Night Sky (37 page)

“Fine,” Cal said, pretending to sulk. “I'll have mercy on you. Um…okay, then I'll go off topic entirely and ask you a serious question I've been wondering for a while. Why is this so important to you?”

Dana frowned as she drove. “What do you mean?”

Calvin got more specific. “Why are you here? Why are you in this car right now, looking for a little dead girl you've never met?”

I rolled my eyes at the word “dead,” aware that Milo was watching me. It bummed me out that he didn't believe me. I mean, I'd expected it from Dana and Calvin.

Cal continued. “I know you're such a Good Samaritan and all, but there's gotta be a reason you're putting so much time and energy into this.”

Now Milo watched Dana.

She cleared her throat. “Maybe it's just what I'm supposed to do,” she said.

“That's weak,” Calvin argued. “Come on.”

Milo leaned forward in the seat, chewing on his gum. “Dana?”

“Fuck you, Milo.”

I frowned and impulsively grabbed Milo's arm.
Why
do
you
let
her
speak
to
you
like
that?

Milo's words cascaded through my mind as he laughed a little.
She
doesn't mean it as… She's just… She has a funny way of saying I love you.

I let go of Milo's arm. Dana loved Milo.

I hadn't had extensive experience in the relationship department, but last time I checked,
eff
you
and
I
love
you
were two different sentiments.

Still, Dana was unique.

“Fine,” Dana grumbled. “You wanna know why I'm here? Her name was Lacey Zannino. She was a gorgeous little girl with a big heart and a beautiful mind. She was funny and sweet and talented. And she was also my sister.”

I lurched forward in my seat, not sure I'd heard Dana correctly. “Your…”

“Sister.” Dana nodded, as my heart sank. “Lacey was my little sister. And those pieces of shit took her away in the middle of the night. They stole her body and her innocence, and then they stole her life.” She swiped at her nose furiously. I knew Dana would rather die than cry in front of us. “And then, to make matters worse, they framed my dad. Who never would have hurt either one of us. He would have done anything for Lacey. Or for me. But now he's rotting on death row. And Lacey's rotting in an unmarked grave.”

“Dana, I'm so—” I started.

“Don't,” she warned, holding up a hand.

“So they never recovered her body?” Calvin asked.

“No,” Dana said flatly. “They recovered nothing. The cops didn't care.”

I knew what
that
was like.

“So then why do you think she's definitely…” Cal's voice trailed off.

“Do not. Say it. She's dead.” Dana's voice actually quivered, her pain still so raw and horribly real.

I wanted to hug her, and I also knew that a hug wouldn't do a bit of good.

Finally, Milo spoke up. “It's important to both of us to find the people who are responsible for killing Lacey and…Sasha.” He turned to look directly at me. “Whatever we find, Sky, it's going to help make it harder for these people to kidnap the next girl.”

Cal's nod was determined. “Girl, I am so eff'n serious,” he said, slapping a hand onto Dana's shoulder, “I got your back.”

I looked at Milo. He took my hand.

I
had
no
idea
about…
I nodded toward Dana.

I
know. I wanted to respect her privacy. I wanted to wait for her to say something.

That
day
she
was
gone
, I remembered.
Was
she…?

Visiting
her
father
in
prison
, Milo told me.
She's allowed to see him every two weeks. Wherever she is, she makes sure that she gets there—although sometimes they make it hard by moving him around. He's currently in a maximum-security lockup in Georgia.

“Oh God,” I said aloud.

“Hey,” Dana said sharply, peering into the rearview mirror at Milo and me. Quickly, I let go of Milo's hand. “Let's not have any backseat
poor
Dana
powwows. Let's just pretend that nothing's changed, because it hasn't. Lacey's still dead. She's dead. Got it? No more mind-talking or consoling or Kumbaya-ing. Conversation's over.”

“Okay,” I said quietly. Milo looked visibly uncomfortable, so I stared out the window, feeling worse than ever.

