What could she tell him? The truth was that she really didn’t know either his sister or the man she left with. She’d known Jennifer had received a creepy note and had been so scared that she’d been afraid to get out of her car.
Maybe Shannon was accountable, at least to a small extent.
And he sounded furious. Like he hated her.
She knew he was with Traci. Now that she thought of it, when she’d told Traci about Jack’s panicked phone call, her sister hadn’t said much. What if she hated her too?
What if they both blamed her for Jennifer going missing? And what if something really bad had happened to Dylan’s sister? What would happen then?
“Do you?” he asked, sounding even more impatient.
“No,” she said at last, feeling even worse. “I don’t have any additional information to give you. Though, I’d love to help.”
“Help do what?”
He sounded so mean! “I . . . I could help look for Jennifer,” she sputtered. “I’m sure Kimber would want to help, too. Where are you? I could meet y’all.”
“Don’t bother. I think you’ve done enough.”
Those tears, the ones that she’d been trying so hard to hold at bay, filled her eyes. “I see,” she whispered. “Well, if you could let me know what happens, I’d really appreciate it.”
Then she realized that she was talking to air. He’d hung up on her.
Staring at the blank screen of her cell phone, she tossed it on her bed.
She’d really messed up, at least it seemed she had. Suddenly, all she could seem to do was replay his terrible words over and over in her head and compare it to those last months of her dancing career. Back when she’d gotten all the way to nationals and then realized that while she might have been “all that” in Spartan, West Virginia, she didn’t have anything on those East Coast girls. She hadn’t even come close.
She wasn’t as polished, didn’t have the dresses and costumes they did, didn’t have their connections, and certainly didn’t have their confidence. She’d felt like the most naive fool around.
Then, when one of the judges had made a pass at her in a dark hallway, she’d been so shocked and embarrassed, she hadn’t told a soul. But it had settled and stewed deep inside her. She’d gone out on the floor to perform, had taken one look at the judge, and completely forgot everything.
In the span of three minutes, she’d ruined five years of hard work and put to waste thousands of dollars that her parents had forked out for that dream.
The crowd had been stunned. Her coach had been full of questions. The other girls had smirked, and she’d hung her head in shame. And her parents? Oh, they’d been so disappointed in her.
It had been the lowest point in her life—even worse than discovering that she’d had sisters that no one had told her about—because that moment, that failure in front of all those people, had felt like her fault.
Even though she’d been a kid, and she knew it was the judge’s fault and not hers, she had felt responsible.
And that was exactly the same way she felt now. Like she’d been accosted for no reason and she was being left to flounder and find excuses when there really weren’t any to give.
“Shannon?” Kimber rapped lightly on the door. “Hey, Shan?”
She pulled open the door. “Yes?”
“I talked to Traci a couple of minutes ago,” she said, her worried expression surely mirroring her own. “Have you talked to her?”
“I did. She called me right before Dylan did.”
“He called you, too?” Hope shined in her eyes. “Did he have any news?”
“No.”
Kimber blinked. “Oh. Well, listen, I told Traci that we’d be happy to help. She said she’d get back to us, but if they can’t find her soon, they might start forming a search party. What do you think? Are you up for it?”
“I’m up for it, but I don’t think Dylan would want me to be there.”
“What are you talking about?”
“As you can imagine, he’s pretty worried.” He was angry at her, too, but Shannon didn’t want to share that with Kimber yet.
“I bet he’s worried out of his mind. But I tell you what, I think we need to think positive.”
“Positive? How?”
“There’s always a chance that everybody’s getting all riled up for no reason.” She shrugged. “Maybe Jennifer just decided to go hang out at the movies or something.” She blinked. “Or . . . she got an Uber home and is taking a nap. Now, wouldn’t that be something?”
She chuckled, though she reckoned it sounded as dry and forced as it felt. “It surely would.”
“Hey, what’s going on? You’re really taking this hard, aren’t you? Chin up, now. It’ll be okay.”
Shannon nodded. Part of her wanted to share what Dylan said to her, but it hurt too much. And, perhaps, she couldn’t bring herself to say it because she knew his words might have been close to the truth. Then, for some reason, she felt protective over her new siblings. She didn’t want to cause things to be worse or cause them pain. “I guess I’m just rattled,” she said. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“It’s too bad we can’t cook, huh?”
“Why do you say that?”
“If we could make a plate of brownies worth a darn, we could whip some up and take them over to the police station. Traci sounded so stressed, she needs chocolate.”
“Chocolate?”
“Chocolate helps everything. Everyone knows that.”
“For a stick-thin model, you sure think a lot about food.”
“You would, too, if you’d had to deny yourself all the good stuff that I have.” Her smile faltered as her cell phone rang. After scanning the screen, she groaned. “Sorry, it’s the photographer for the shoot. I’ve gotta get this.”
Kimber rushed down to the hall toward her bedroom, leaving Shannon’s door open in her wake.
Looking at that open door, Shannon contemplated the merits of closing it tight and curling into a ball on her bed.
Then, reality settled back in.
She had new a couple to teach to swing dance and her class of tap-dancing high school girls after that.
Even though she was worried sick and her heart was breaking, she sat down at the dressing table, pinned her hair up, and pulled out a pair of nylons and her favorite dancing shoes. It was time to do her job and do it well.