Page 12 of July (New Orleans #7)

“I don’t know.” Jill sighed. “She told me that you were both sick and that she had to leave quickly to get you both to the doctor.”

“We are perfectly healthy for two old people,” her grandma replied. “Jill, I’m worried. If she’s not there and she’s not here, where is she?”

“I don’t know.” Jill sighed again. “Why did she lie to me? To you?”

“We should call the police and report her missing,” her grandma suggested.

“I just talked to her last night, and she sounded fine. She lied to me, obviously, but she sounded fine.”

“She’s not answering my calls.”

“Let me try to call her, okay? If I can’t get ahold of her, we’ll call the police.”

“Okay. Call me back.”

“I will.”

Jill hung up and immediately dialed her mother’s number. She waited impatiently as the phone rang. What the hell was going on? Her mom had lied to her and to her mother. When the voicemail message started, Jill grunted in frustration.

“Mother, where the hell are you? I just got a call from Grandma. She’s not sick.

Grandpa isn’t, either. She said you were supposed to visit with Juni, but you’re not there, and you’re not here, so I’m about to call the cops and report you missing.

Mom, we’re worried. What’s going on? I don’t know what to tell Juni, and you still haven’t sent me any money.

I sent you the information on how to do that this morning, and your phone is on read, so I know you saw it.

Please call me back. Call Grandma back, too.

I’m going to tell her we’re calling the police because I don’t know what’s going on and I’m not taking any chances. ”

Jill hung up after leaving the pleading message and went to call her grandmother to tell her that she was going to go to the police station to report her mother missing.

It would be better than calling since she would get their full attention in person.

She knew there was some rule about an adult going missing for forty-eight or seventy-two hours before someone could report them missing.

How long had it been? Would they count the phone call from the previous night?

If so, it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours.

If not, it had been more than seventy-two.

Her phone pinged while she was considering her options, so she looked down, seeing a message from her mother.

Mom : Jill, I’m fine. Don’t call the police. I’ll tell you more later, but I am okay.

Jill typed feverishly.

Jill Solomon : How do I know this is really you? Mom, just call me.

Three dots appeared.

Mom : It’s me. I can’t call, Jill. I can’t.

I need some time. If you need to make sure it’s me and that I’m safe, you have a scar on your elbow from a bicycle accident when you were nine, and you were riding that bicycle with Allison, your best friend from school.

Juni lost her most recent tooth three weeks ago while she was eating dinner.

You can ask her to confirm. It’s me. I’m fine.

Jill didn’t know what to do. She believed that it was her mother but had no evidence that someone wasn’t forcing her to type this.

Then, she remembered that her mom had left the house and New Orleans on her own.

She’d packed her own bags. She had driven her own car.

There were no signs of struggle in the house, either, and Jill had spoken with her last night, and her mother sounded okay. She decided to let her have this one.

Jill Solomon : I won’t call them yet, Mom, but you need to tell Grandma that you’re okay, and I need to know when you’re coming back. This isn’t fair to me, Grandma, or Juni.

Her mother didn’t respond, but Jill could see that she read the message.

Jill leaned back in the chair and had no idea what to do now.

She called her grandmother back to tell her about what had happened.

Her grandma had decided not to call the cops, either, but she’d be giving her only daughter a very short leash.

Jill agreed that if they didn’t hear from her later that night, her grandparents were going to file a police report from Florida, and Jill would do the same from here.

Focusing on her last tour of the day was more than difficult.

Jill forgot to mention several facts and didn’t put the usual personality into her delivery, so it was no surprise that her tips were less than normal.

She tucked the cash into the pocket of her khakis and tried to remember how much money she had in her bank account and how she could afford to feed Juni and herself if her mom didn’t send her any money.

She should be okay for the next couple of weeks, but not if she continued to get tips like this.

Her workday done, she had to pick Juni up from school, and she didn’t want her fear and confusion to show, so she waited for her sister to walk outside with the other students and was happily surprised to see Willa walking out behind her.

“Hey,” Jill said mainly to Willa.

“Hi,” Willa replied with a smile.

“Did you have a good day?” she asked Juni.

“Yes,” Juni replied. “I got an A on my science project.”

“Yeah? That’s awesome,” Jill said. “Will you show it to me when we get home?”

“Okay,” Juni replied and pulled open the car door.

“Hey, you okay?” Willa checked.

Jill turned to her after watching Juni get in the car and said, “Sort of.” She then sighed and added, “No, that’s not right. I’m not okay, no.”

“What happened?” Willa asked, moving a little closer.

“My mom. It’s a long story. I don’t know what to tell Juni. She’s going to ask about her or want to talk to her soon, and I don’t know what to say.”

“I’m sorry, Jill,” Willa said.

“I don’t know how you knew I wasn’t okay, though. I thought I was hiding it really well.” She smiled.

“Same look you had on your face last night after you got off the phone with your mom,” Willa explained. “But for what it’s worth, I don’t think Juni picked up on it.”

“Good,” she said on a sigh and ran her hand through the hair that she’d taken down after work. “I should get her home.”

“Yeah, of course. You have my number now, so if you need to talk, you can call me.”

Jill smiled again and asked, “Any chance you’re free for dinner? I’m ordering pizza again.”

Willa smiled back at her but said, “I probably shouldn’t. Juni would be there, and I am her teacher.”

“Right. Duh. Sorry,” Jill replied.

“Don’t be sorry,” Willa told her. “I’d like to.”

“Yeah?” Jill asked, hopeful.

“Yes,” Willa said with a smile.

“What if we told her you were coming over to see her science project?”

“I’ve seen it already. I graded it.”

“Right,” Jill said.

Willa bit her bottom lip then, and Jill knew it was her considering face. Willa was actually thinking about coming to dinner that night, so Jill decided to stand there and wait until she got her decision.

“If I come over, can we tell her it’s because you and I are new friends?”

Jill nodded and said, “Yeah. It’s the truth, right?”

“Jill, can we go home?” Juni asked.

Jill turned around to see that her sister had rolled down the window and was now leaning out of it.

“The air is on. Roll up the window, Juni,” she said. “And yes, we’re going.”

Willa laughed and asked her, “What time?”

“Six?”

“I can do six. Should I bring anything?”

“No, just you,” Jill replied. “Oh! What do you like on your pizza?”