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“I’d love that. I think the vibes from our last trip are wearing off. Mama said she had to drag him to class this morning and he’s been looking forward to it all summer.”
“Hmmm.” I drummed my thumbs on the steering wheel. “Wonder what that’s about. I talked to him Sunday night, and he was practically vibrating with excitement.”
“Maybe he’ll tell us when we ply him with junk food.”
Whitney Mae hadn’t been able to leave the funeral home, so we’d been tapped in to grab Reed from day two of his summer music class.
I parked the car, and Daisy and I got out. We’d been hoping he might’ve been able to let us listen to what he’d been creating, but when we walked into the classroom he was supposed to be in, only a couple kids remained, and none were Reed.
A man with a goatee and shaggy, salt-and-pepper hair approached us. “Hey, are you picking someone up?”
“Yes. My brother, Reed Dunham. Our mom put my name on the list of approved—”
“Some wires must’ve gotten crossed. Reed isn’t here today.” The man clucked his tongue. “It’s a shame. I recovered his beats that got deleted yesterday. I was looking forward to seeing what else he could do. Hopefully he’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Excuse me, what?” Daisy frowned. “My mother dropped him off here this morning. You’re telling me he hasn’t been here at all today?”
The man’s brow dropped, and he rubbed the patch of hair under his lip. “No, he didn’t show at all. I haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon.”
“Why were his beats deleted?” I asked.
He shook his head. “A couple guys thought it would be funny to mess with Reed’s computer when he got up. Let’s just say, Reed didn’t see the humor in it, and neither did I. In my class, we respect each other’s creative efforts—”
Daisy and I got on the phone as soon as we were out of the building. She called her mom, and I dialed Reed. Whitney Mae picked up, but Reed’s went straight to voicemail.
Me: Hey, kid. Where are you? Daisy and I were at class to pick you up.
Me: You’re not going to be in trouble for bailing. We’ll come get you, wherever you are.
Me: Let me know if you’re safe. If you need some time, just tell me you’re not in danger, and I’ll give you the time you need.
“I’m worried,” Daisy whispered.
“I know.” I kissed her head. “What’d your mom say?”
“She’s checking the house, his room. She’ll check my place if he’s not there.”
“Good. Let’s drive around here. Maybe he’s hanging out somewhere and lost track of time.”
We cruised up and down the road near the class, peering in windows of restaurants and fast-food joints. Tension filled the car. I wanted to tell Daisy I was sure Reed was fine, but I couldn’t bring myself to when I didn’t believe it.
He wasn’t at home.
Not at Daisy’s place either.
All of us had called him, but he wasn’t picking up.
Daisy and I drove while Landry called his friends. We stopped in his favorite restaurants, a comic book store, the public library. We even swung by my house on the off chance he was hiding out there.
Nothing.
I sat in the driveway, helpless, while Daisy quietly spoke to her panicked mother. Dropping my head to the steering wheel, I tried to think like Reed.
Had he felt helpless like this when those kids deleted the beats he’d created? Had he been defeated when the one thing he’d looked forward to all summer was just a repeat of the bullying bullshit he’d been dished out at school?
Probably, yeah.
Where would he want to go, feeling like that?
