Page 74 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay
“She’s not at the house,” Eliza said, breathlessly. “Joey was there, though. He said he flew her out to Bellingham. “
Ricks heart dropped. “Bellingham? For what? “
“He didn’t know. Is that bad?”
Rick took a shaky breath. “Any time your aunt goes out to Bellingham, it’s bad news.”
Eliza laughed. “That’s true.”
“Can you tell Joey to hang around for a bit? I’m flying back to the island now, then I’ll need a ride to Bellingham.”
“No problem!”
He hung up. It was time to get onto the plane, but he needed to make one more call. “Mia, do you know where Addy is?”
“Uh, I might,” she said slowly. “Aren’t you with her?”
“I’m not.” He heaved himself from the dock and into his seat. “I need to know where she is. She’s not answering her phone.”
“I’m so sorry!” Mia’s voice cracked. “It was my idea.”
“Tell me everything. I’m going to find her.”
He slammed the plane’s door shut. His mind was focused. He wasn’t going to lose control again.
Twenty-eight
It was the longest ride of her life. Addy tried to find something to hold onto – the side of the van, a bucket full of paint – but as she moved, everything shifted and moved with her, bouncing over the bumps in the road.
The most she could do was try not to groan when they hit the biggest potholes at full speed.
They were terrible drivers. Terrible conversationalists, too. Her main focus was on being still and quiet, but she couldn’t help but eavesdrop.
It didn’t sound like anything intelligent: an argument over the best sauce for McNuggets; why Batman was the worst superhero; and which of them would survive time travel more readily.
And the music, if it even counted as that. It was loud and full of screaming, like cries out of her worst nightmare.
It didn’t matter how terrible it was, though. It helped conceal her, even if it did give her a headache.
Mercifully, the car eventually stopped, and both men got out. Their bickering voices carried even after the doors shut.
Addy waited a minute before she dared to peek through the front window. She was in a parking lot surrounded by
other cars. The sun was setting, the sky a mass of thick, charcoal clouds, swirling above like a shroud.
After another five minutes, she sat up and pulled on the metal partition separating her from the front seat.
It was no use. It was welded into place, probably to keep paint cans from flying and hitting them in their stupid heads.
She sank down, her hips aching, and pulled out her phone. More bad news. It had ten percent battery and no service.
She unlocked it anyway, the warm glow filling the space around her. There was a missed call from Eliza. A missed call from Rick, and two text messages.
Her heart leapt and she rushed to open them. The first one was long and cryptic. He apologized a lot, and said he had to tell her something.
What could that possibly be about? Here she thought he’d never speak to her again, and now there was something important she needed to know?
His second message was much shorter. “I am coming. Don’t worry.”
