While Bodhi was in the bathroom, I took the dogs out to do their business, careful to keep the furry beasts as well hidden as possible.
From my brief time outside, it was clear the fire was still raging. The air was thick with smoke and, although I couldn’t see flames through the haze, that didn’t mean the blaze wasn’t headed in our direction.
Sinking onto the couch, I hastily flipped through the stations to find coverage on the fire. I gasped as video footage of house after house burned to the ground flashed on the screen. The fact that I’d been inside of that firestorm was almost incomprehensible. I could still feel the heat on my skin and taste the soot on my tongue. My lungs constricted from imaginary smoke.
Fearing another panic attack, I breathed deliberately into my hands, my eyes glued to the coverage. A map of the burn zone brought some relief since it appeared the fire was travelling north and away from us, but fires, spurred by the heavy winds, sprung up all over Southern California. Our little ocean community was surrounded from all sides. If the winds changed direction…
My thought trailed off when the coverage shifted to a reporter close to the scene.
“We’ve been told by officials there are upwards of forty people still unaccounted for. As reported earlier, singer Bodhi Beckett from the popular boy band,AnyDayNow,is still listed among the missing. He was said to have been staying in one of the homes affected by the fires and his whereabouts are unknown at this time. We will, of course, update you as new information becomes available.”
My head spinning from the unexpected information, I paused the report.
What. The. Actual. Fuck, Margaret?
How was Bodhi still considered missing if he called his father?
Unless…
“Bodhi!” My voice rose when he didn’t answer.“Bodhi!”
Emerging from the bathroom, he looked at me curiously as he towel dried his unruly hair. “What the hell? Can you scream any louder? I don’t think they heard you in Hawaii.”
I motioned to the tv. “You need to see this.”
Once he was at my side, I pushed play so he could listen to the report. It was no less shocking the second time around. For me at least. But Bodhi was strangely quiet, rubbing his fingers over his stubbled jaw.
“Bodhi…” His eyes found mine, only to dart away. I swallowed hard, growing more disillusioned by the second. “Bodhi, what have you done?”
Rather than answer, he walked toward me with his arms outstretched.
“You told your family you were safe, right?” I pressed, narrowing my gaze. “You called them last night, didn’t you?”
He stopped dead in his tracks with a look reminiscent of a dog who’d gotten into the trash and had no way of denying it because the frickin’ can was wrapped around his neck.
I was getting madder by the second. He’d put me in a terrible position. I’d inadvertently been harboring a dead guy… and not just any dead guy. Oh no, mine had to be important enough that people actually gave a fuck. “Bodhi?!?”
“No, okay,” he admitted with a sigh. “I didn’t call them.”
“Why? What were you thinking? This is bad. They think you’re dead.” I grabbed my phone and pressed it into his hands. “Call them, now.”
He stood there staring at the screen. And then he lifted his gaze, resolute.
“I can’t,” he said dully, dropping my cell on the table. “Not yet.”
I blinked at him, unable to comprehend a world where you allowed your loved ones to suffer such a crushing loss.
As I made to stalk past him, he grabbed my arm. “Please, let me explain.”
The desperation in his eyes gave me pause. Something was motivating him to deceive everyone who meant anything to him. People didn’t just do that for fun. Bodhi had a reason and I owed it to him to shut my mouth and hear him out.
Sinking back down onto the sofa, I folded my arms over my chest. “I’m listening.”
There was a long pause as Bodhi gathered his thoughts… or came up with a plausible lie… I wasn’t exactly sure. His fingers grazed the back of his neck.
“Okay, so here’s the deal. I need a few days. There’s someone I need to find.”
Incredulous, I gaped at him. “A few days? They’ll be conducting your funeral in a few days.”
