“I asked Holt about it that night. He said he doesn’t haveany idea why Knox acts like that around you. Knox has said something about how happy you are all the time, but I can’t understand why that would make someone mad.”
“The man is exasperating,” Farrah practically growls.
Gwen and I look at each other, silently communicating how much we don’t believe her. I lose the battle with my laughter, and Farrah yells at me, “You suck!”
“I’m sorry, Farrah. I don’t mean to laugh at you. You’re just so fucking adorable when you’re angry.”
“I am not. I can be ferocious.”
“I have no doubt about that. You’re probably as tough as a bobcat, but you still look like a kitten,” I tell her.
She starts giggling. “You probably have me there. It’s the round face. It thwarts all of my attempts to look mean.”
I glance at my phone and realize I need to go pick up Finn and the girls. Gwen decides to stay with Farrah to help her clean up a bit before they head back to town.
This is only the second or third time I’ve gotten the girls from school. It’s not a complicated system, but it can take a while to get through the line of cars. I usually throw on an audiobook while I wait. It makes the time pass a whole lot faster.
Once I get up to the loading area, the monitor outside radios in for the girls and Finn to come outside.
Finn is first out the door, holding the hand of one of the teachers. I jump out of my car to help Finn get buckled into his seat. “Miss Gia! Lauren and Leah got picked up already,” he says as soon as he jumps into the backseat of my car.
“What do you mean, they got picked up already?”
I get Finn buckled into his seat as he responds. “They never comed to the cafeteria for pickup.”
“Did someone come get them early?”
He shrugs.
I can’t blame a six-year-old for not having any information.I’m just worried that something’s happened to them. Maybe Holt came to get the girls and just forgot to text me. I slowly pull out of the pickup line and drive around the school to a parking lot on the other side of the building. I’m not leaving until I know where they are for certain.
With a pit in my stomach, I call Holt. He answers after only a couple of rings. “Hey, Rainbow. You on your way?”
“Holt, did you pick the girls up?”
“No, are you at the school?”
“Fuck. They’re not here, Holt. I have Finn, but they didn’t come out with him.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“I got to the school, and they radioed for Finn and the girls, but only Finn came out. He said that Lauren and Leah got picked up already, but he didn’t know when. What do I do?”
“Go to the main office and see if they got checked out by someone.”
“But we’re the only ones with permission to pick them up.”
“I know, but it’s the only thing I can think of right now. I’m on my way. Don’t leave until I get there.”
“Okay, I’ll go see what I can find out.”
I get Finn out of his seat, and we walk into the elementary school office. The secretary smiles at us through the wide glass window. She slides the partition open. “How can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Lauren and Leah Basil. They were supposed to be with the other parent-pickup students, but they weren’t there.”
“Oh, dear. Okay, let’s see if someone checked them out early today.” She clicks around on her computer. The line between her eyebrows deepens the longer she looks. “This is very strange. I can’t find any notes about them being checkedout.”
“So where are they?”
