I didn’t find it exciting. I found it scary as hell.
At two-thirty on the dot, the boys walked into the diner. Eric looked like a kid on Christmas morning, Steve looked worried.
“Rose, can we talk for a second?” he asked.
“Sure.”
He glanced at the others. “Alone?”
I walked with him outside and crossed my arms against the chilly breeze. “Steve, you don’t have to be a part of this. It’s okay if you want out.”
He looked down at me, his dark brown eyes full of concern. “Eric told me Sullivan kidnapped you, threatened you. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I was sort of taken aback. “I didn’t tell anyone, not even Roxy at first.”
“Don’t feel like you have to hide things from me, okay?”
First Kevin, now Steve. I was tired of intense guys who couldn’t take a hint. And I didn’t have time to worry about Steve’s delicate feelings, so I smiled. “Sure. No more hiding.”
I walked back inside and moved two tables together and shoved chairs around. Ma served us Rice Krispies Treats and apple juice. Perfect for preschool snack time or when planning a break in.
“This is such a hoot,” she said.
“Thanks for coming, you guys,” I said. “But I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to do this.”
Steve pushed up his glasses. “I’m in. Anything I can do to help get Axton back.”
“Breaking into Sullivan’s house is highly illegal and very dangerous and we might get caught and Axton may not be there—”
Ma touched my shoulder. “Be quiet, toots. We know the risks.”
“Okay,” Eric said. “I narrowed the properties down to two, both out in the country.” He pulled two pieces of paper out of his computer bag and handed them to me. “I looked them up on Google Earth. Which one do you think is more likely?”
One house was close to the street, the other had a long narrow road leading to a circular driveway. I closed my eyes and tried to remember my bumpy blindfolded ride. “I think there was gravel. I remember a curve before the car stopped.” I looked back down at the aerial maps. I handed him the one with the circular driveway. “This one, I think.” I hoped.
Eric powered up his laptop. “I pulled the blueprints from the zoning commission.”
I rubbed my eyes and sighed. “You hacked into the zoning commission?”
He just smiled. “Okay, look at this.” He shifted the screen toward Roxy and me. Ma crowded in, squashing my shoulder until I moved my chair over and gave her some room. “This could be the library they took you to.” He glanced up. “Do you know if it was on the first floor?”
“Yeah, it was.”
“Good. There are six bedrooms. Four upstairs, two down. Axton may be in one of them.” He hit a few keys. “Then there’s the basement. The door is here, next to the pantry in the kitchen. Any questions?”
“What should we search first?” I asked.
“We should start downstairs,” Roxy said, “work our way up and search the basement last.” Then she grinned. “It’s been too long. Do you feel it, Rose? The rush?”
I shook my head. I didn’t feel a rush. I felt the need to hurl. “Are we sure this is the right move?” I scanned their faces. They didn’t seem fazed we were about to commit a very serious crime.
“It’s your call,” Eric said, “but the longer Sullivan has Axton, the more worried I get. And the dean said if Ax didn’t show up tomorrow, he shouldn’t bother showing up at all.”
“He’s been gone for over a week,” Roxy said.
I took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “Okay, let’s do it.”
“Right,” Eric said, rubbing his hands together, “we’ll be in Steve’s Explorer on the edge of the property. You two,” he nodded at Roxy and me, “will have to run through a wooded area, here.” He pointed to the aerial map. “I’ll hack into their mainframe and disengage—”
To tell you the truth it got very technical at that point. All I knew was the computer geniuses decided to temporarily disable the alarm instead of turning it off completely.
“So you guys will bypass the alarm and Roxy and I will sneak in.”
“We’ll hook you up with headphones with a microphone attached. You’ll tell us if you need a diversion or if you get caught. We’ll have your back.”
We agreed to reconvene at Eric’s house at ten p.m. Project Rescue Axton was a go.
I was about to walk out with Roxy when my phone rang. It was Jacks and she was crying.
“I’ll be right there,” I said.
I knew Jacks was going to be angry with me, she always was when Barbara and I weren’t getting along. It was easier for her to blame me than confront my mom. I’d already been through the wringer the last couple days and wasn’t looking forward to any more confrontations, but she was my sister and I loved her. It was time to put on my big girl pants.
For once Scotty didn’t answer the door. Jacks greeted me with a red nose, watery eyes, and splotchy skin. She wasn’t a pretty crier.
“I heard your talk with dad didn’t go so well.”
“No, I guess it didn’t.” I stepped inside the foyer. Sunlight shone through the windows, leaving bright lines of light on the marbled floor. The house smelled like furniture polish and disinfectant, so I knew the maid had been by earlier.
“Dad’s very upset,” Jacks said, with a sniff.
“I hear that’s going around.”
She gave me a look. “I thought you’d listen to him.”
“You sent him?” I assumed my mom gave him those marching orders.
“I thought he might be able to calm the situation down. Do you want some coffee?” She walked to the kitchen and I followed.
She poured me a cup and topped off her own. She rubbed a tissue against her red nose. “This whole thing has been very distressing.”
“I can see that.”
“Dad’s angry because you were so disrespectful. Mom’s barely talking to me. She’s mad because I didn’t tell her you’re dating Dane. Then he calls and he’s all worked up about your place getting vandalized. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Jacks—”
“And you know when Mom’s pissed off like this, Dad is too. So now he’s doubly upset.” She took another sip of coffee. “I don’t want to be in the middle of this.”
I hated when my sister cried. And I hated she was in the middle of this family drama. But I hadn’t put her there, my mother had.
Old anger resurfaced. Anger at my mom for holding the family hostage with her icy temper all these years. Anger at my dad for acting like her little lap dog. And anger at my sister for letting my mom control her.
I set my cup down a little too hard and coffee sloshed out onto the counter. “Mom’s upset? Dad’s upset? Are you freaking kidding me?”
She pulled another tissue from the box by her elbow and delicately blew her nose. “Of course I’m not kidding. I get so stressed out when everyone’s like this. Why can’t we all just get along?”
I looked at her like she had told me that clouds are made of delicious marshmallow fluff. “Because, Rodney King, we can’t.”
“Why do you have to be so difficult?”
“How is this my fault? What did I do wrong?”
“Let’s not get into this, Rose.”
“I think it’s the perfect time to get into it, Jacks. How am I difficult?”
She put her hand to her temple. “I don’t want to do this.”
She wouldn’t look me in the eye. So I kept at her, like a little kid picking a scab.
“How am I difficult, Jacks?”
