Page 13 of Even After Sunset

Eyes still boring in to me, she asks: “Is he in trouble for something? Is that why they’re looking for him?”

“Silas is a minor, and he needs a guardian,” Richard answers.

Which sounds pretty evasive to me.

Then he adds: “We need to make sure he’s somewhere safe until they find him a permanent placement, that’s all. So you do need to tell me if you have any idea where he might be.”

“Oh.” is all Jackie says. Still not giving me up, but still not realizing that she’s making it pretty damn obvious she knows exactly where I am right now.

“We just want to make sure he’s safe,” Richard repeats.

“So are they going to send him to a group home or something?” Jackie asks, because clearly she’s on a mission now to be my advocate. I shouldn’t resent her for it, but I do.

There’s a longer pause this time from Richard.

“Possibly a group home, yes. Right now, they’re actually looking into finding a space for him with a foster family.”

Wow. Sounds lovely. Maybe they can make my life into a bad after-school special while they’re at it—use one of the songs from Jackie’s wonderful playlist for the closing credits.

“So what will he do until they find a foster family?” Jackie pushes. “Where will he live?”

Yes, question of the day, folks: wherewillSilas live?

I can tell by the pause before Richard speaks that the answer is going to blow, even by his forest green sweater-vest standards.

“He’ll have to go back to Trenton, sweetheart… The detention center just outside Springfield.”

Back to Trenton?

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

“What?!?” Jackie echoes my reaction. Well, a censored version of my reaction.

“Just for now. Just until they find a suitable foster family,” he explains calmly.

Ohhhhh. Well, that’s totally fine then.

Except for the fact that there is no way in hell I am ever going back to that place.

“Silas is considered a flight risk right now. And unfortunately, given his, ah… history, Trenton is the safest place for him until they find a more permanent placement.”

I look down and notice that my hands are shaking. I’m struggling just to fight off what feels like a hundred different emotions pulling at me. I turn my head and stare out the window because I’m scared which one Jackie might be able todecipher if I look her way. Probably not anything I’d want her to see. Definitely not anything good.

This whole thing is humiliating as hell and I want to punch something so badly right now. But also, I don’t want to move an inch. I’m exhausted as hell. I’m so goddamn tired. I’malwaysso goddamn tired.

But then, with her next five words, Jackie jolts me so harshly, I’m suddenly wide awake:

“I know where he is.”

Chapter Six

Silas

My head jerks in her direction. I know she catches at least a glimpse of my shock—hell, mydisappointment—before I manage to pull myself together and batten down the hatches on any unchecked emotions. It doesn’t seem to have slowed her down any, that’s for sure. Now that she’s on such a roll and all.

“Silas is here… He’s with me,” she says. “And he can’t go back to Trenton. It’s not right that—”

“Silas is with you?” Richard asks incredulously.

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