CHAPTER 6
Tracy bolted upright, the bedsheet slipping to her waist. Disoriented, she thought the clatter that had startled her from sleep was the bell echoing through the halls of Cedar Grove High, signaling that she was late to teach her next chemistry class.
“Phone,” Ben moaned. He lay on the mattress beside her, a pillow pulled over his head to block out the slats of sharp, morning light filtering through the blinds. The phone finally cut off midring.
Tracy fell back onto her pillow, but now her mind wanted to continue orienting itself. Ben had picked her up from the shooting competition to go to dinner. In her mind she watched him push back his chair and drop to one knee. The ring! Her mouth inched into a sleepy grin and she held up her left hand, tilting the diamond to reflect the prisms of light. Ben had been so nervous he could hardly get the words out.
Her thoughts shifted again, this time to Sarah. Tracy had meant to call Sarah with the news when she got to her rental but then one thing had led to another with Ben, though Sarah apparently already knew. Ben told Tracy that Sarah had helped plan the evening. It was why Sarah had missed the two targets. She had wanted Tracy to win so she wouldn’t go off to get engaged in a bad mood.
Feeling guilty for having scolded Sarah, Tracy rolled over and checked the time on the digital alarm clock on the carpet beside the mattress. It glowed red numerals: 6:13 a.m. Sarah would never get out of bed this early to answer the extension in the hall of their parents’ home. Tracy would have to wait to call her.
No longer interested in sleep, Tracy rolled close to Ben, spooning his body and feeling the heat radiate from him. When Ben didn’t react, she pressed closer and ran her fingers over the ridges of his stomach muscles and took him in her hand, feeling him harden.
The phone rang.
Ben groaned, and not in a good way.
Tracy threw off the sheet, rolled out of the bed and stumbled over the clothes they had hastily discarded last night. She snatched the phone from its cradle on the wall in the kitchen. “Hello?”
“Tracy?”
“Dad?”
“I called earlier.”
“Sorry, I must not have heard—”
“Is Sarah with you?”
“Sarah? No. She’s at home.”
“She isn’t home.”
“What? Wait, aren’t you still in Hawaii? What time is it there?”
“Early. Roy Calloway said he couldn’t get a hold of anyone at the house.”
“Why was Roy calling the house?”
“They found your truck; did you have car trouble last night?”
Tracy was having difficulty tracking the conversation. Her head pounded from too much red wine and too little sleep. “What do you mean they found it? Found it where?”
“The county road. What happened to it?”
She felt a sense of dread wash over her. She’d told Sarah to stay on the highway. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! Roy recognized the sticker in the back window. Sarah’s not with you?”
She felt sick to her stomach, lightheaded. “No, she drove home.”
“What do you mean she drove home? Weren’t you with her?”
“No, I was with Ben.”
“You let her drive home from Olympia alone?” He was starting to shout.
“I didn’t let her . . . Dad, I got . . .”
“Oh my God.”
“She’s probably at home, Dad.”
“I just called there twice. No one answered.”
“She never answers. I’m sure she’s asleep.”
“Roy knocked. He knocked on the front door—”
“I’m driving over there now, Dad. Dad. I said I’m going over there now. Yes, I’ll call you when I get there. I said I’ll call you when I get there.”
She hung up the phone, trying to make sense of it.
Roy Calloway said he couldn’t get a hold of anyone at the house.
They found your truck.
She took a deep breath, fighting against the spreading anxiety, telling herself not to panic, telling herself that everything was fine.
I just called there twice.
Sarah was probably asleep and either hadn’t heard the phone ring or had ignored it. It would be just like her to ignore the phone.
Roy knocked. He knocked on the front door—
No one answered.
“Ben!”