Page 93 of Fallen Stars

Turning to face me, her steel-blues meet my greens. She tips her head from side to side. “Yes and no.” Returning her attention to the map, she studies it for a beat. “They’d need somewhere big. Even crammed together, that’s a lot of people.”

Phoebe takes her eyes off the map and roams Delilah’s profile. “What’s going through that pretty head of yours, Fox?”

Delilah’s eyes narrow on the map as she rolls her lips between her teeth.

“If this is too much?—”

“No.” Delilah cuts Phoebe off. She closes her eyes, inhales deeply, and gives herself a moment to move past her own dark memories. A sense of calm fills her features when she opens her eyes. “I need to do this.”

Phoebe slips her hand around Delilah’s and nods. “Okay.”

The clap of boots on the tile echoes through the room as Travis and Chief Emerson enter the office. Chief walks over to where Mr. and Mrs. West stand with Tymber. Travis heads in our direction.

Delilah doesn’t take her eyes off the map. “You asked where this person would be.”

None of us say a word as we wait for Delilah to continue.

“Step back andreallylook at the map,” she says.

We all do as she suggests. I study the board and try to see what she does. I shove aside the written-in-stone facts and look at what is literally in front of me.

“Majority of the pins are close to bodies of water,” Travis murmurs. “Holy shit.” He steps within inches of the map and trails a finger over several pinheads. “Inlets, rivers, bays, the state’s coast. All within a few miles.”

“Tymber says they talk in code but often sound like fishermen,” I say.

Without another word, Travis spins on his heel and moves across the room. I follow him with my eyes and watch as the other half of the group reacts to this discovery.

A hand on my arm startles me.

“Sorry.” Delilah gives me a gentle smile.

I shake my head. “No need to apologize.”

Her hold on my forearm tightens. “We’ll find him, Ollie.”

The backs of my eyes sting as my vision blurs. Saliva pools in my mouth as emotion swells in my throat. “How can you be so sure?”

Turning to face me fully, Delilah invades my space, wraps her arms around my middle and hugs me, unlike anyone else since this whole fiasco began. I drop my head to her shoulder, close my eyes, and let my tears fall freely. Delilah hugs me with inconceivable strength as everything I’ve felt for the past fifty-three days streams down my cheeks. Up and down, Delilah gently strokes between my shoulder blades.

When my tears slow, Delilah inches away to meet my eyes. “Call it intuition, instinct or whatever you want, but Iknowwe’ll get him back.” She takes my hands in hers. “I feel it in my bones.”

Unable to speak past the emotion in my throat, I nod.

She strengthens her hold. “This isn’t the end. You and Levi will love each other for decades to come.”

More tears stain my cheeks as I hold her resolute gaze.

God, I hope she’s right.

August 28th

We haven’t brought L home yet, but today was a better day. After weeks of no change, we found something in L’s computer history. A clue. It’s vague as fuck, but it’s more than we had yesterday. Right now, any new information is better than nothing at all.

Then we figured out something else. Not sure if it’ll lead us in the right direction, but I sure as hell hope so. Almost everyone went missing near the water. In a matter of minutes, the news went out to other law enforcement. T says the Coast Guard and police are flying up and down the coast, over all the smaller bodies of water, and a little inland.

Everyone seems optimistic after the discovery. They’re all more animated and energized. But for whatever reason,I’m not. It feels weird to be auspicious so soon. I hold on to hope that we’ll find him. But I don’t want to be so clouded by it that we miss something important.

I just need him to come home. I just need to wrap him in my arms and tell him I love him.

---