Mia watches the two of them like she’s having the exact same thought. Ezra’s eyes light on us at almost the same time Katrin’s hand shoots into the air. “Ellery!” Katrin calls. “Over here!” She doesn’t include Ezra, and I feel pathetically grateful when he starts toward us. Even though I know it’s probably just because he wasn’t invited anywhere else.
Ellery hesitates, and it feels as though the entire cafeteria is watching her. Her curly hair is long and loose today, and when she looks toward Katrin it obscures half her face. My heart jackhammers in my chest as I try to tell myself it doesn’t matter what she does. It won’t change anything. Brooke will still be missing, and half the town will still hate me because I’m a Kelly.
Ellery lifts her hand and waves at Katrin, then turns away from her and follows Ezra to our table. I exhale for what feels like the first time all day, relieved, but the buzz in the cafeteria only gets louder. Ezra reaches us first, pulling out two chairs with a noisy scrape and lowering himself into one of them. “Hey,” he says quietly. Ellery puts her tray next to his and slips into the remaining chair, offering me a tentative smile.
Just like that, we’re all outsiders together.
It’s not right, it’s not okay.
That’s the part of what Brooke said in the Fright Farm office that sticks with me the most. With Ellery, too. “The one time I sat with her and Katrin at lunch, she looked worn down,” she says. “Something was definitely bothering her.”
We’re at Mia’s house after school, scattered around her living room. I’m keeping a constant eye on social media, hoping for some kind of positive update on Brooke, but all I see are posts about organizing a search. The police don’t want people doing anything on their own, so they’re recruiting volunteers for a coordinated effort.
None of the Kwons are home except Daisy, who’s holed up in her bedroom as usual. Thank God. I’d like to think Dr. and Mr. Kwon wouldn’t treat me any different from how they always have, but I’m not ready to find out.
“Maybe that’s why she was talking to Vance,” Mia says. She’s still seething that nobody took me seriously about that. “She could’ve been asking for help.”
Ezra looks dubious. “I don’t know. I’ve only met the guy once, but he didn’t strike me as the helpful type.”
“He was Sadie’s homecoming date,” Ellery says. “That means nothing, I guess, but … it’s weird how he keeps popping up, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I agree. “But he was locked up all night.”
“According to Officer McNulty,” Ellery says darkly.
I blink at her. “What, you—you think he was making that up?” At least she’s equal opportunity with her conspiracy theories.
“I don’t think the Echo Ridge police are very competent, do you?,” she asks. “Somebody basically drew them a map that was all, hey, hello, here’s my next victim. And she disappeared anyway.”
She half swallows the last word, hunching down in the Kwons’ oversized leather armchair. I blink, surprised at how lost she suddenly looks, and then I could kick myself for being so caught up in my own problems that I didn’t make the connection sooner. “You’re scared,” I say, because of course she is. She was on that list too.
Ezra leans forward on the couch. “Nothing’s going to happen to you, El,” he says. Like he can make it true through sheer force of will. Mia nods vigorously beside him.
“No, I know.” Ellery hugs her knees to her chest and rests her chin on them. “That’s not how this works, right? It’s always one girl. There’s no point in worrying about me right now, or Katrin. Just Brooke.”
There’s no way in hell I’m going to remind her that we have no clue how any of this works. “We can worry about all of you. But it’ll be all right, Ellery. We’ll make sure of it.” It’s the worst reassurance ever, coming from the last guy to see Brooke before she disappeared. But it’s all I’ve got.
Light footsteps sound on the stairs, and Daisy appears on the landing. She’s wearing giant sunglasses and an oversized sweater, clutching her bag like a shield. “I’m going out for a little while,” she says, heading for the Kwons’ front door and pulling a jacket off their coatrack. She moves so quickly, she looks as though she’s gliding across the floor.
“’Kay,” Mia says, scrolling through her phone like she’s barely listening. But as soon as the door closes behind Daisy, Mia’s head snaps up. “Let’s follow her,” she says in a loud whisper, springing to her feet.
Ezra and Ellery lift their brows in almost comical unison. “We already know where she goes,” I object, my face getting hot as the twins exchange surprised glances. Great. Nothing like outing yourself as a stalker in front of your only friends.
“But we don’t know why,” Mia says, peering through the blinds of the window next to the door. “Daisy’s seeing a psychologist and she never told me,” she adds over her shoulder to the twins. “It’s all very mysterious and I, for one, am sick of mysteries around here. At least we can do something about this one if we’re quick enough. Okay, she just pulled out. Let’s go.”
“Mia, this is ridiculous,” I protest, but to my surprise Ellery’s already halfway to the door, with Ezra right behind her. Neither of them seems concerned about the fact that Mia’s spying on her own sister with my help. So we pile into my mother’s Volvo, and head down the same road Daisy took last Thursday. We catch up to her pretty quickly, and keep a few car lengths behind her.
“Don’t lose her,” Mia says, her eyes on the road. “We need answers.”
“What are you going to do? Try to listen in on her session?” Ezra sounds both confused and disturbed. I’m with him; even if that wasn’t a massive violation of Daisy’s privacy and probably illegal, I don’t see how you could do it.
“I don’t know,” Mia says with a shrug. Typical Mia: all action, no planning. “She’s going twice in one week. That seems like a lot, doesn’t it?”
“Beats me,” I say, getting into the left lane in preparation for a turn that Daisy should be making at the next intersection. Except she doesn’t. I swerve to stay straight and the car behind me blares its horn as I run a yellow light.
“Smooth,” Ezra notes. “This is going well. Very stealthy.”
Mia frowns. “Now where’s she going?”
“Gym?” I guess, starting to feel foolish. “Shopping?”
But Daisy doesn’t head downtown, or toward the highway that would take us to the nearest mall. She sticks to back roads until we pass Bukowski’s Tavern and enter Solsbury, the next town over. The houses are smaller and closer together here than they are in Echo Ridge, and the lawns look like they get mowed a lot less. Daisy’s blinker comes on after we pass a liquor store, and she turns in front of a sign that reads “Pine Crest Estates.”