“Did Ashlyn talk about a specific plan?” Kids blew off steam all the time.
Makayla fidgeted in her seat. “Not really. Nothing that I can remember specifically. She said college couldn’t get here soon enough and she couldn’t believe we had six years of school left.”
Six years seemed like it had gone by in a flash when it came to Ruthie. Thinking about his daughter, being inside this school fisted his heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
“She was always talking about getting out of Frisco. That she couldn’t stand it there and couldn’t believe her mom was sending her to public school. Mr. Durango has plenty of money. It made no sense why they would do that to her. I mean all her friends are here. Her life is here.” The words were spoken dramatically, like a child who had no idea of the complexities of adult life.
“Tell me about Ashlyn’s social media accounts,” he redirected.
“Her mom kept hers on lockdown.” Makayla rolled her eyes. “Mr. Durango installed an app to track like every site she clicked on and everywhere she went. I swear he would’ve followed her to school just to find something to pick on her about. This one time at the end of last year he, like, busted her going to Stonebriar Mall when she was supposed to be home doing homework.” Her cheeks turned red so he figured Ashlyn was with Makayla.
“Mrs. Durango said the two of you got into a fight at the resort,” Clara said.
“Yeah. Well, it was a lot more than once. I told my parents that I didn’t want her to come in the first place. They shouldn’t try to make us be friends. I mean, like, I love her but she’d become a real deadbeat.” Makayla seemed to catch herself. She glanced at Clara apologetically. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s just that if they’d listened to me she’d be home right now and not causing all this stress…” Another glance. “I mean, I’m actually starting to get really worried about her. Like maybe she didn’t do this on purpose.”
Clara gulped in a breath.
“Did you have a big fight the night before Ashlyn disappeared?” Daniel planted the seed that no one—at least no one in this room—believed Ashlyn had run away.
“Yeah. Epic. I found out that she was hanging around with Alicia Winter behind my back.” Her words had the disgust of what he figured was a typical of a thirteen-year-old.
“I thought you and Ashlyn and Alicia were The Three Musketeers,” Clara interjected.
“We were until I found out Alicia was flirting with Blaise behind my back.” She glanced around like he might have walked up behind her and she’d be mortified if he had.
“Is Blaise your boyfriend?” Daniel lowered his pitch.
“No, but that’s not the point.” She seemed equal parts mortified and angered by the betrayal.
Daniel held back the first real laugh he’d felt trying to roll up and out in more years than he cared to count because of her reaction. He figured his chest might crack if he actually gave in to the urge. At least one code of honor among friends was standing the test of time—no one messed with someone another friend had a crush on. It was an odd comfort to realize that some things never changed.
Clara looked at him like she was trying to read what he was thinking.
“Look, I’m sorry I can’t help you. I mean, I knew she was sneaking out at night. You know, I think she was just starting to crack under all the pressure from her folks,” she said.
“So, you’re maintaining that she’s doing this on purpose to get attention?” Daniel’s brow went up.
“Escape it is more like it,” she said. “The more she tried to do stuff on her own the more her parents tried to crack down. She needed space from them. I just hope she’s okay.” She glanced at her backpack. “I mean we’ve never gone this long after a fight without talking.”
Daniel saw no need to point out the obvious. If Ashlyn had her cell she would’ve been found by now. There was a possibility that the phone had been lost or was straight up out of battery life. The realistic side of him pointed out that it had most likely been taken away from her and destroyed.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Was there anything else odd about her behavior? Anything else that stands out about her friends? Any recent changes that you can recall?” Daniel asked. He was digging around for any tidbit that could change the course of this investigation.
“We didn’t hang out at all on the beach and that was just weird.” She flashed eyes at Clara. “I mean, I regretted asking her to go along. My mom forced me to. It’s just we thought it would help her snap out of it. You know, she had so much drama and we thought relaxing on the beach would do her good. But she hardly went outside. She didn’t hang out with me. My brother saw her in the lobby hanging out.” She screwed up her face. “She acted so weird when he tried to talk to her.”
Makayla glanced at the clock on the wall and then popped to her feet. “I gotta go. Mr. Parsons is giving a test next period. I need all the time I can get to finish his History tests.”
“Okay. Thanks for your help today.” Clara had recovered her psych voice again. Most people probably wouldn’t notice the slight shift. There was an extra air of warmth that Daniel recognized as forced.
The bell rang and kids filled the halls. Horns and percussion instruments echoed into the lobby area. Being inside a school with so many kids taking their lives for granted every day struck a nerve.
Daniel burst to his feet as adrenaline thumped through him. The thought of life going on no matter what happened to a kid nailed him square in the chest, searing him like
