Page 83 of No More Words

“You want to blame him, but you’re not sure it was him.”

He lifts his head and nods, meeting her gaze.

Who else can it be if not Dwight? What sort of trouble was Lily in?

She heaves a sigh and looks around. This drive can’t be a complete bust. “Okay. Is there another way in?”

“Come.” He leaps off the porch and she follows him to the garage.

Josh punches in a code on the remote opener. The door doesn’t budge. He punches in another code, swearing when the door still doesn’t open. While he tries to sort the number order, Olivia backs upto get a better view of the townhouse. Two floors with ocean views given the direction of the windows on the second floor.

How in the world did a sixteen-year-old pregnant runaway who didn’t finish high school afford a place two blocks from the beach in SoCal? Even if she’s leasing, it can’t be inexpensive. What does she do for a living? Someone must be supporting her.

She thinks of Josh’s father, whoever that is, which reminds her to look at the photos she copied over from Dwight’s computer. And that reminds her she hasn’t heard from Lucas. He hasn’t texted that Dwight arrived home.

Something else is odd, too. Dwight hasn’t called or texted since his voice mail the other day. Normally he would have tried to reach her again, especially since she didn’t call him back. She doesn’t know whether to be concerned or relieved. Or maybe she should be wary. Could he already know Josh is with her?

Olivia checks her phone to see if she missed any messages, but everything has been read.

“Josh?”

Olivia turns around. Two doors up, an older woman in a paisley athletic-style sundress unpacks groceries from her car. She returns a bag to the trunk and approaches them.

Josh waves. “Hi, Ms.... hi.”

“Where’s your mom?” The woman’s gaze shifts to Olivia. “Where’s Jenna?”

“Who?” Olivia asks.

“Jenna Mason.”

Josh runs to Olivia and grabs her arm. “Jenna ... Mason. That’s ... that’s ... Mom.”

“Jenna Mason?” Olivia tilts her head. She’s heard that name before. “The animator?”

“Mm-hmm.” The neighbor eyes her warily. “And you are?”

“If Jenna’s who I think she is, I’m her sister.”

“I have no idea where they were going. Jenna didn’t tell me,” Glenny Ross says over a bowl of macadamia nut ice cream in her kitchen. Glenny invited her and Josh inside for the treat when Olivia asked her about Lily—Jenna. They could talk inside. As soon as Glenny mentioned she hasn’t seen Jenna since the morning she and Josh packed up and left, the same day Josh arrived at Olivia’s, Josh grumbled, “Told you so” and took his ice cream to the back patio to play with Glenny’s terrier. While she unpacked the groceries, Glenny explained Jenna and Josh moved into their townhouse two years ago, and for the most part, Jenna keeps to herself. Most of what Glenny knows about Jenna she gleaned off the internet. Jenna never shares anything personal.

“I was outside when she was packing the car to leave,” Glenny explains in a warm voice. Her eyes are a faded blue and hair long and gray, streaked with silver. She hooks a hand around her hair while she talks and drapes it over a shoulder. Her limbs are lean, athletic, and skin sun soaked and aged. “She asked me to watch the place and call the police if I noticed anything suspicious. That was six days ago.”

Olivia thinks of Dwight. “Do you have her number?”

Glenny shakes her head. “I know I should have asked. But it was early. The sun was just coming up. They were in a rush and I was running late. Other than the other day, we hardly speak. I don’t see her often because of my hours. I own the ice cream and coffee café down by the water.”

Olivia probably knows more about Jenna Mason than Glenny, since they’re in the same industry. Jenna is the award-winning creator and animator ofTabby’s Squirrel, a cartoon about a quirky elderly woman with coke-bottle glasses and frazzled white hair named Tabitha and her pet gray squirrel. The curious critter gets into all sorts of mischief and Tabby into trouble. Jenna came onto the scene about eight years ago when quitting the high-tech industry was only a spark of an idea inOlivia’s head. The Crimson Wave wasn’t anything more than doodles in sketchbooks, unfinished illustrations on her computer. But Jenna’s YouTube channel was gaining in popularity. The artist, though, is a mystery. The Sia of animators. As far as Olivia knows, the public hasn’t seen Jenna’s face. Her social media profile pictures are animated caricatures, and her publicist oversees her handles. All communication is funneled through the one-woman publicity firm, from what Olivia was able to gather during a quick search while Glenny scooped ice cream. She already sent the publicist an email when she couldn’t locate a phone number, stressing her concern about Lily.

“Can you think of anyone who might know where Jenna went?”

“Not sure.” Glenny shakes her head. “I don’t see visitors other than Josh’s friends. But even they haven’t been around lately, not since the accident.”

“Josh’s head?”

She nods. “You know kids. They came around for a little bit after. I’d see them skateboarding out there in the street when I came home. Josh wasn’t allowed to.”

His activities were probably medically restricted.

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