Chapter 29

"She's awake ?" Jacey asks, her voice grating against my already-throbbing head.

The pain is causing my vision to crack. I try to push the phone back into her hands. "Keep your voice down," I snap. "Did Sam and Abby hear you?"

Ahead, Sam turns around. How much did he hear?

"Sorry," Jacey whispers.

I inhale, letting the breath out slowly, like a leaking tire. "My mom texted me twenty-four times. She called me seventeen times." My hands shake, sweat making the pink case slick between my fingers.

Jacey touches me on the shoulder. "This is incredible news." But neither her face nor her tone matches the words.

I know exactly how she feels. "Yeah."

Tyler falls back into step with us, his eyes wide. "She's really awake?"

Way to go, Jacey.

"We should head straight to the hospital." Jacey's footsteps quicken, and dust rises around the hems of our jeans.

"Someone should go to the cops," Tyler says. "Tell them as much as we know so they can protect Piper. Even if Sam didn't hear what Jacey said, he's going to find out soon enough. Pretty sure girl wakes up from coma will make the local news today."

"Do you want to go to the hospital or the police station?" Jacey asks, touching me lightly on the arm.

"I have to go to the hospital. My parents probably already sent out a search party for me."

"Okay, you handle the cops," Jacey tells Tyler. "I'll drive Savannah to the hospital."

He nods, and Jacey treks ahead to join the others. Somehow, my tired, heavy feet have managed to gain some buoyancy. We haven't stopped to rest once, but I get a second wind as we swoop around the mountainside, pushing along the final stretch down the rock-lined trail.

I crane my neck and see the trees thinning out ahead. Catching up with Grant, I stand on my tiptoes to whisper into his ear. "When we reach the school, drive to the police station. Or find someone with a working phone. Tell the cops about Sam. Tell them Piper needs protection." I lick my dry lips. "Don't say anything to anyone, but she's awake."

Grant's mouth falls open. "What? Th-that's amazing. How are you getting to the hospital?"

"Jacey's going to drive me."

"And the others?"

I shrug. "I'll tell them to head to the police station too. Strength in numbers."

"I'm so glad she's awake, Savannah."

I force a swallow. "Yeah."

His fingers wrap around my sleeve. "There's something I need to say." I look up to find a sheen in his hazel eyes.

Immediately, my heart speeds up. I'm not sure I can handle another revelation. Not from him.

Grant's teeth clamp on to his lower lip. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about seeing Piper that day." His feet shuffle in the dirt. "Or about any of it. I thought I was the last person to see her before she did it and that I didn't do enough to help. To stop her."

My stomach bunches. I understand his fear all too well. I can't fault him for holding out on me. But I can't be swept up by his charm either. This year, I've focused so hard on shiny things—on Grant, being prom queen, and getting into MLC—that I stopped seeing what really mattered. It's like this massive pain in my head has me thinking clearly for the first time. I'm not ignoring what's in front of me. Right now, that's my sister. "Just handle the cops for me, okay?"

He nods, and I speed ahead, the thought of what will happen between Grant and me fading to black as I reach the others.

"Is it true?" Noah asks, his voice low and faltering.

"Head to the cops with Tyler and Grant," I say without slowing.

The trail swerves ahead, and my heart thumps in time with my steps. I break into a run, leaving Mr. Davis and the others behind. He shouts after me, but I ignore him, pumping my arms, backpack bouncing behind me, moving my short legs as fast as they'll go. Mr. Davis is still calling out about debriefing but none of us are listening.

I make it to the small paved lot at the base of the mountain, Jacey and the others right behind me. But as we cross the shady road and head toward the school parking lot, I glance back, catching a flash of red flannel at the base of the mountain.

We aren't alone.

I hurry the others along, and we make the ten-minute walk to the school in half that. Only a few cars speckle the school lot on a Sunday afternoon. We're all racing, Jacey and me to her Honda, the boys to Grant's truck.

I'm almost at Jacey's car. When I move to hop a concrete divider, there's a hard tug on my jacket, and I nearly topple backward. "What?" I snap, turning around to see Tyler, whose face is sickly pale.

He points across the lot. "Does Mr. Davis drive that blue Chevy?"

I blink and follow his gaze to where the beat-up Chevy sits in a shade-strewn patch at the back of the lot. "No, he drives that black sedan." I flick my chin toward the only car in the designated faculty spots closest to the school entrance.

"That Chevy was here when I came looking for Piper on the day she fell. I figured it belonged to one of the teachers. But they wouldn't be here now, on a Sunday." He takes a shallow breath. "Whose truck is that?"

"I don't know. Let's just go." I continue to Jacey's car, and Tyler rushes off to follow Grant.

Suddenly, the Chevy rumbles to life, but I can't see its owner through the tinted windshield.

It throttles into reverse, and the smell of burnt rubber fills the air as it screeches out of the parking lot.

Another scent slinks into its place. Sharp, acrid.

Panic.

I pull open the passenger door of Jacey's car and dive inside. "We have to get to the hospital."