Gone (Gone #1) (20 page)

Fear washed over her. "Just hold me."

He pulled her closer. "We still need to tell them. It's for all of our safety. Somehow he got in even though we have a security system. That's not good. You said you're worried about me, right?"

She nodded. "I was so scared I lost you. I can't lose you. I can't." She clung to him.

"Then you have to tell them. He could come back after you go back home. What then?"

Zoey shook again, tears running down her face.

Alex rubbed her hair. "Come on. We need to get my parents."

"Okay."

He wiped her tears with the back of his hand, and then kissed both of her cheeks. "I'll be with you when you tell them."

She nodded again.

"It'll be okay. I'm sure he's gone by now."

"Let's get this over with."

He grabbed her hand and led the way to his parents' room.

Telling

Alex was surprised to see his mom and dad in the bed together. They were even snuggled against each other. He almost hated to disturb them, but the thought of an intruder in the house drove fear straight into his core, especially after what the man had done to Zoey. They needed to get the d-bag and throw him in jail.

"Mom! Dad! Wake up."

They both sat up, mumbling.

"Someone was in the house."

His dad stared at him. "What?"

"Zoey saw him."

"What? Are you okay?" his mom asked, looking at Zoey.

Alex squeezed her hand, and she went over the story again.

His dad jumped out of bed. "We need to call the cops. How did he even get in? I set the alarm before I went to bed. Did one of you turn it off?"

They both shook their heads.

Zoey started crying. "Do I have to tell the cops? I don't want to relive it again."

Alex's mom climbed out of bed and gave her a hug. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, Zoey. We promised your mom we'd keep you safe, and then this happened. We need to tell the police so they can catch him."

"Then we're changing all of our locks and codes. Lyss, you call them while I check everything out. You guys all stay in here." He put on a robe, grabbed a baseball bat, and left.

"I'm going to call the police. You two sit down. This might take a few minutes," said his mom.

They sat on the bed, Alex not letting go of Zoey's hand. His parents hadn't noticed their hand-holding, but then again, it was still dark. He could see his mom scrolling through numbers on her phone. "Officer Anderson? This is Alyssa Mercer. Our house was broken into…yes…no…okay. Thanks. Goodbye." She put the phone down, and looked over at Alex and Zoey. "They're going to come over and check things out. Probably the same ones who talked with us down at the station last night, since they've already been working with us."

"Should we go downstairs?" Alex asked. He squeezed Zoey's hand again. He could hear her sniffling, but he didn't dare wrap his arms around her like he wanted. Then again, maybe his mom wouldn't think anything of it under the circumstances.

"Let's wait for your dad to get back. We don't even know if the intruder is still here." She looked at Zoey. "How long ago did you see him?"

"I don't know. I was pretty cold when I woke up in the garage, so I had probably been there a while."

She gave Zoey another hug. "I'm so sorry. I feel horrible."

"It's not your fault."

Alex scooted closer to Zoey, and the three of them sat in silence until his dad returned. "No one's here now. I checked everywhere."

"What about the alarm? Was that still set? Is anything gone?"

"The alarm is set, and no, I didn't notice anything missing. Who knows what might have been taken? But running into Zoey could have distracted him enough to leave." He turned to Zoey. "You could be a hero in all of this."

"I might have given him some bruises, but I'm no hero."

"We're all safe, and you're the only one who saw him. I'd say you're a hero."

One thing Alex appreciated about his dad was that he was good at making people feel better when they were upset. He always found some angle that no one else would ever think of, and then cheered the person up. Alex let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her. "I agree. You're braver than you think."

The doorbell rang. His parents ran out of the room. Alex helped Zoey up and gave her a kiss he'd been wanting to since they entered his parents' room. "It's going to be okay. Are you?"

She sighed and leaned her head against his. "I hope so. I don't know how much more I can take. Everything with Macy and now this."

He rubbed her back. "I know. How much are we supposed to put up with? Maybe after this, our parents won't make us go back to school."

Alex grabbed Zoey's hand, and they went downstairs. Zoey dropped his hand once the grown-ups were in sight. His parents were sitting in the living room with the same three cops from the night before.

The only two places left to sit were at the opposite ends of the room. He let Zoey pick one, and then he sat in the other. He kept his eyes on her, hoping that would express his support as she went over her story for the third time.

When she was done, Detective Fleshman turned to Alex. "Did you see or hear anything?"

He shook his head. "I was sleeping. I didn't hear anything until Zoey came and got me."

"What did she say?"

"Um, she said something about being glad I was okay."

"Then what?"

"Then I asked her what happened, and she told me exactly what she told you. Then I said we needed to tell my parents, so we did."

Officer Reynolds looked at Zoey. "Can you think of anything you left out? Anything, no matter how insignificant can help."

Zoey hesitated, but then shook her head.

"What is it?" asked Detective Fleshman.

"It's stupid." Zoey bit her lower lip.

"Let us be the judge."

Zoey looked at Alex and then back to the detective. "Well, he said I shouldn't be in Heather's room. But I was in Macy's room. Maybe he had the wrong house."

"Could be," said Anderson. "Or it could be important. Thank you for telling us." He scribbled on his notepad.

"Is there anything else, Zoey?" asked Reynolds.

Zoey shook her head.

The policemen were done asking questions and said they wanted to look around. When the room cleared out, Alex sat next to Zoey, wrapping his arm around her. "What's the deal with Heather?"

"I have no idea. I feel dumb even bringing it up."

