Page 1 of Trip Through Your Wires

Prologue

Jenica

Last summer…

Reaching into the case of beer on the rock doubling as a bar, I grab a can and blow on the top. There’s nothing worse than warm cheap beer but deciding it’s better than nothing, I pop the top and take a sip. Yup, as expected. Tastes like pool water. Nasty.

It’s not like Travis and I couldn’t have swiped some of the good stuff from the store. But if we had, it would’ve taken an extra shift to make up the cost, and neither of us wants that. Between working there and our extra summer jobs at the boardwalk, we’re already burning the candle at both ends, and taking without paying wasn’t an option.

If there was one thing my parents instilled in each of us Miller kids from an early age, it was this—you want something, you work for it. The world owes you nothing. So, despite my mischievous nature as a kid, no matter how badly I wanted a pack of Pop Rocks or a box of Runts, I would ignore the little voice inside my head that said ‘take it’ because doing so would literally be biting the hand that fed me.

When it came to having fun with my bestie, however, I’d gladly work an extra shift if it meant I could treat Ellery when I could. It was the least I could do given her generous heart and I’d already made up for the bottle of Popov and six pack of Zima I’d swiped to bring to her house that first weekend this summer.

Taking another sip of my shitty beer, I turn when I hear Caleb call out my brother’s name. Travis enters the cave to applause with a case of beer under each arm.

Making his way over to me, he sets both down on the rock and smiles. “What’s good, sis?”

“Not the beer,” I quip, “that’s for sure.”

He rolls his eyes and opens the cases, handing out a can to those who come over for a new one.

“Why didn’t you let someone else grab the beer for once?” I shake my head. “You’re too nice.”

My brother worked way too hard for a guy his age. At twenty-one he should be having the time of his life. Not that the smile on his face right now would indicate he wasn’t. He knew how to work hard and live it up, just like our two older brothers, Cole and Danny.

When it came to me, however, their little sister, and only girl among the four of us, that balance of work hard/play hard came with another layer—big dreams. I wasn’t going to live and die in Cherry Cove like every generation before me. I was going to get out of here and have a life that wasn’t about our family’s store or this town, but one of bright lights and big cities, filled with buildings that I designed.

I’d been saving for years in support of that dream. Stashing away every cent I could spare in the piggy bank Nana gave me on my sixth birthday. While that dream changed a couple of years ago, I was not deterred.

Just as the ethos of hard work was instilled in me at an early age, so too, was perseverance. When your dreams are dashed, you pick up the pieces. You do not wallow. You do not sulk. You move on, with your head held high. I would get to college and no one was going to stop me.

“Hey,” Travis nudges my shoulder. “It’s cool. They’ll get it next time. Besides, it was a rough day and everyone could use another round.”

He rips open the case and grabs a can, popping the top and taking a sip while checking out the scene around us. It looked like so many other summer nights over the years. Kids we’d known since birth, chilling in the cave that was for locals only.

He’s right. Today was a hard day. Hanging up missing persons fliers for a girl I’d known since she was born was pretty brutal.

“How’s he doing?” I look at my brother’s best friend Caleb. He’s smiling, but it’s a mask. I know because we all wore one when life kicked us down.

When you’re born in a place like Cherry Cove, anything can be used against you, including your emotions, so it is best to keep them close to the vest. When you felt like crawling into a hole, that’s when you put your mask on and smiled like a bitch.

“Not good,” he admits. “We just plastered his little sister’s face over every wall in town. He’s numb I think.”

Caleb’s sister shouldn’t be missing. Something should have been done when the first girl Chrissy disappeared. But of course then, no one could be bothered and it didn’t take a genius to know why. Elmhurst, the rich suburb that ran the county, had every government official in their pocket from the County Sheriff to the Governor. It was they who determined what cases were worthy, and a missing girl from these parts just didn’t make the cut.

Four more girls had gone missing since and nothing had been done. It was as if their lives didn’t matter and it was infuriating. I hoped whatever bastard was doing this got what was coming to them.

“I’ll tell you what, though. If it was you…” Travis shakes his head and looks down into his beer. “I’d turn this state upside down.”

“Aw…” I nudge his shoulder, trying to lighten the mood. “You like me?”

He looks up and grins. “I gave you extra time on the Gravitron the other day, didn’t I?”

“That you did,” I smile.

“Like I said,” he slings one arm across my shoulder, “I got your back, little sis.”

As we stand there bobbing our heads in time to the music blaring out of a boombox a few feet away, drinking our shitty beer like we’re sipping champagne in paradise, I can’t help but think this was a pretty good way to end a hard day.

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