Page 173 of Finding Us

“Yeah, I’m going. I’ll see you later.” I’m about to hang up but then I hear his voice again.

“Jade, wait. Is there anyone near you? Are there people on the beach?”

“No. I’m pretty far out. I’m way past where the houses end.”

“Where’s Garret?”

“I told you, he left. I don’t know where he went.”

“Are you running back now?”

“No, I’m walking. I can’t run and talk at the same time.”

“Then I’ll let you go, but keep your phone on. And start running.”

“Um, okay. Bye.” The phone is silent. “Pearce?”

He hung up without saying goodbye.

That was odd. My phone call with Pearce went great and I was feeling really good, but now I feel like he’s hiding something from me.

CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR

GARRET

My phone rings as I’m sitting at the stop light. I pick it up and see that it’s my dad.

“Hey, Dad. Shouldn’t you be on your plane by now?”

“The pilot got sick. It’s delayed. Where are you?”

“Driving home. Why?”

“I just talked to Jade and she’s—”

“You talked to Jade? Why were you talking to Jade?”

“It doesn’t matter. Listen to me. She said she’s six miles from your house. You need to go get her. She can’t be out there alone.”

“What do you mean six miles? What’s six miles away? Did she go to the store?”

“She’s on the beach. She went running and she thinks she’s about six miles from where you live. It sounds like it’s a very isolated area. She said there was nothing around and that she was the only one on the beach.”

“Shit!” I step on the gas as I round the corner. “I told her to stop running alone! I’ve told her that repeatedly!”

“Are you almost home? Maybe you could drive down to where she is.”

“I can’t. The road ends.” I turn onto the small dead-end street that leads to our beach house. Two kids walk out in front of me and I have to slam on the brakes. They take forever to cross. “Why are you freaking out about this?”

“Because I worry about her. I worry aboutbothof you.”

“Why? Tell me.” The kids in the street finally move and I speed forward.

“I just have a feeling. I don’t know anything for sure.”

“A feeling? What the hell does that mean?”

“It means I want you two to take some precautions. And Jade should never be running alone, at least not until we know she’s safe.”

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