The Hiding Place

“No. Michael Bower.”

“Jesus.” He rolled his eyes. “What’s he doing in town?”

Since the real explanation seemed too complicated, Janet made it short and sweet. “He’s visiting his mother. And I want to talk to him about everything that’s been happening. He’s a good friend, Dad.”

“That cop said not to leave the house.”

“He said to be careful,” Janet said. “I’m just going to see Michael-that’s it. But I didn’t want to leave without talking to you.” She lowered her voice. “I’m worried about Ashleigh. I don’t want her leaving the house.”

“So? Tell her.”

“I will, Dad. But I’m asking you to help, too. That man, he’s been hanging around our house. Make sure Ashleigh doesn’t go anywhere. Can you do that for me? Or do it for her if that makes it easier.”

His face lost some of its hard edges. He nodded. “But you shouldn’t be out running around either. Who knows what this maniac is doing.”

Janet recognized that her father had just issued the strongest statement of concern he could muster.

“Thanks, Dad.”

He left the bedroom door open but turned the sound on the TV up without saying anything else.

Janet stopped outside the door to Ashleigh’s room, which was, as usual, closed and probably locked. Janet tried to remember when Ashleigh started retreating to her room and shutting herself in. Had she been eleven? Twelve? Janet remembered the disappointment she felt when Ashleigh began locking herself away. Janet had hoped that she would have a few more years of a preteen daughter, a little more time before the full force of adolescence hit the house. But that wasn’t to be. Ashleigh walked her own path and kept her own counsel.

Obviously.

Janet didn’t know whether to be impressed or terrified that her daughter had managed to keep such a huge secret for so long. Well, she thought, raise an independent kid and suffer the consequences.

She knocked on the door and wondered why she was always knocking on someone else’s door inside the house. Did they ever come and knock for her? Or was she always the one reaching out?

Janet thought she heard Ashleigh say she could come in, so she did, only to be greeted by a scrambling on the bed.

“Jesus, Mom,” Ashleigh said.

“I thought you said to come in. I’m sorry.”

Ashleigh tucked something away beneath her pillow, a scrap of paper or a note. Janet wouldn’t have been able to tell what it was anyway, but if Ashleigh felt better hiding it, so be it. Probably a love note from Kevin, if Janet had to guess.

Despite her secretive nature, there were times Janet saw Ashleigh as the kid she still was. Lying on the bed, wearing a pair of shorts and a loose T-shirt, Ashleigh looked small, vulnerable even. Janet couldn’t forget the danger the girl had found herself in earlier that day and decided right then that she wasn’t going to leave the house, that Michael could come here or they’d talk on the phone or something. But she couldn’t leave her daughter alone. Not so soon.

“What?” Ashleigh said.

“It’s nice to see you, too.”

Ashleigh smirked. “I mean, what are you doing here?”

“Remember when you came home today and you were so sweet and emotional and vulnerable? Remember that girl?”

“You’re not funny, Mom.”

“I thought I was,” Janet said. “I was coming to tell you that I was going out for a little bit, but I changed my mind.”

“So you’re coming to tell me that you changed your mind?”

“I guess.”

Ashleigh looked at the clock, then back at her mom. “It’s almost nine. Where would you go anyway?”

“I was going to see a friend of mine.”

Ashleigh looked even more puzzled. Janet understood that the notion that her mother had friends, let alone friends she would socialize with on a weeknight, seemed too much to imagine. Real friends? People she had fun with? No way.

“Michael Bower,” Janet said. “You know who he is, right?”

Ashleigh perked up, suddenly interested. “Your friend,” she said. “He was in the park that day.”

“That’s right.”

“Why aren’t you going to see him?”

Janet came farther into the room, stopping at the foot of Ashleigh’s bed. “Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” Janet said. “Not after today. I just don’t think it would be right.”

“Does he know anything about what happened to Justin?” Ashleigh asked.

Janet wasn’t sure how to answer that. “He certainly has some questions about what happened that day.”

“Then you should go.”

“Why are you so certain about this?”

“What if he knows something? What if it helps?”

What if he does? But everything Michael said ran counter to what they’d found out earlier. Michael thought his father was involved in the crime, not that Justin was still alive. But Janet also knew that a part of her-a bigger part than she cared to admit-wasn’t just going out to discuss Justin’s disappearance with Michael. She wanted to see him and would have whether there had been a break in the case or not. The news about the case just gave her a bit of cover when she showed up at his house asking to see him.

“I don’t know,” Janet said.

“Mom, I’m not a kid. Look at what I did today.”

That’s what worries me, Janet thought. Ashleigh didn’t quite know the location of the line between stupid and brave.

“Grandpa’s home,” Janet said. “I told him I was going out and to keep an eye on you.”

“I’ll bet he’s thrilled.”

“He’ll keep an ear out. He likes you.”

“I’ll probably be asleep in an hour,” Ashleigh said. “It’s been a long day.”

Before Janet left, she said, “It was nice of Kevin to come home with you today.”

Ashleigh nodded.

“Maybe we should have him over for dinner some night. You two used to spend a lot of time together at our house, but now I hardly ever see him.”

“This isn’t our house,” Ashleigh said.

“It is our house. Now. And I grew up here. What do you say? Should we have Kevin over for dinner some night? Maybe play a game or something? I feel like I should see more of him since you two are so close.”

“I can tell you’re fishing,” Ashleigh said. “We’re just friends.”

At the door, Janet stopped and looked back. “Hey,” she said. “Are you worried about me? The police said I should stay home.”

Ashleigh gave Janet a long look. She really seemed to be considering her mother, weighing her pros and cons and making a balanced judgment.

“I think you’ll be okay.”

“Because I’m tough like you?”

Ashleigh tried to hide the little smile that grew across her face. “No, because there are cops outside and if the bogeyman tries to get you, they’ll save the day. You’ll be fine.”

Janet smiled. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I am. Are you?”

“Yes, I think I’m getting there.”