Page 54 of Secondhand Smoke

Her phone rang.

“Shit, sorry.” She fumbled it out of her pocket, cursing the timing. “It doesn’t normally ring during the day like this, so I better…”

Her mother’s number flashed across the screen.

“Mom?”

A strangled sob greeted her from the other end of the line.

The bottom fell out of her stomach. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Aidan stepped in closer, leaning over her so that she was enveloped by his shadow.

“Erin’s gone!” her mother gasped. “I stopped by the school to pick her up from practice, and I waited, and waited, and she didn’t come out.” She gulped air. “And when I went in and talked to Coach Barnes, she said Erin never showed up to practice. Sam, I looked all through the school–”

“Just hang tight,” Sam said, careful to keep her voice calm. “I’m on the way, and we’ll find her together. Okay? Just wait for me, Mom.”

“Okay, okay. Thank you. Oh, God, Sam…”

“She’s fine. See you in a bit.”

Fine, sure, but most likely stoned or in the middle of losing her virginity. But no big deal.

“I’ll come with you,” Aidan said as she tucked her phone away, and for once, she didn’t feel like arguing for politeness’ sake.

“That would be great, thanks.” She cast him a weak smile. “Any ideas where a resentful, grounded teenage brat would go on a school night?”

He nodded. “A few. Let’s go.”

He put his arm around her as they headed for the staff parking lot, and she let her weight fall against him. Dangerous…but unavoidable.

~*~

A few phone calls and drive-bys proved that Erin wasn’t at any of her friends’ homes. Again Sam had to face the judgmental looks of the mothers, the scandalized eyebrow raises punctuated by the yelling and thumping of younger siblings roughhousing beyond the open doors. And of course, it wasn’t as simple as a slumber party or a nail-painting adventure. Much too pedestrian for Erin.

It was a comfort, Aidan on his bike behind her, this vital, growling presence that drew heads. He was Aidan, sure, but in his cut and sunglasses, the wind pushing up his sleeves and showing off his ruined tattoos, he was a Lean Dog too, and that felt like taking an actual knight into battle.

As dramatic as that sounded.

When the other options were exhausted, they pulled up at Hamilton House, by unspoken agreement.

“See that?” Aidan asked when she joined him on the pavement, staring up at the mansion. He pointed out the white balloon tied at the porch rail, bobbing in the wind. “That’s the signal.”

“Signal that…what?”

He gave her a sidelong glance as he took off his helmet. “You really didn’t keep up with this kinda shit in high school, did you?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, I really didn’t.”

“It’s the party signal. There’s a whole balloon system. Blue for high school, black for college or older.”

“What about white?”

A small frown tugged at his lips. “White means anything goes.”

A chill skittered down her spine. “Well nothing’s going on now.”

There was no way a party was hiding behind those sad, empty windows. Save their voices, it was silent up here, the occasional squeak of the balloon striking the rail eerie.

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