“What?” I asked.
“The barbecue tomorrow night,” she said. “You’re coming with me?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, lifting my fork and pretending to eat. “I’m not working this weekend.”
“Great. All three of us can go,” she said. She smiled and sipped her wine.
“You okay, Della?” Brian asked. “You’ve been so quiet.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I swiped my forehead with the back of my hand. “I’m not feeling the best.”
“Drink plenty of fluids,” Mom said, topping off her glass.
“You don’t want to get sick before spring break. You’re going to love SCU,” Brian said.
I smiled, even though it hurt, and took a sip of water.
“Karen called,” Mom continued. “She said you stopped by their house this afternoon. She seemed really happy about it.”
I almost choked on my water, my eyes darting toward Brian.
“I didn’t think you hung out with Amber anymore,” he said.
“I don’t. It was for some school thing,” I said, looking ahead.
“Well, Karen is hoping you’ll hang around more. Said Amber has been low lately,” Mom said.
“Low?” Brian asked. He said it nonchalantly, but I could tell he was interested.
“I see her in the neighborhood sometimes,” Mom said. “She’s all, what do you call it? Emo? Wearing black, putting in absolutely no effort with her appearance. I guess she just gave up hope after you dumped her.”
“Who says he dumped her?” I didn’t like hearing Mom judge Amber like that. Like she was somehow less worthy now that Brian was out of her life. I immediately regretted what I’d said. In the past, it would have been registered as a flippant comment between siblings, but Brian and I hadn’t bickered like that in months.
Brian noticed, could tell I had an added layer of resentment behind the remark. His eyes narrowed, then relaxed as he forced a laugh.
“Well, of course he broke up with her,” Mom said. “Who is going to stay with a little rat like that when they have the entire campus at SCU to choose from?”
I almost choked on my water. I slammed the glass against the table, coughed hard.
“Dell, you all right?” Brian asked.
“I think I’m heading to bed,” I said. “I’m really not feeling well. Maybe I can sleep it off.”
“Night, honey,” Mom said, not even protesting. I’d been a fly on the wall of their conversation. Now she could have Brian all to herself.
I locked my door before crawling into bed. I couldn’t investigate with Brian in the house. We only had one computer, and there wasn’t internet on my phone. All I had was the information I’d already pieced together. I retrieved the folder and emptied the contents onto my comforter.
I read the articles again, hoping I might find something to put my mind at ease. At the bottom of the most recent article was a tip line. Should I call it? And say what? My brother goes to SCU and might have abducted those girls. Other than Mila, there wasn’t any evidence tying him to the disappearances. SCU was a small campus. Plenty of guys could have known Mila. Maybe even Danny. I decided to try my luck.
You up? I texted him.
Moments later, my phone buzzed.
No rest for the wicked, he replied. Working late shift at the hospital. Sup?
You know a girl named Mila Meyers?
No. Why?
She’s one of the SCU girls who went missing.
I couldn’t go to Danny with my suspicions. Not yet.
My phone buzzed again. Is she the one they found?
I fell backwards against my bed and immediately dialed his number.
“I told you I’m at work,” he whispered when he answered.
“You said they found a girl?”
“Yesterday. They found a body in the woods outside campus.”
“And they think it’s one of the missing girls?”
“They’ve not identified her yet. But what are the odds it’s not one of the girls?”
“Do they know how she died?” I asked, bracing for his answer.
“The rumor swirling around campus is she was stabbed.”
I covered my mouth. I didn’t want Danny to hear my heavy breathing. I didn’t want him to hear the cries that were beginning to break.
“Della, I was joking about you being careful up here,” he said. He thought I was some teenager scared to visit. “It’s safe here. It is. Brian will watch you. And I will.”
“Uh huh.” I couldn’t speak.
“Shoot, I got to go. Talk later,” he said and hung up.
I dropped the phone and knelt on the ground. The pictures of missing girls formed a circle around me, and I tried to release my anguish as quietly as I could. I wanted to wail. I couldn’t because Mom was down the hall. And Brian was in his room.
I tucked the file into the top shelf of my closet again. I climbed into bed and cried harder with a comforter over my face. I could almost hear Dad’s words: string two or three coincidences together and you get a conspiracy. You might also get the truth.
“Feeling better, honey?” Mom asked the next morning. It was past noon when I finally came downstairs. I’d tossed and turned all night, sleeping uncomfortably for only a few hours.
“Not sure,” I said, pouring orange juice into a glass. “I think I might have a stomach bug.”
Somewhere between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., I realized what I really needed was to get Brian out of the house. I couldn’t access the computer, otherwise. It would be too risky. I needed to play sick. Mom and Brian would leave for the barbecue, leaving me a few hours to research. Or at least be alone. Trying to process the information I’d uncovered was agonizing. Having to put on a happy smile for Brian and Mom made it worse.
“Oh no,” Mom said. She walked over and put the back of her hand against my forehead. “When did you start to feel sick?”
“Sometime yesterday,” I said.
“You looked sweaty when I saw you,” Brian said. He drank coffee at the table. I hadn’t realized he was there. “You know, after your walk.”
“Right,” I said, looking at him, then Mom. “That’s when
