with what looks like yesterday’s makeup smudged on her face.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, threads of panic twisting through my insides.
She rubs her red eyes. “Yeah. Thanks.”
I look at Sherm and know from the dark circles and pale skin that he didn’t sleep well last night. Those threads of panic grab hold of my stomach and yank, and I feel suddenly sick.
“You’re sure? Because if there’s anything I can do to help . . .” I trail off, not quite sure how to finish that sentence.
Lee swallows, her face twisting. “Rob left unexpectedly. We’re all just a little shocked.”
But I can tell from her eyes that it’s more than that.
“Is he okay?” It’s out of my mouth before I even think. I’m able to contain my next thought, which is, Is he coming back?
She shakes her head, and panic gets a firm grip on my heart when a tear slips over her lashes. But she wipes it away quickly with a glance at Sherm. “Can we talk for a second?”
“Sure.” I look at Sherm. “Do you have some reading?”
He’s made so much progress, but today it’s like day one again. The fear in his eyes is back. Rob said Sherm saw him kill that man, which would explain his fear of his older brother, but this is something different, because now, that fear is laced with guilt.
I still don’t have the details of what happened. I don’t know why someone was threatening the family, whether it was a mugging or something else. I just know, what Rob did, he did to protect his family. I hope Sherm doesn’t think he drove Rob away.
Because I’m afraid that might have been me.
I grasp his shoulder. “I’ll be right outside the door with your sister, okay?”
He nods again.
Lee and I step outside.
“What can I do?” I ask.
“Just . . . I was going to keep Sherm home today, but . . .” She trails off as another tear spills over. “He’s stopped talking again, and Rob—” Her voice chokes off on a sob.
“Where did he go?” I ask, my insides twisted so tight I can barely breathe.
She swallows. “When he hadn’t come home from an assignment up in Tampa by last night, I called his employer. She said the driver he was with in Tampa with told her he got on a plane to Chicago.”
“What’s in Chicago?” My heart, pounding in my throat, makes the words thick.
Her vacant gaze sharpens, and her hazel eyes become darker as more tears well. “I’ll try to be here for Sherm at two thirty, but if I’m a little late, can you stay with him?”
“I can stay as long as you need me to. Or if you need me to bring him home for you, I could do that too.” I can’t breathe, remembering everything that happened last time I was at their house. There has to be more to why he left. What happened between us was bad . . . and got worse when Dad showed up, but it couldn’t have been enough to drive him away from his family. “Do you still have my number?”
She nods. “It’s in my cell.”
“Just call me if you need me to bring Sherm home. And if there’s anything else I can do . . .”
“Thank you,” she says, heading down the walk. I watch her Beetle disappear up the road, then go back into class.
The rest of the day, I can’t take my eyes off Sherm. And I can’t think. What if Rob’s gone for good? And the way Lee seemed . . . like he was in danger . . .
He killed a man. For the first time it occurs to me it might not have been random.
It’s like they didn’t exist, which means they’re running from something, Adri. Probably criminal activity.
What if what Dad said that night at the dinner table is true? What if someone is really trying to hurt Rob and his family because of something they’re involved in?
By the time the bell rings for dismissal, I’m convinced I’m right. It explains all the odd behavior when they first arrived, why Rob might have to kill someone to protect his family, and why he’s been so secretive.
The other students scatter and Sherm moves to the window, looking toward the parking lot for Lee.
I pull a chair up next to mine at my desk. “Come over here, Sherm. I want to show you something.”
He turns and looks at me, then makes his way tentatively to