have,” Morgan confirmed.
“But there’s nothing more personal than the parents pleading with people. It’ll touch their hearts. They’ll want to help.”
Lila stepped forward. “Let’s do that. I’ll do anything to help bring them home.”
Rowena nodded. “So will I.”
Zion turned to Rowena. “Are you up for driving, so I can start making calls on the way home?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Zion pulled out his phone and glanced at Lila and Morgan. “I’ll call you as soon as something is set up.”
“Thank you,” Lila said.
Morgan nodded, then the Powells headed for the parking lot. “Are you going to be okay to drive?”
“I got here, didn’t I?”
“I’m just trying to look out for you. You don’t have to snap at me.”
“I didn’t snap, but if you keep talking to me like this, I probably will.”
They stared each other down before Morgan spoke. “We need to be on the same team, Lila. This is about finding Atlas.”
She glared at him. “You don’t get to talk to me about being a team player! All these years we’ve been together, you’ve been anything but.”
“Are you going to hold this against me for the rest of our lives?”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, but you need to give me time to process your news.”
Morgan pulled on his hair. “I’m sorry I never told you. If I knew it was all going to play out like this, I would’ve said something long ago. It hurt too much to talk about.”
“You know, if you’d have given me the chance, maybe I could’ve helped you work through it! We could’ve grown closer as a result. Instead, you never gave us a chance. You pushed me away from the start. Did you really expect this to work out any differently?”
He drew in a deep breath. “Can we discuss this later? I can’t change the past, but we can try to do something about Atlas.”
“Fine, but don’t expect me to act like this never happened. This is no small matter. My trust has been completely shaken.”
“Oh, give me a break!” He glared at her. “Our marriage has been rocky for a long time. You can’t blame that on this.”
“And why do you think it’s been rocky? Maybe because our entire relationship has been a lie!”
He threw his arms into the air. “You’re never going to let me live this down, are you? If I could go back in time and change things, I would. But I can’t.”
“Oh, I’m sure you would change things. You know what, Morgan? You could’ve changed things at any point over the years. There were thousands of opportunities for you to come to me and tell me what happened, yet you didn’t. After Atlas found out would’ve been a good time. It was fresh on your mind.”
His expression tightened. “I’m sure I could’ve done a lot of things differently, but I can’t go back and fix anything now, can I? Not that it matters, because you’re going to hold this over my head from here on out.”
“Hold it over your head? Do you think this is as unimportant as forgetting to take out the trash? I’m not holding it over your head, Morgan. I’m dealing with a betrayal! It’s a world of a difference.” She marched to her car, barely able to keep from falling apart. When she did lose it, she didn’t want it to be in his sight.
“Lila!”
She picked up her pace and made it inside her car before he reached her. Then she left without looking at him.
Once on the road, her thoughts all fought for her attention. Atlas. The jacket. Morgan’s secrets. The girls—their brother was missing, and they knew their parents weren’t getting along. They would have to learn about Morgan’s lies at some point. How would they hold up? Would Lila be able to pull herself together enough to be there for them? They needed her now, and she had nothing to give.
Her life was falling apart from all sides. What if Atlas never came home? Could their marriage survive, even if he did return to them?
Honk! Squeal!
Lila looked over, heart pounding. She’d veered into the other lane and nearly collided with another car. She waved an apology, then pulled off the road.
The last place she should’ve been was behind the wheel. At least until she could focus on driving safely.
She took deep breaths and tried to push her thoughts aside. Surely, she could think about something else for twenty minutes until she got home.
But what else was there to think about? Her heart was shattering. She’d built her life on lies, and now her firstborn was missing. Not Morgan’s firstborn. They didn’t have the same firstborn child. His was with his first wife.
Lila rested her head on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. It was all too much to take. And when she got home, she needed to talk with Scarlet and Violet. They needed her now more than ever, despite the fact that her resources were fully depleted.
She sat up and took a moment to think of what to tell them. That everything would be okay? They all knew nobody could predict that. Oh, for the days when she could kiss a knee and make everything right in the world again.
Nothing may ever be right in their worlds again.
Maybe that was exactly what she needed to tell them—that they had no control over any outcome, but that no matter what happened, she would be there for them. They could count on her no matter what. Perhaps that would be enough.