has to resort to hand gestures to communicate because words are lost to him. Lily must be going crazy thinking Josh is wandering around alone. Is she aware he’s missing? Is she alive to even wonder?
She clears her throat, focusing on Josh so the pit in her stomach that gets bigger with every thought of Lily stops aching. “Okay, I got this,” she says, playing along. “Buffaloes?” Josh looks appalled and she swallows a laugh, holds up her hands. “Sorry. My bad.”
He hunches over and blows air out his nose.
“Rams?”
He grins and holds out his fist.
Of course. Ethan’s favorite team. Figures. But she bumps his fist anyway.
He gestures toward the kitchen and she supposes he wants to go back to his drawing.
“Sure, fine. I have to send some texts.” She shows him her phone. “Hey, Josh.” He turns around. She gestures at his backpack. “What’ve you got in there?”
His throat ripples and she swears he pales a little. “Stuff.”
“Do you have a wallet? Anything with your address on it?” He shakes his head. “May I take a look?” she asks, approaching him, hand outstretched for the backpack.
He backs up, fear shimmering in his eyes again. “No.”
“Okay.” She stops, showing him her palms. “You’d let me know if you have something that would help with your mom, right?”
He frowns. Her question confused him. He points over his shoulder at the kitchen.
She waves him off, plotting to search his pack when he’s sleeping and feeling guilty she has to. “Go ahead. I’ll join you in a sec.”
He goes to the kitchen to do whatever and she fires off a text to Lucas.
Details.
He replies within a few minutes.
We talked.
AND . . . ?
And nothing. Cool kid.
That’s it?
Lucas . . .
She adds a frustrated emoji.
Kid clammed up when I asked about Lily.
Which meant what, exactly? Does he clam up because he’s scared, or is he scared and clams up? What does he know? What did he see? He could be in shock.
The less Josh tells them, the more she wants to know what happened. They really must find Lily.
Before she can ask Lucas his opinion, he texts again.
Tip, prince-sis. Don’t ask about Lily.
She bristles at his nickname, a mockery of their dad’s pet name for her. What is she supposed to do in the meantime? Sit on her ass? Lily could be hurt or injured. She could be dead. What then? How does she tell Josh his mom is never coming for him?
How are we supposed to find out where she is?
He’ll tell us in his own time.
But you said he doesn’t know.
Olivia waits for the three dots to shimmer.
Lucas???? (adds angry emoji)
He doesn’t reply. He’s done.
CHAPTER 10
Olivia sits in her backyard, firepit lit, burning through her second cigarette. She leans forward, arms braced on her knees, and flips her phone end over end. It’s late. Josh is asleep. His second night with her. Over twenty-four hours and still no word from Lily. Olivia can officially file a missing persons report, which she could have done the moment Josh arrived, but will do first thing in the morning, depending how her call goes with Ethan. Amber texted his phone number a short bit ago.
Nerves tap-dance in her stomach and shorten her breath. Her hands are shaking. It’s the same sensation she felt before she jumped off a thirty-foot cliff while river rafting in the Sierra Nevada foothills. His number is underlined in Amber’s text. All she has to do is tap the link, but she can’t motivate herself to call him. If she flew off the handle when she saw the texts from Macey on Blaze’s phone, how will she react when she hears Ethan’s voice?
This isn’t about you, she tells herself. Think of Josh. He needs his mom. Hopefully, his dad knows how to reach her. If Ethan is his dad. She swallows the knot of doubt left over from her conversation with Josh.
Before he went to bed, Olivia asked him if he’s met his father. Not in person, she deciphered from his stilted explanation.
“Is your dad Ethan Miller?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“No?” She stared hard at him to see if he was lying. Maybe Lily told him someone else is his dad. “Who is your dad? What’s his name?”
He tugged his bottom lip. “His name . . . name . . .” He stopped. “I can’t . . .” His arm flopped to his side. He scowled and went back to his sketching.
“Can’t remember or can’t say?” she prodded, ducking to