Page 71 of Secrets Among Us

Chapter Twenty

Zack

“Sadie?” I charged through the house. “Sadie?”

I darted through the halls upstairs and went downstairs to the mudroom. The key to the Jeep was missing. I threw open the garage door to see the empty spot in the garage.

Was this morning all pretend? Had she been planning this the entire time? To vanish?

“Elena?” I hollered, rushing to the kitchen. “Did Sadie tell you where she was going?”

I started texting Sadie.

No reply.

I called her, holding the phone to my ear.

No answer.

She scowled. “Going? She was upstairs last I checked.”

“Sadie took the Jeep.” I punched the granite counter. “Damn it. I knew it was too good to be true.”

“We’ll find her,” Elena promised. “But what was too good to be true?”

“She’d changed her tune with me. We were going to start a future, visit your parents. She was going to move in.” I clenched my fists, ignoring the throbbing in my fingers.

“I gotta find her before she leaves town.”

“Zack, she loves you. My sister’s not going anywhere. Maybe she just needed to feel a little bit of freedom again.”

I nodded as my brother came into the room.

“Sadie and my Jeep are gone.”

Ian nodded, and Officer Carl just texted and wanted us to meet him at the station.

Panic filled me.

I looked at Elena and took a deep breath. “Get Jaxson and meet us at the station.”

“Will do.” Terror filled her gaze. “Tim is still in New England, right?”

“As far as I know.” I nodded. “Jaxson confirmed it earlier.”

I followed Ian out the door, hopping into his dually truck. The tension in the air amplified when he pulled onto the main road to the police station.

“What was she thinking?” I bobbed my knee up and down as I stared mindlessly out the window.

“It’s going to be fine, Zack. She’s probably just getting some fresh air. Tim isn’t here. Let her live a little. You know you won’t be able to do this soon, right?”

My gaze snapped to him. “Do what?”

“Keep her on a leash?”

I stared at my phone, watching the security footage of Sadie driving away in my Jeep.

His words washed through me, and I realized the reality of the situation. “No, you’re right. I’m probably overreacting. She’s not in danger. No reason to panic.”

---