“It's going to be okay,” he whispered to me.

And, sighing, I pretended with all of my might that I actually believed him.

I must have been dreaming.

It wasn't the jewel-hued clouds swishing lazily across the horizon that gave it away, and it wasn't the splash of yellow from the wildflowers as I all but floated through the field.

My unconscious had somehow accepted this as a normal scenario.

It was the fact that Milo and I were walking
hand in hand
through that aforementioned field—and the fact that for the first time in weeks I actually felt happy.

So, yeah. I
must
have been dreaming.

But my dream self didn't seem to feel as though waking up was high on my list of priorities. In fact, I found myself pausing for a moment in the center of the field, watching as billows of magnificent clouds provided a glorious backdrop to Milo's handsome face. And I found myself smiling.

He smiled back and pulled me close to him. I could have sworn I heard violins swoon.

Or maybe I'd tricked myself into believing there was music. Either way, my stomach was hovering in my throat, like I'd just soared down the highest hill of a roller coaster.

And then, his lips brushed mine, and all I could smell…or feel…or…something…was vanilla and sunshine. And love. Unabashed and unapologetic
love
.

This was no crush. This was the real deal, the Big One, the bona fide mondo emotion.

But before I had a chance to laugh out loud at the lovely sensation of his impossibly soft lips against mine, I felt my heart skip another beat, and I looked around me. The field was gone. And Milo and I were horizontal.

Horizontal…in a bed.

And love was still coursing through the air like it had its own individual pulse, but something else was casting a spell that lingered as it blew through the lit candles and brushed against the red rose petals sprinkled across the bedsheets.

It was desire.

I wanted Milo
bad
.

And then Sir Mix-A-Lot was blaring through Cal's car speakers.

Wait. Car speakers?

I awoke with a start, gasping as I sat up in the backseat of Cal's Audi.

“Ho boy!” I yelled.

From the other side of the car, Milo jumped in his seat, clearly just waking up too. He looked over at me, his mouth slightly parted, as if he were about to say something important.

Calvin waved to both of us from the front seat. “'Sup, guys? Done with your nightmares?”

I tucked my hair nervously behind my ears, willing my heart to slow down.

Dana had pulled off the highway and was parking at a rest stop.

“Nightmares?” Milo asked warily, shifting slightly in his seat.

“Yeah,” Dana replied, grinning in the rearview mirror. “It's been almost an hour. You two have been moaning and groaning the whole time. I wanted to wake you up, but Cal thought it was funny.”

I looked at Milo. Milo looked at me.

He'd been moaning and groaning. I'd been moaning and groaning.

I'd dream-molested him.

“Oh my God,” I said, and swung the door open before Dana had a chance to completely stop the car.

“Wait!” she called, slamming on the brakes. But I didn't stop. I booked it toward the ladies' room, where I could be absolutely mortified by myself for at least a few minutes.

Maybe I'd just move into this rest-stop restroom for the rest of my life.

Yes. It was a good plan. I had running water and a selection of soft drinks and Cheez Doodles from the vending machine. It was an attractive alternative to actually coming out and facing Milo again, knowing that only a few moments ago I'd planted unbelievably erotic scenarios in his unconscious—against his will, to boot.

Unfortunately, however, I still had to find Sasha. So my genius plan of becoming the official reclusive hermit of the Chipley, Florida rest area wouldn't exactly work. I'd eventually need to bite the bullet and endure the walk of shame.

Of sorts. Because it was, after all, a dream. Dream shame, however, felt much like real shame.

Sighing, I went to the sink and splashed a good-sized amount of icy water onto my face.

I didn't want Milo, I didn't want Milo, I didn't…

I was screwed. I
so
wanted Milo to be my boyfriend.

Miserably, I tried to dry my face using one of those air blowers and finally gave up. I trudged out of the bathroom still slightly damp.

