“We don’t know that! Just stay calm,” I said, fumbling to retrieve the hidden key from under the downspout and unlock myfront door. I hurried inside, grabbed my van keys off the kitchen counter, and ran to the garage.
I got in my minivan, put the key in the ignition, and gave it a hard twist. The van coughed and stalled. I smacked the steering wheel and pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The engine roared and then started to shudder. “Keep your phone on. I’ll call you back.”
Vero shouted my name as I disconnected and speed-dialed Cam.
He answered on the first ring. “About that last Venmo, I can explain—”
“Listen to me very carefully. I need you to track Vero’s phone.”
“Is that a trick question?”
“No, it’s not a trick question!”
“I feel like it is, because you told me not to do that anymore.”
“This is an emergency, Cameron! Vero’s missing, and I need to know where she isright now.” I left rubber in the driveway as I tore down the street.
“Okay, okay. Don’t get your undies in a bunch.”
“Where is she?” I asked again, growing more impatient the closer I was to the entrance of the community. Should I go east or west? There was no time for wrong decisions.
“She’s on the interstate.”
“Which way!” I shouted when I reached the stoplight.
“West. Jeez. Calm down.”
I hit the gas and wedged myself into oncoming traffic, then made an illegal U-turn to circumnavigate the light.
“Take the exit ramp coming up. You’re about ten miles behind her.”
“Do I want to know how you know whereIam?”
“Probably not.”
That was just one more thing I didn’t have time to worry about. “Do not lose her, Cam! Text me every turn she makes.”
“Fifty bucks and a steak dinner sounds fair. And maybe one of those fancy cheesecakes with the—”
“Just do it!” I disconnected and dialed Vero back. “I’m less than ten minutes behind you. Cam’s tracking your phone. Whatever you do, don’t turn it off.”
“Where the hell am I?”
“I-66 in Prince William County, headed west.”
“Fabulous. I can hear the banjos already.”
“Don’t be hyperbolic.”
“If I die,” Vero said through chattering teeth, “tell Delia and Zach I love them. And tell Zach I said to keep his pants on. On second thought, tell Javi that, too. And tell him I don’t care how many girls he dated while we were apart. Unless one of them was Sophia Martinelli. If he slept with her, tell him I hope he gets gonorrhea in his next life and I’ll haunt him from the grave. And tell my cousin—”
“I told you, Vero, I’m not going to let you die. You trust me, don’t you?”
“Of course I trust you. Would I be in this situation if I didn’t?”
“That’s not helping my confidence.”
“Just hurry up and get me out of here. It’s freezing, I can’t breathe, and I think Sally’s husband and I just got to second base.”
