Page 61 of Not You Again
When Adam turned, Dean’s engine finally kicked in and the wheels sputtered against gravel as the car sped down the road. Adam walked back to Carly, who waited for him at the hearse.
“You okay?” she asked.
He gritted his teeth. He was as okay as could be in a situation like this. “I will be,” he said.
Carly gave a subtle nod, like she wasn’t going to push him but was listening, which he appreciated.
“Okay, so Shireen’s not with Dean, and from what we can tell, no one else is missing.” Carly counted the two facts out on her fingers. “You’re going to hate this suggestion.”
“Don’t say we have to tell Rick.” Adam pinched the bridge of his nose.
“We absolutely have to tell Rick, yes, and probably Dr. Song.” Carly patted Adam on the back, and then gently shoved him toward the driver’s-side door. “Look, I know they’re both different sides of a fucked-up coin, but they’re basically the only other people who care about what’s going on in the loop. If anyone will have ideas on how to bring Shireen back, it’s them.”
Adam rolled his eyes and let out a disgruntled sigh, because Carly might just be right. And they didn’t have any better options.
“You know, maybe this is a little blip. She might be back next loop.” Carly opened the passenger-side door and slid in.
“She might.” Adam got into the car and when he turned the key the cold air-conditioning sent welcome air to his face. “Let’s go find them, but Dr. Song first, please.”
“Sounds good.” Carly buckled herself in. “Shireen will be okay.”
Adam gave a tight nod. Shireen had to be okay, because the alternative was that he’d spent the last 250 loops wishing he didn’t have to see her, and it had finally come true.
Chapter 21
Carly
For as long as Carly had been in Julian, she realized that she hadn’t bothered to explore many areas outside Main Street. Adam drove them across dirt roads bordered by well-maintained farms, quiet streets with little houses and trampolines in the front yard, red barns and ancient trees that guarded the sides of the road.
The town was scenic, as her dad had claimed. Outside of the madness, there were pockets of calm. Maybe Bruce had liked this change of pace; maybethiswas a kind of retirement for him.
She glanced over to the driver’s seat, where Adam had both hands carefully placed at the ten and two positions on the wheel, and said, “This has been an intense morning. You want to talk about it?” Carly was freaked the fuck out about Shireen vanishing, so she couldn’t imagine how Adam felt.
But Adam wasn’t someone who readily showed their emotions, and his expression remained neutral. “I’m just trying to focus on collecting evidence, and then we can see what this means.”
But that didn’t really answer her question. Carly supposed he was compartmentalizing his feelings. Maybe that washelping him get through this, and she’d done the same with her dad.
“It’s okay to be scared.” She almost put a hand on his shoulder, but thought that would be too touchy-feely for him. “I would understand.”
Adam’s jaw clenched as he turned the car down another side street, driving them around Julian in search of the Caltech van. “There’s nothing to be scared of,” he said simply. “We don’t have all the information.”
And she let it go, because it was clear he probablywasscared and trying his very best to hide that. She refocused on the road, which is when she spotted a white panel van with a blue logo parked in front of a bungalow cottage. “You said Dr. Song drives a panel van? That’s our scientist or someone who really loves storage.”
“Scientist,” Adam said with relief, parking the hearse directly behind it.
When they got out of the car, they walked the steps up to the bungalow and Carly rang the doorbell. “Can’t wait to see Dr. Optimism. She’s super fun.”
Heather didn’t answer, though. Instead, two dads and a toddler peered out the door. One held the toddler and the other a bubble machine.
“Can we help you?” one of the men asked.
“Umm, we’re looking for Heather,” Adam began to say.
“Bore-ING,” the toddler said, and the dad holding her laughed.
“Sorry, she tells it like it is.”
“Is a woman named Heather here?” Carly tried again.