Cal's empty car was parked out front. I spotted Dana in line inside the convenience store. Calvin was probably still in the bathroom. And Milo was—

“Skylar!”

There he was. Of course. Waiting for me. His shirt was rumpled from sleep, and he'd already developed the slightest shadow of stubble on his jawline. On anyone else, it would've looked disheveled or messy. On Milo, it was…

Sexy.

I swallowed hard.

“Hey.” He was clearly embarrassed, his cheeks tinged with red as he forced himself to meet my gaze. That only served to make him more attractive. “I just wanted to say that I'm sorry…”

I put a hand up. “Wait. Did you honestly just
apologize
?”

Milo frowned and bit his lip, a look that only exaggerated his deeply set dimples. “I…well, I feel kinda terrible, you know, about the whole dream.”

“Milo! Seriously? What is wrong with you?” I put my hands up to my face. I wanted to look like I was exasperated, but the movement was mainly to cover the blush that had begun to spread across my cheeks. Unlike Milo, when I blushed I looked like a tomato. “I can't believe you're apologizing for something
I
did.
I'm
the one violating you in
my
dreams. You're the victim.”

Milo laughed out loud at that. He raised an eyebrow. “Victim?” He shook his head as he said the word.

“Yeah! I mean, those are my dreams, and they're completely inappropriate and…pathetic…and…”

“It wasn't pathetic,” Milo interjected. “And as for inappropriate, I was doing everything you were, so…you're not any more inappropriate than me.”

“But you…”

“I'm pretty sure that dream was at least
partly
a product of my imagination. And, to be honest, Skylar? Even if it was all you, I really don't mind.”

My jaw dropped. I didn't have time to respond, because Dana and Calvin were back outside and approaching us.

Milo bit his lip again, inadvertently showing off those infamous dimples. I wished he would stop doing that. It wasn't making me feel any better.

Dana's arms were filled with plastic bags of random goodies. She plopped a few of the bags onto Calvin's lap before looking up and glaring first at me and then at Milo.

“All right. What the hell's up?”

Milo smiled a little bit. Which pissed me off.

“Seriously,” Dana continued. “You don't need a Skylar-nose to detect the tension right now. What just happened? Spill.” She looked at us sternly.

I thought, for just a moment, about any number of white lies I could tell. But then I looked over at Milo, who was
still
smiling, and I opened my mouth.

“Okay. Okay, you wanna know what's up?” I exclaimed wildly. I pointed a finger at Milo. “
That's
what's up.
He's
what's up. And he won't stop smiling! Like this is funny or something. But it's not funny! I'm just a…a…dream molester. And
he
won't even let me feel bad about it because he keeps apologizing for something that
I
did wrong!”

I gazed at Milo, my voice quavering. “And that's why you're so goddamn freaking
wonderful
! Because you
do
stuff like that! And I'm just the dream molester
liar
who said she doesn't want a boyfriend, but I
do
want a boyfriend, and lying about it is the first terrible step on the slippery slope of full-on, unrepentant Greater-Than-power-induced sociopathic boyfriend-stealing behavior! And I will not do that! I will not become that!

“But I already did. I already am a monster, because I already lied
twice
!” I continued. “I lied about Tom Diaz, and the truth is that he wasn't
half
as cool as you are. And I'm sorry if I'm blowing your cover, but maybe you
aren't
so cool if you think it's okay to dream-cheat on Dana, but the thing is, I don't even think you're like that. You're just way too
nice
, so stop being nice for a second and be unforgivably lame so that I can at least have a fighting chance to loathe you. Because that's all I really want, Milo, just a chance to think you suck, but you won't let me
do
that!

“God! Just be annoying or gross or
something
besides absolutely amazing and wonderful and perfect and everything I've ever dreamed of—” I laughed out loud, and it sounded insane to my ears. “No pun intended—because otherwise I think I'm going to absolutely lose my shit if I haven't done so already. Which, I think I've done already, right? I mean, this is me losing my shit. Shit. Lost. Gone.”

