Page 110 of The Sound Of Us

Doom enters the pit of my stomach. I check my texts a dozen times. Nothing from Mrs. Dalton, Ben or Axel.

Casey skips over the sidewalk with keys in her hand. She stops at the bookstore entrance. I blast the horn, causing her to jump. Grabbing my phone, I hurry to her, typing furiously as I walk.

She watches me curiously when I shove my screen in her face. Where’s Axel? I can lip read. Please talk.

“He’s probably at home. They asked me to help out today since it's a school holiday. Ben will be back tomorrow.”

Something isn't right.

“We already cleared it with my mother, so she already knows. I won’t read the new books, I already promised,” Casey says.

That makes no sense but I don't have time to ponder.

Frank lied. Of course he fucking lied.

If he comes in today, tell him to contact me, please? I type.

I check the time. If I don’t leave for the airport now, if I go back to Axel’s house, I’ll miss our flight. I pull over to the side of the road. Fuck. Fuck! Panic is not a common emotion for me.

I bang my head on the steering wheel. What the fuck should I do? How do I do this?

I inhale deeply. I can do this. I’ve made hard decisions before. Not like this.

I can do this. I just need to think about this rationally, without all these emotions.

I send Axel a dozen texts. Instructions to contact me as soon as possible. Instructions on how to get to me. Reasons for why I had to leave. And that I’d been to his place looking for him.

I turn the car around again and race to the airport, checking my phone periodically in the hopes of receiving a text from Axel.

Nothing.

I return home, going straight to the hospital.

How did this happen? I sign, rushing over to the doctor.

“Blocked arteries, Eli. Thank God it happened in my office. She’s already in surgery. We have the best surgeons working on her.”

I sit and wait. My mother has lived a long life, as had my father. I can’t ask for more than what I’ve been given, but fuck, it hurts to know she’s in there fighting for her life.

I check my phone. Nothing from Axel.

Chapter 58

Axel

Frank lets me out of the bedroom, but he bolts the back door shut and then leaves through the front door, bolting it from outside. There’s no way out of this fucking house.

Who could have ever known that when Frank’s father began to show signs of mental health issues, I’d be the one to pay for the insane security he built around this house? I hadn’t even been born when Frank’s father started believing people were after them and decided to turn this house into a fortress.

I have never been locked inside before. This is a new low for Frank. I watch through the window until he’s disappeared around the corner and then I go ballistic.

Pepper scurries around, following hot on my heels as I destroy the house looking for tools to break through the door. While I’m at it, I retrieve my key to Eli’s house from inside my pillowcase and shove it into my pocket.

With my phone taking a walk in Frank’s pocket, calling someone is out of the question. Then, remembering we have a wall phone, I dash back into the living room. I’ll call 911 on the wall phone—

Fuck! The whole thing has been ripped from the wall.

And these fucking burglar bars. I can’t even climb out through the windows. Huffing from exertion, I turn slowly, examining every inch of the house that I can see. It’s impossible that I can’t get out of this fucking house. Thousands of house break-ins every day in this fucking country and I can’t get out of my fucking own?

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