Page 4 of Her Final Hours

Gretchen’s eyebrows shot up, and she gulped water before diverting her attention to Ethan.

“Do I have to confiscate your phone?” Noah asked. It was an empty threat. It wasn’t his way to be heavy-handed with his kids. In many ways, they had him wrapped around their little fingers. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t dive into the parental bag of tricks occasionally.

“She’s at the Sanctuary.”

“The where?”

“It’s a place teens hang out.”

“Is it now?” he replied, folding his arms before glancing at Gretchen, who could tell this was about to escalate fast. “And this uh… Sanctuary. Is that all they do? Hang out?” He knew that was rarely the case, but he wanted to hear it from him.

Ethan chewed a little slower; guilt masked his expression. He shrugged. “It’s a party spot.”

“And where can I find it?”

He’d never heard of it in all his years of growing up in High Peaks.

“Dad, she’ll probably enter the door in the next few minutes.”

“Where?” he said with a firm tone.

“All right, but you didn’t hear it from me. She told me not to say anything.”

“Ethan.”

“All right. It’s on the west side of McKenzie Pond,” he shot back.

“That’s near Saranac.”

He shrugged. “Speak to her; that’s all I know.”

“I intend to,” he said, skirting around the table and snatching up the keys to the Ford Bronco. As he headed out into the cool night air, Gretchen’s chair screeched back as she hurried after him. He was about halfway to the vehicle when she caught up with him.

“Noah. Hold up.”

“What?”

“Look, son. Stay calm.”

“I am calm. She is mistaken if she thinks she can do whatever she likes.”

“She’s sixteen. You were a teenager once.”

“Ah, I was, but there’s no way I would have gotten away with this,” he said, pointing in a random direction.

“She’s lost her mother, Noah. Give her some slack. Mia has a good head on her shoulders.”

“I don’t deny it, but this isn’t the first time. Do you know I got a call a few weeks back from the school? She punched someone. Just lashed out. And then I found out that she was skipping classes.”

“You pulled her out of Saranac High School and put her in High Peaks. What did you expect?”

He got defensive. “It takes thirty minutes to get there. Then another thirty to get back. That’s four trips in one day. I’m the only one doing this.”

“You could put them on the bus.”

“No. They’ve only been in that school for two years.”

“Her friends are there.”