I took a deep breath and looked around me at three extremely stunned faces. Milo was still smiling. In fact, he was damn near grinning his ass off.

“Someone say something,” I begged.

There was an extremely awkward and prolonged silence.

“Who's Tom Diaz?” Dana finally asked.

Milo took a step forward. “Skylar,” he said quietly, even as I buried my face in my hands again. “I really don't blame you for those dreams. In fact, I'm certain I was orchestrating at least a part of them. That room we were in a little while ago—with the candles and the…” He tactfully left out the rest.

I nodded miserably.

Cal giggled.

“That was my apartment back in Santa Fe. You couldn't have possibly known what it looked like. That was
me
. Not you.”

I looked up. “But you and Dana are…” And something in Milo's eyes made me stop. I glanced at Dana. “Dana said…” I stopped again and replayed that conversation we'd had at the Pizza Extravaganza in my head as I realized that Dana had never actually said the word
boyfriend
. She'd told me to back off, and that she and Milo had been together for years, but… “So okay, you didn't say it, but you certainly
implied
that Milo was your boyfriend.”

Milo's smile disappeared as he turned to look at Dana as well. “Did you tell Skylar that?”

“No.” She paused. “Well, kind of. I knew what she thought, and I didn't correct her misconceptions. Was it really my fault if she misunderstood?” It was Dana's turn to smile, just a little bit.

Milo was as furious as I'd ever seen him. “Dana! What the hell?”

“It was a test!” Dana replied defensively. She turned to me. “Congratulations, Bubble Gum, you passed. You are an honorable, loyal, and true friend.” She turned to Milo. “As far as your potential girlfriends go, I confess to being really picky, but…she'll do.”

Milo shook his head. “I don't believe you did that. You knew how I felt!”

“You're welcome,” Dana said.

“Wait!” I interjected as Calvin continued to giggle uncontrollably. “So…you and Milo
aren't
…?”

“Milo's not my boyfriend, Sunshine. Never has been.”

I looked at Milo, and he nodded. “Dana's like a sister to me.”

“Oh,” I said. “Wow.”

“
Wow
just about says it all.” Dana took the opportunity to grab Cal's shoulder. “Come on, Scoot. Let's bring these bags of junk-food goodness back to the car.” The two of them moved briskly away.

I turned to look again at Milo.

“Skylar,” he said, smiling again. “You should know that I think you're amazing and wonderful and perfect as well.”

That roller-coaster feeling was back with a vengeance. “Really?” I managed, even though I could hardly breathe, never mind eke out a word.

“Really,” he said. “And you gotta stop believing the crap you read on the Internet. Greater-Thans just don't become sociopathic monsters. And even if there was the tiniest chance that you
could
? There's no way
you'd
ever cross over to the dark side. It just wouldn't happen.”

I wanted to believe him.

He must've seen my doubt, because he got serious. “I promise,” he said, “if I ever see you start to lean in that direction, I'll warn you, and we'll have plenty of time to figure out how to stop it from happening.”

It was that
we'll
that convinced me, and I managed to nod and even smile.

Then, like something out of the most amazing and romantic movie in the world—French, I would bet it would be French, with subtitles—he reached for my hand. And then, gazing into my eyes, he kissed the top of it. And
then
, he turned it over and kissed my palm.

Instantly, that same rush of vanilla and sunshine poured through every inch of me.

There. Do you believe me?

I looked at Milo as he let go of my hand, and then I smiled.

“Yeah,” I said, reaching for his hand again. I didn't want him to stop touching me.

He intertwined our fingers, and we gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. I couldn't help it. I started to laugh.

I
trust
you
. And I did.

I
trust
you
too
. His smile faded again.
You
really
do
believe
that
Sasha
is
still
alive, don't you?

My gaze didn't waver. “Yes,” I said out loud.

“Well, let's go find her, then,” he said.