"Maybe it'll be a major clue. You never know."

Tears filled her eyes. "Maybe. I just want to forget about it."

"I know. Me too."

Alyssa came back into the room. She started to say something, but then saw how upset Zoey was. She sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around her. "I can't apologize enough for what happened. Are you going to be okay?"

Zoey nodded. "I don't want to talk about it."

She kissed the top of Zoey's head. "We need to tell your mom about what happened."

"No." The tears spilled onto her face.

Alex felt helpless. He wanted to move his mom out of the way and comfort his girlfriend. "I can tell her what happened, Mom. Don't make Zoey go over it again. She's been through enough."

"You're so sweet, Alex. You've always been such a good friend to Zoey. Don't worry, I'll call Valerie in the morning and let her know what happened. Our house will be safer now. The police are going to have someone watch our house. That, and we're getting all the locks changed as soon as the stores open in the morning."

Alex glared at his mom. "She looks tired. Can we go to sleep now?"

"That's a good idea. Get some rest, you two."

The three of them went upstairs, Alyssa staying close to Zoey. She said goodnight to Alex in the hall and then followed Zoey into Macy's room. Alex watched as they went into the room, wanting to stay with Zoey, but knowing that would have to wait.

He went into his room, intending to wait until his mom went to bed so he could talk with Zoey, but as soon as he saw his bed he realized how tired he was. He climbed in, falling asleep almost immediately—the only benefit to all the crap in his life.

As he was dreaming of a reunion with Macy, something woke him. He felt a hand on his arm, but he knew that if he woke up, he would lose Macy. He fought to stay in his dream and be with his sister.

The hand shook him, and a voice whispered his name. In his dream, he hugged Macy, clinging to her. He begged her to stay, but knew the dream would vanish in a poof soon. With tears in his eyes, he begged to her come back home. "I need my big sister, Macy. I love you."

She vanished before his eyes and it took him a moment to realize that Zoey was sitting next to him.

Her eyes were wide. "I can't sleep. Not after running into that guy. I don't want to be alone. Can I sleep in here?"

Alex's heart raced. "Sure."

"Thanks." She climbed in while he scooted over.

A strange mixture of emotions ran through him. The desperation from wanting Macy back lingered, along with a lump in his throat, but at the same time nervousness and excitement ran through him having Zoey in there with him. "Are you okay?"

"Not really. I was so scared. I didn't know if that guy was going to kill me or what. I didn't want to end up missing too, so I fought harder than I thought I could. He still over-powered me, though." Her voice sounded unsteady.

Alex reached his arms around her. "You're safe now."

"I don't feel like it."

He felt a tear land on his arm. He scooted even closer to her, holding her tighter. "You are. I'm here and there are cops sitting out front. That dude would be stupid to come back."

Zoey rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes. "Why did he leave me in the garage? I don't get it."

"I don't know, but I'm glad he did. I couldn't take it if something happened to you too."

"Do you think someone took Macy like that?" asked Zoey.

"She went willingly, right?" At least that's what Zoey kept telling him. "She's off with Jared, having the time of her life."

Zoey sighed, but didn't reply. She probably didn't believe it any more than he did. He had a feeling that she kept talking about Macy being with Jared so she didn't have to deal with the pain. She turned, looking at him. "Do you think she's okay?"

"She has to be. She's the most stubborn person I've ever met. If anyone can survive…something bad happening, it's her."

"I worry about her, you know?" Zoey said. "She never really stood up for herself against the bullies at school. She just hid inside herself. There were times she wouldn't even talk to me after those stupid jerks went off on her. She built such a high wall, keeping everyone out."

Alex played with a strand of her hair. "I know. Why do you think I kept teasing her? When we were kids, making her laugh always worked. She'd come right out of her shell. But it's more than a shell; she built a fortress around herself. If she wasn't letting either of us in, what was really going on?"

"Only Jared knows. I knew she told him more than she told me, but I never pushed it. I guess because I felt bad about keeping us a secret. I wish I had been there for her more. Maybe she would still be here." Zoey sniffled.

He sat up, forcing her to also. "Are you kidding me? I've never seen a better best friend. All of my life, you've been there for her."

"We drifted apart, Alex, and I did nothing about it. I went out practically every night instead of spending the night with her since she couldn't go anywhere."

"Don't blame yourself. She was shutting everyone out, like you said."

"I shouldn't have given up so easily! Don't you see that? If I would have come over more, maybe she would have opened up." Zoey wiped at her eyes again.

"There's plenty everyone could have done to change things. I could have stopped teasing her. Dad could have stopped being so critical. Both my parents could have given her more freedom. Neither one of them noticed that she was practically starving herself while she lost her weight. Dad was just mad about her refusing to eat meat. Those kids at school—don't even get me started. They're the ones to blame."

Zoey shook, not saying anything.

Alex pulled her close, listening to her breathe and took in her scent. He wanted to know what she was thinking, but figured it was best to give her space to think. She leaned her head against his, both of them silent.

Finally, she spoke. "I'm so scared, Alex. I don't want anything to happen to Macy and I don't ever want to see another intruder again. I want everything to go back to the way it was."

He held her tighter, hoping that showed his agreement. He wasn't used to seeing this side of her and wasn't sure how to react. Usually she was so tough, but that guy had really shaken her up—not that Alex blamed her.

She rolled over so that she was in his lap, and stared into his eyes. He moved some hair out of her face and kissed her lightly on the lips. She pushed herself against him, kissing him harder.