Page 92 of Our Little Secret

Renata Paszek was back on the line, her voice clear if a bit unsteady. “She’s here. With Nick. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! She’s here!”

“Thank God,” Brooke whispered, her knees buckling as she imagined her little girl sleeping in the boy’s bed.... At least she was alive. And safe. And hadn’t disappeared. “We’ll be over to pick her up right away. Thank you.”

She disconnected. “She was with that boyfriend, Nick, right?” Leah asked, taking a long swallow of coffee. “What did I tell you?”

“Fine, fine, you were right.” Brooke was already on her feet, picking up her purse and searching for her keys.

“You’re driving her away.”

“What?” Brooke asked, barely hearing her sister.

“All your rules, and your distractions—like not picking her up from school on time, when you don’t even have a job?”

“I’m looking. And—”

“Distracted! If you ask me, you’re driving her right into that Nick kid’s arms.”

“No one did ask and you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?” She glared at Brooke. “I remember being young. Being in love. Thinking that the boy who paid attention to me was the ‘one,’ my Prince Charming. And then, of course, I found out differently,” she added bitterly. Her jaw was set and there were deep-seated recriminations in her eyes.

Brooke grabbed her jacket from the back of a chair and ignored Leah’s unspoken accusations. Right now she didn’t have time for any of her sister’s histrionics. She headed down to the garage.

Shep, on alert with all the activity, tried to follow her. “Not this time, buddy.” She left him in the laundry room, then made her way down the final half-flight to her Explorer.

The damaged SUV that had been fitted with a tracking device, she reminded herself as she climbed behind the wheel. She opened the garage door, backed out, and tore out of the driveway. On the way to the Paszeks’ home, she called Neal, who answered on the second ring.

“Tell me you found her,” he said desperately.

“I did.” Heart hammering, she maneuvered through the still-dark city streets and gave him an update as she slowed for a light that shimmered blood-red on the wet pavement. A truck pulled up behind her, headlights glowing as the Explorer idled and she waited for a pack of early morning joggers to run through the crosswalk, barely noticing them as she was ranting to Neal. “. . . in his bedroom and his bed, from the sounds of it. My God, she’s only fourteen and . . . and . . .”

“And it could be statutory rape.”

“Don’t even say it!” she cried as a car horn behind her blasted and she finally noticed the light had changed. She hit the gas and thought she heard the sound of a motorcycle.

“I’m on my way!” Neal said.

“No, no . . . just meet me back at the house. I’ll bring her there.”

“I want to talk to that horny son of a bitch!”

“I know, me too, but maybe we should let his folks handle him for the time being. We can talk to them or him later. Let’s just get her home safe!”

He argued with her and she understood it. She wanted to throttle Nick Paszek too. He was older, should know better, but Marilee wasn’t a complete innocent. They’d had “the talk.” Make that many talks. And two other sets of parents weren’t as lucky as they were this morning. The Carellis and the Williamses would be jumping for joy just to have their daughters back regardless of where they’d been. “Look, Neal,” she said, trying to calm him down, calm them both down. “Just meet us at home, okay? Then, once you’ve talked to Marilee, if you still feel compelled to confront Nick? Have at it.”

Was that the sound of a motorbike’s engine? Or was she just stressed and imagining it?

“Fine,” Neal said, disconnecting, and she could tell he wasn’t fine. Not at all. Well, neither was she. “‘Fine’” would be a long time coming.

She turned off the main street and the truck behind her went straight. Only then did she notice the headlight glowing behind her, a single lamp bearing down on her.

A motorcycle!

Her heart dropped.

Gideon!

“No,” she whispered, her heart nearly stopping until she realized it was an older car with a single headlamp because the other had died.