Danny glances up at his rearview mirror. "I'm trying to get away from this cop so I can go faster."
It's not just about the cop. I sensed a shift in him. An urgency he didn't have just moments ago.
"You think something happened. Something bad."
He blows out a breath. "What you said just now...if that's true, then yeah, he wouldn't have missed school. He wouldn't let you down like that. He loves you too much to do that to you."
"You knew? He told you how he felt about me?"
"He didn't tell me. I just knew. It was obvious from the way he talks about you and how he looks at you. I've never seen him act that way with any other girl. But I didn't think he was ready to tell people. Honestly, I didn't think he ever would. I thought he'd make you keep it a secret."
"He wants people to know. He said he didn't want to keep hiding it."
"Shit," Danny says, rubbing his jaw. "He loves you even more than I thought."
Tears well up in my eyes. "I'm so scared. What if something happened to him?"
"We're almost there. We'd already be there if it weren't for this cop following me." Danny turns down Dean's street. "You gotta be kidding me."
"What?"
"The cop is still following me. What the hell?"
As Danny pulls up in Dean's driveway, the cop car pulls into a driveway two doors down. It's the house the little girl ran out of when she came over to show me her dog. That was a few weeks ago and I haven't seen her since. The little girl said the lady who lived in the house was her grandma.
"Why would the cops be going to the old lady's house?" I ask as Danny turns the truck off.
"You know who lives there?"
"I don't know her, but I know her granddaughter. I met her a few weeks ago when she was walking her dog."
"Old people are always calling the cops. They think every little noise is someone trying to break in. My grandma's the same way."
We get out of the truck and go up to Dean's house. Danny knocks on the door really hard so Dean will hear us if he's sleeping.
As we wait for him to answer, I look down at the old lady's house and notice the cop talking to her at the door. He glances over at Dean and me, then looks back at the old lady.
"I don't think he's home," Danny says, knocking again. "Dean! Open up! It's Danny and Brook!" He knocks again.
"I'm sure he's in there," I say, hoping he's asleep in the bedroom and just can't hear us knocking. I want it to be true but I know it's not. Something's definitely wrong.
"Hey!" a man yells.
Danny and I look over and see the cop heading toward us.
"What the hell?" Danny mutters. "I wasn't even speeding."
"I don't think this is about your driving," I say, a sick feeling coming over me.
"What are you two doing here?" the officer asks.
"We're looking for a friend," I say. "He didn't come to school today and we were worried."
The officer steps up on the porch and stands in front of us, his hands on his waist, one placed right over his gun.
"What's your friend's name?" he asks.
"Dean Sanders," Danny says. "We've been calling him and texting him but haven't heard back. Nobody else at school's heard from him either."
