I opened my mouth to say what I was thinking when Kevin smiled. “I think I’ve worked out how to go to them. Gotta go!”
And with that, he disappeared.
Alina put a hand on my arm. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I told her that Kevin had gone off to see his family and went through what he’d said about how he’d been tricked and drugged. Then I told her my dark thoughts about how Piper and Emily could have been taken by the same people.
Her face went pale. I felt sick. Poor Piper. Emily was a bitch, but she didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserved that. Not even Felicity.
We headed back to the car, determined to head straight for the police station, but I stopped near the fire pit. “Wait!”
“What is it?”
“My phone. I lost it at the party. I wanted to check near the log Blake and I were sitting on.”
I headed over and we searched for a while without any luck.
Alina turned to me. “The police might have found it when they processed the scene. We can ask them when we get there.”
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
We drove straight to the police station. When we told them why we were there, they put us in a room and organized for Detective Forester and Sergeant McLeod to meet with us.
I explained to Lochlan that I was a Spirit Seer, then told them everything that Kevin had said. I hoped I hadn’t forgotten any of the details.
Once I’d finished, I said, “I’m scared that the same thing might have happened to Emily Pullman and another missing girl named Piper Matthews.”
It would devastate Kassie, Kellie, Justina, and Kaydan to find out that Piper had been subjected to such a terrifying end. And Piper and Kassie’s parents. I swallowed hard and tried to calm my breathing.
The chances of finding Piper and Emily alive were very slim. And getting slimmer every day.
Lochlan had been taking notes while I talked. He put down his pen. “We will definitely look into all of it.” He looked me in the eye. “Did the spirit say anything else that could help us?”
“No. I’d explained to him that spirits seem to be able to go to the location of their loved-ones, which I think could be a way of them getting closure so they can move on, so once he worked out how to travel to see them, he said goodbye and disappeared.”
“Oh. I see. Well, we will work with the information you’ve given us.” He closed his notebook. “Thank you for your help in this matter. Please contact us if you remember anything else.”
As we got ready to leave, I remembered my phone. “Oh, did anyone find a silver phone out at the campsite or in the bush? I lost mine.”
Lochlan thought for a minute. I think we found two phones. We have them in evidence.”
My heart leapt. “How can I find out if one of them is mine?”
“We don’t have time to look that up right now — we were just leaving — but if I find out that one of them is yours, I will call Waratah Estate and let you know.”
“Thank you!”
I felt relieved and anxious at the same time. I hoped so much that they’d found mine. I’d only had it for such a short time and didn’t have the money to buy a new one.
Oh, God. How could I even explain what happened to it to Mum? How could I explain any of it? I couldn’t. I’d just have to pretend everything was okay and that I’d just lost my phone. At least I didn’t have any injuries I’d have to hide from her or try to explain.
We were shown the way out. I was glad to be out of there and took a few deep breaths once we were outside in the sunshine.
Alina stretched her arms as she tried to stifle a yawn. “Let’s get out of here.”
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During dinner that night, I was lost in thought and didn’t participate much in the conversation. I wanted to tell someone about what we’d discovered, but besides not wanting to answer a million questions afterwards, the police had told us to keep it to ourselves as it was an active investigation. That made sense. I didn’t want to do anything to mess up their chances of finding either of the girls — or any of the other missing people.
When Kellie had asked me if I was okay, I’d just told her I had a lot on my mind. I think everyone could understand that after the disaster that was the Halloween party.
As I climbed the stairs afterward, I found myself wishing Jackson was in my room so I could talk to him. Why was I wishing he was there? When did I stop thinking of him as a pain in my butt? Why did I want to see him so badly?
Maybe because I’d felt so much comfort when he held me and I poured my heart out onto his shirt. Maybe because he’d known just the right things to say to make me feel better.
Are things going to be awkward now? How am I going to deal with things being weird when he’s always hanging around?
Then I remembered what happened before the party. Oh. With everything that had gone down, I’d totally forgotten that he’d seen me in my undies. My face flushed with heat.
He’d been a gentleman about it and turned away as soon as he’d realized, but he would have seen basically everything. Damn. Even the scars from the car accident that I never looked at. Yeah, I knew it was denial, but after all this time, I still wasn’t ready to face them.
Now I was nervous. What if he was in my room right now? I decided to pretend it didn’t happen. I would not mention it, so then neither would he. We could just put it behind us. Yep. That’s what I would do.
When I opened my door, my room was empty, but Jackson was actually standing out on the verandah waiting for me. My reaction was a mixture of excitement and dread as he turned around and smiled, but I told myself to forget the whole him-seeing-my-boobs incident and put a smile on my face too.
I waved him in and he walked through the glass.
“Hi, Maddie. How are you feeling today?”
“I’m okay. A lot better. How are you?” After disappearing again.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been gone again. How long this time?”
“It’s Friday night.”
“Damn. I wish I knew what was going on. Why do I just randomly disappear and reappear?”
That got me thinking of him randomly reappearing and seeing me almost naked and my face flushed.
If he noticed, he didn’t say anything.
I twirled a lock of hair around my fingers. “I wish I knew. I wish I could help.”
“Don’t worry about it. I doubt there’s anything anyone can do.”
I decided to change the subject and told him all about what I’d done that day, then told him about the church meeting and that the Guild was now fully involved.
He listened carefully and when I’d mentioned that a sergeant from the Guild had actually come in and addressed the crowd, Jackson’s expression went blank.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure. Something about the Guild. Sergeant. Guardian…” He looked at me. “I think I was a Guardian.”
12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aatx35fyc
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Author's Note: Jackson has finally remembered something. What do you think he might have been doing when he died?
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