our housekeeper, Sandra, has arrived to make breakfast.
“You see Ella?” I ask the plump brunette.
“Can’t say that I have.” Sandra checks the clock. “She’s usually gone by now. So are you, for that matter. What’s going on? Don’t you have practice?”
“Coach had a family emergency,” I lie. I’m so damn good at lying. It becomes almost second nature when you hide the truth every hour of every day.
Sandra tsks. “Hope it’s nothing too serious.”
“Me, too,” I answer. “Me, too.”
Upstairs, I enter the room I should have checked before racing off. Maybe she crept in while I was trying to find her. But Ella’s bedroom is dead silent. Her bed is still made. The desk is spotless.
I check her bathroom, which also looks untouched. Ditto with the closet. All her stuff is hanging on matching wooden hangers. Her shoes are lined up in a neat row on the floor. There are unopened boxes and bags still stuffed with clothes that Brooke probably picked out for her.
Forcing myself not to feel bad about invading her privacy, I dig through her nightstand—empty. I flipped her room once, back when I still didn’t trust her, and she always kept a book of poetry and a man’s watch in the nightstand. The watch was an exact replica of my dad’s. Hers had belonged to Dad’s best friend Steve, Ella’s bio-dad.
I pause in the middle of the room and look around. There’s nothing here to indicate her presence. Not her phone. Not her book. Not her…oh hell no, her backpack is gone.
I tear out of the room and down the hall to Easton’s.
“East, wake up. East!” I say sharply.
“What?” He groans. “Is it time to get up?” His eyes flicker open and he squints. “Oh shit. I’m late for practice. Why aren’t you there already?”
He shoots out of bed, but I grab his arm before he can dart off. “We’re not going to practice. Coach knows.”
“What? Why—”
“Forget that right now. How much was your debt?”
“My what?”
“How much did you owe the bookie?”
He blinks at me. “Eight grand. Why?”
I do some quick math. “That means Ella’s got about two G’s left, right?”
“Ella?” He frowns. “What about her?”
“I think she ran.”
“Ran where?”
“Ran away. Ran off,” I growl. I shove away from the bed and stalk to the window. “Dad paid her to stay here. Gave her ten grand. Think about it, East. He had to pay this orphan who was stripping for a living ten grand to come live with us. And he was probably gonna pay that to her every month.”
“Why’d she leave?” he asks in confusion, still half asleep.
I continue to stare out the window. Once his grogginess wears off, he’ll put it together.
“What did you do?”
Yep, here we go.
The floor creaks as he whips around the room. Behind me I can hear him muttering curses under his breath while he dresses.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say impatiently. Turning back, I give him the rundown of the places I’ve been. “Where do you think she is?”
“She’s got enough for a plane ticket.”
“But she’s careful with her money. She hasn’t spent hardly any of it while she’s been here.”
Easton nods thoughtfully. Then we lock eyes and speak in unison, almost as if we’re the twins of the Royal household, instead of our brothers, Sawyer and Sebastian. “GPS.”
We call the GPS service Atlantic Aviation owns and that my dad installs in every car he’s ever bought. The helpful assistant tells us that the new Audi S5 is parked at the bus station.
We’re out the door before she even starts to recite the address.
* * *
“ S he’s seventeen . About this tall.” I hold my hand beneath my chin as I describe Ella to the ticket clerk. “Blonde hair. Blue eyes.” Eyes like the Atlantic. Stormy gray, cool blue, fathoms deep. I got lost in that gaze more than once. “She left her phone behind.” I hold up my cell. “We need to get it to her.”
The ticket clerk clicks her tongue. “Oh sure. She was in
“You see Ella?” I ask the plump brunette.
“Can’t say that I have.” Sandra checks the clock. “She’s usually gone by now. So are you, for that matter. What’s going on? Don’t you have practice?”
“Coach had a family emergency,” I lie. I’m so damn good at lying. It becomes almost second nature when you hide the truth every hour of every day.
Sandra tsks. “Hope it’s nothing too serious.”
“Me, too,” I answer. “Me, too.”
Upstairs, I enter the room I should have checked before racing off. Maybe she crept in while I was trying to find her. But Ella’s bedroom is dead silent. Her bed is still made. The desk is spotless.
I check her bathroom, which also looks untouched. Ditto with the closet. All her stuff is hanging on matching wooden hangers. Her shoes are lined up in a neat row on the floor. There are unopened boxes and bags still stuffed with clothes that Brooke probably picked out for her.
Forcing myself not to feel bad about invading her privacy, I dig through her nightstand—empty. I flipped her room once, back when I still didn’t trust her, and she always kept a book of poetry and a man’s watch in the nightstand. The watch was an exact replica of my dad’s. Hers had belonged to Dad’s best friend Steve, Ella’s bio-dad.
I pause in the middle of the room and look around. There’s nothing here to indicate her presence. Not her phone. Not her book. Not her…oh hell no, her backpack is gone.
I tear out of the room and down the hall to Easton’s.
“East, wake up. East!” I say sharply.
“What?” He groans. “Is it time to get up?” His eyes flicker open and he squints. “Oh shit. I’m late for practice. Why aren’t you there already?”
He shoots out of bed, but I grab his arm before he can dart off. “We’re not going to practice. Coach knows.”
“What? Why—”
“Forget that right now. How much was your debt?”
“My what?”
“How much did you owe the bookie?”
He blinks at me. “Eight grand. Why?”
I do some quick math. “That means Ella’s got about two G’s left, right?”
“Ella?” He frowns. “What about her?”
“I think she ran.”
“Ran where?”
“Ran away. Ran off,” I growl. I shove away from the bed and stalk to the window. “Dad paid her to stay here. Gave her ten grand. Think about it, East. He had to pay this orphan who was stripping for a living ten grand to come live with us. And he was probably gonna pay that to her every month.”
“Why’d she leave?” he asks in confusion, still half asleep.
I continue to stare out the window. Once his grogginess wears off, he’ll put it together.
“What did you do?”
Yep, here we go.
The floor creaks as he whips around the room. Behind me I can hear him muttering curses under his breath while he dresses.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say impatiently. Turning back, I give him the rundown of the places I’ve been. “Where do you think she is?”
“She’s got enough for a plane ticket.”
“But she’s careful with her money. She hasn’t spent hardly any of it while she’s been here.”
Easton nods thoughtfully. Then we lock eyes and speak in unison, almost as if we’re the twins of the Royal household, instead of our brothers, Sawyer and Sebastian. “GPS.”
We call the GPS service Atlantic Aviation owns and that my dad installs in every car he’s ever bought. The helpful assistant tells us that the new Audi S5 is parked at the bus station.
We’re out the door before she even starts to recite the address.
* * *
“ S he’s seventeen . About this tall.” I hold my hand beneath my chin as I describe Ella to the ticket clerk. “Blonde hair. Blue eyes.” Eyes like the Atlantic. Stormy gray, cool blue, fathoms deep. I got lost in that gaze more than once. “She left her phone behind.” I hold up my cell. “We need to get it to her.”
The ticket clerk clicks her tongue. “Oh sure. She was in
Similar Books
Stealing Asia
David Clarkson
The Committee
Terry E. Hill
Maniac Magee
Jerry Spinelli
Ephialtes (Ephialtes Trilogy Book 1)
Gavin E Parker
Little Girl Lost
Janet Gover
Suddenly
Barbara Delinsky
How to Think Like Sherlock
Daniel Smith
The Square of Revenge
Pieter Aspe
Deep South
Nevada Barr