Page 21 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

"The Wizard of Oz isn't magical until Dorothy leaves Kansas."

"Still." She shrugged her shoulders.

The more time I spent with her, the more I liked her. She had these cute little freckles underneath her eyes and across the bridge of her nose. And her eyes lit up whenever she spotted something half interesting on our drive. Earlier today she had freaked out because she swore she saw a buffalo. I'm pretty sure she hadn't. She had even made me pull over and stop so that she could stare at nothing.

Half the time it seemed like she smiled as a defense mechanism. But when she laughed, her smile really showed. I liked seeing her real smile. We had stopped asking each other tough questions, and somehow that made it easier. It didn't mean I didn't want to know more though. I had been thinking about it a lot. Why would she just suddenly come home from college and leave immediately? What drove her away?

"I need to make a quick phone call," she said. "If the waiter comes, can you just order me a cheeseburger with fries?"

"Gladly." Yup, the more time I spent with her, the more I liked her. Any girl who ordered real food instead of a salad won my heart a little. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and clicked on one of my many new voicemails.

"Tyler Stevens, this is Officer Daugherty with the NYPD. We talked on the phone the other day..." I pulled the phone away from my ear and pressed the delete button.

Penny told me she'd take care of it. And despite everything, I trusted her with my life. She'd fix this. She'd fix this and probably forget I ever existed. I was easier to cast aside than she was to me.

I clicked on the next voicemail. "Tyler Stevens, this is Officer Daugherty with the NYPD. We need you to come in for questioning..." I deleted the message before I heard the whole thing again and clicked on the final voicemail. "Mr. Stevens, this is Officer Daugherty with the NYPD. We've already arrested your accomplice and we're going to be issuing a warrant for your arrest if you do not come in for your..." I pulled the phone away from my ear and pressed the delete button.

Accomplice? Penny told me to ignore their calls. She told me she'd fix it. So why the fuck were they still hounding me? I blocked the number from my phone. It didn't matter if they arrested me. I didn't have enough energy left to care.

Chapter 11

Hailey

Sunday

I knew my dad would be sitting in his office. I could picture him there. It was easy to see an image I had seen so many times in my life. But now he looked frail. He looked sick. I closed my eyes as the phone started to ring.

"Hello?" said a raspy voice.

"Hi, Dad." I leaned my back against the brick wall outside the restaurant.

"Hails, where are you? I've been worried sick. You can't just..."

"I'm in Kansas."

There was a pause. "What are you doing in Kansas?"

"I got a ride to California."

"With who?"

I bit my lip. I didn't want him to worry. "A friend."

There was another long pause. "You're still going to see her?"

I already felt guilty for leaving him. And now I felt like I was betraying his wishes too. "It's our only option."

"I want you to come home." His cough made me wince.

"I'll be home soon. I'm going to fix this."

"There's nothing for you to fix. I'm the adult. I'm the one..."

"I'm an adult now too, Dad. Please. I have to do this."

"She'll turn you away."

"Then at least I'll know I tried everything I could."

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