“You know,” Pullman said finally. “Bradley came by the station this morning. That’s why I was late. His alibi checked out. Though we will be investigating him to make sure there have been no instances of relationships with underage students.” I felt his gaze on me, and I avoided his eyes.
“Hey!”My father was approaching now, with Steve and Tommy behind him. “What the fuck are you doing?”
He was humming with anger, his finger pointed at Pullman.
“Why was my daughter in handcuffs?” he shouted. “Why was she shouting at you?”
“It was a misunderstanding, sir,” Pullman said, looking to me.
“Misunderstanding my ass,” Tommy snapped at him.
“That was excessive force,” my dad added. “I’ll have your badge.”
“You need cause to detain her,” Steve piped up.
Pullman raised an eyebrow, giving me a look that said,Can you rein them in?
I sighed. “Ididbite him.”
Both my father and Steve blinked in disbelief. I wasn’t ready to explain the full story to them yet.
Pullman’s face remained expressionless as he looked between my father, stepfather, and brother. “I’m going to get back to the search,” he said, and his gaze turned back at me. “Are we all right?”
Are you going to keep my secret?he seemed to ask with his eyes.
“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head. I was as convinced as I was going to be. But it also all meant I was no closer to finding my sister.
I sighed as I watched my best lead walk back to the rest of the waiting officers.
28
The search continued the rest of the day. Hours later, the sun had long since set and some of the groups, tired, had gone home for dinner. The police drove by and passed out flashlights for those of us who wanted to keep looking. No one in the family wanted to stop yet.
It was nine when we decided to give up for the night. My entire family, minus my niece and nephew, had decided to go back to my father’s house. And when we got there, my mother was already in the kitchen. There were two large takeout containers on the counter, filling the kitchen with a tart, garlicky odor.
“We ordered in,” my mother said, seeing the look on my father’s face. “Italian. I thought … I don’t know, after everything, I thought it might be nice to eat all together.”
I looked at the containers. She had ordered the family meal deal from a local place we had frequented when I was younger. Paper plates and plastic cups were stacked up on the dining-room table. Even Megan and Mallory were present, not an iPad in sight. It was hard to reconcile all of this with the conversation I’d had with my mother at Denny’s two days ago. But from the way my mother looked at my father now, it was clear she wasn’t still suspecting him. Had my parents spoken? Had she run her theory by Tommy or Suzannah and realized how ridiculous it sounded? Or had Pullman told them all about what Sam had seen back then?
Maybe the reality of today had scared them into seriousness. We all had to be coming to the same conclusion that no matter how much we wanted the opposite, it was looking more and more like Hazel was gone. She had been missing too long.
We all made our way to the dining table. I took a seat beside Suzannah. Tommy was still avoiding looking at me, choosing instead to stare at the food, which Mom had started to dole out. Someone had placed a large two liter of Diet Coke in the middle of the table, alongside a couple of bottles of cheap red wine that I knew came with the meal deal. I reached for one and cracked the cap. I felt so dead inside, and I needed something to make me feel again. I let the wine gurgle out of the bottle into my glass, making an obnoxious slurping sound as it poured nearly to the top.
“Really?” Mom asked, eyebrows cocked in annoyance.
I brought the drink to my mouth, chugging back a sip that was inappropriately large. Tommy reached for the bottle and poured himself a glass too. He handed it to Suzannah, who followed suit, and soon the bottle was empty. Steve shrugged and cracked the second bottle, pouring a glass for himself and then my father. “I think we all need some after today,” he reasoned. My mother sighed as she was handed a glass too.
It felt like we were in mourning. The entire scene was so surreal. I kept picturing the family dinners and breakfasts we used to have before the arrest. It felt light-years away from the one in front of me now. Where did the time go? I could see it all like it was yesterday, practically tasting the memories. I could picture Hazel sitting in the corner, her tiny little arms reaching over the booster seat for a sip of Tommy’s or Will’s soda, a Nutella sandwich in her hand.
That baby was now nearly an adult. A fully grown person who wasn’t in her bedroom where she belonged, but presumed dead.
I choked out an unexpected sob. I wiped at my eyes, well aware of the glances coming my way. Suzannah reached out and stroked my shoulder. Her face looked pained.
Mom’s lip trembled. “I need to get more ice,” she said abruptly, the beginning of tears forming on her wrinkled face.
“How was the drive to Miami yesterday?” Steve said finally, taking a sip of his wine just as Dad chugged his own. He was scrambling for conversation. It seems Tommy had told everyone I’d gone to see Will. That was annoying.
“I hate Miami drivers,” I said.
