I crawl under the bushes and toward the side of the house, where I can see the road. He’s right; I know where I am. I’m still on the hill, close to the harbor, and only blocks from my parents’ house.
There’s a black car in front of the house with the lights on.
It’s getting cool, and I shiver in the night air. I hear the front door slam shut. Two men exit the house. From the silhouette, I know which one is Jesse. The other man is a stranger to me. No one in my life is as tall and thin as him.
More words are said between the men as they walk to the car, but I can’t understand them. The conversation is brief before they get in the vehicle and drive away.
Something about the stranger’s arrival leaves an unsettling feeling in my stomach. A moment ago, I felt sure in Jesse’s arms. Now, I have the distinct feeling of wrongdoing.
I wait until they’re well out of sight before getting out and walking toward my parents’ home. In the shadows of the trees, I walk briskly.
With each step, I think about everything that happened tonight.
I was frightened.
I was amazed.
I was protected.
I was lied to—I’m now sure of it.
Jesse Grant knows more than he claimed he did, and he’s keeping it from me. He broke a promise, not twenty minutes after making it. The feeling is quickly morphing from confusion to annoyance to anger.
I continue to walk, constantly looking back. The entire time, I wonder if Jesse is pretending to be someone he’s not.
Chapter Four
“Where are you going?” Gia asks when she sees me sliding my heels on.
“Work.” I fasten the strap while seated on my bed. Correction: my childhood bed. I haven’t slept here in years, and yet I have found myself in this room for the past three nights.
“Dad asked for you to stay here.” Gia pounds her foot on the carpet. For a twenty-year-old woman, she certainly has the adult tantrum down pat.
I rise from the bed and look at my reflection. The circles under my eyes are dark, and my skin is sallow from lack of sleep. “He’s not here though. Is he?”
“That doesn’t matter. He’s the leader of this family, and what he says goes.” Her brown eyes narrow.
“I’m an adult woman with her own apartment and a career to tend to. I don’t have to listen to my father. Especially when he’s been missing for over forty-eight hours.” I know my tone sounds anything like the woman I am stating to be. Turns out, bitterness has seeped through my pores, and I don’t know how to make it stop.
“He’s not missing. He’s just away!”
I bite my lip from saying too much to Gia. While I’ve been reeling over Friday night’s events, I’ve also been consoling her from fearing the worst. She’s more in the dark than I ever was, and I’d like to keep her there.
Thoughts of what might have been if she and my mother had arrived on time are what keep me up at night. That, and the undeniable feeling that everyone around me is keeping secrets.
“I’m sorry, G, but I have to get to work.”
She storms out of the bedroom like a petulant child. “Mom!”
With my black hair tucked into a ponytail, I give a final look. Tired brown eyes. A bitter pinch to my lips. Not my best look, but it’ll do.
When I returned to my parents’ house on Friday night, my mother came rushing to the door with her arms shaking and tears bubbling from her throat. She was frightened and deliriously relieved at the same time.
The questions immediately started pouring in, and I did what I could to ease her mind without giving too much away. While I’m hurt and confused about Jesse, I still can’t shake his urgent plea for me to not tell anyone what happened that night.
Despite all my mother’s questions, turns out, she’s not as forthcoming with her answers. As soon as I asked my own questions, the conversation shut down. All she’d talk to me about was my need to stay in this fortress on the hill, away from the whispers of everyone on the outside.
Because after that moment it’s like Friday night never happened.
My car was returned home.
My father vanished.
There hasn’t even been a mention of the shooting on the news, which is odd for a borough with a low crime rate. Events like this are sensational.
“Amelia Grace Sorrentino, what is this I