Page 48 of Did You See Evie

“Evie’s mother seems genuinely distraught,” I say, trying to focus on why we went by her house in the first place. “But she got defensive when I brought up the boyfriend.”

“How so?”

“She immediately knew what I was getting at and said she would know if anyone was making Evie feel uncomfortable,” I say. “But she also admitted she’s hardly ever home. I wonder if she isn’t kicking herself for putting Evie in a dangerous situation.”

“No wonder Evie was on edge. I can’t imagine living with a guy like that. He was drunk. And obviously has anger issues.”

“She said something else that bothered me,” I admit. “About the girls on the team. She said they’re mean to Evie.”

“Does that come as a surprise to you?”

“I’ve never seen it, and I’m with them more than anyone.”

“They’re going to be on their best behavior whenever you’re around. You’re the coach. You always acted your best whenever Coach Phillips was around.”

She’s right. Even in my most chaotic years, Coach Phillips was always someone I respected. I wanted to be on my best behavior. After I moved in with him, I started distancing myself from Nadia for that reason. I was afraid if he thought I was still like her, he wouldn’t give me the chances he gave me.

Nadia had always been there for me. And yet, part of me knew Coach Phillips was right. Nadia was headed down a dangerous path, and I could easily end up right beside her if I wasn’t willing to make changes. I’ve always felt guilty about the last conversation we had. I can hardly look at Nadia now because of the shame.

Then I think of the multiple ways in which Nadia has deceived me since re-entering my life. Pressuring me to assist her burglary. Lying to me about her true relationship with Evie. Is it possible her motives now are more sinister than she’s letting on? She’s made it clear Crystal refuses to let her around Evie. Could Nadia or her brother have orchestrated Evie’s disappearance to get more time with her? My instincts say that’s not what happened, but with Nadia, I find it hard to trust myself.

“I’m sick of not getting the full story from you.”

“I told you why I didn’t say anything,” she says. “I didn’t want you to have any doubts about me. If anything, being Evie’s aunt gives me even more reason to want to find her.”

“If you wanted a relationship with Evie, you should have been more focused on that than breaking into Manning Academy,” I say. “You’re as selfish now as you’ve always been.”

As we pull back into the school parking lot, Nadia says, “If I were you, I’d stop chasing the thrill of getting involved and leave the investigating to the professionals.”

“Right. Because you put so much faith into cops.”

“In case you don’t remember, last time we took a situation like this into our hands everything spiraled. If you keep making stupid choices, Cass, that’s just going to lead to more people getting hurt.”

“I’m just trying to help?—”

“Well, stop. You’re the fully mature adult now, remember? Try acting like it.”

Nadia slams the door as she gets out. I watch as she enters her car, a luxury vehicle she’s able to afford through conning and manipulating others. Am I allowing her to do the same to me?

I don’t want to believe it. I want to believe that out of everyone, Nadia is the one person I can trust, and yet she lied to me about her true connection to Evie. She understands me in a way no one else ever will, but maybe there isn’t enough distance between the woman she is now and the girl she was before.

Maybe she’s just as dangerous as she was back then.

TWENTY-FIVE

The second time we got arrested, I called Coach Phillips instead of my father.

Logically, I went to him because my dad was in the middle of a work shift, and the factory where he worked had notoriously bad cell phone reception. There’s no telling when he would have seen my message.

Really, though, it was because the bruise my father had left on my arm after the first arrest remained there for over a week; I knew he’d find out about my latest mishap eventually, but I wanted to space out the time between beatings as much as possible.

Coach Phillips was able to get me out of the station quickly. He knew the arresting officer and the police chief. Coach Phillips always had friends in important places, it seemed. Being athletic in a small town makes you a celebrity of sorts, and he used that to his advantage.

When we got in the car, his smiley façade fell away, and he looked at me with disappointment.

“You’re only sixteen years old and I’m having to pick you up from the police department,” he said. “This isn’t a good path to go down.”

“It was a mistake,” I said, my eyes fixed on the windshield.

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