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Her mouth tightened. “He’ll come back.”

“Everybody keeps saying that.”

“Would you rather we tell you he was probably murdered?”

I looked at her.

She blinked.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That was supposed to be reassuring.”

I had to laugh. “It wasn’t.”

“I can try again.”

“Please don’t.”

She nodded. “Fair.” That was Sadie.

We got our food and reached our usual table.

Sara was already there.

She moved her bag off the chair beside her when she saw us. Sara was pretty in an approachable, unstudied way, with warm brown skin, dark hair she usually wore loose, and big brown eyes that made every thought show on her face. She dressed casually—jeans, little tops, sneakers.

“I heard about Max,” she said.

I sat. “That was fast.”

“Small town.”

“High school,” Sadie corrected. “Worse.”

Sara frowned. “He’s still gone?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve got all that greenbelt behind your house. Maybe he chased something.”

“That’s what I’m hoping.”

“Coyotes go through there too. Big packs of them.”

Sadie turned slowly toward her.

Sara’s eyes widened. “Oh God. Sorry.”

I laughed despite myself. “It's fine.”

“No, that was horrible.”

“It’s the truth. I’ve seen coyote signs in our driveway many times. It’s a real possibility. The most likely one, if he doesn’t come back.”

“I need a better filter.”