Chapter Twenty-Seven

For the last forty minutes, North Metro's deputy chief administrator and the head of the hospital's psychology department had grilled Marlie with question after question. She couldn't tell if that was a good sign or a bad one.

"One last question, Dr. Foxe," Jabari Abdullah said as he flipped to the second page of the curriculum vitae Marlie had typed up barely an hour ago. "You haven't practiced in three years. For the last two years, you've been working here as a custodian. Why?"

She shifted in the chair, readjusting the suit jacket she'd borrowed from Tish for the interview. She didn't know which was more uncomfortable: being referred to as "doctor" again or answering Abdullah's question.

"Three years ago, I suffered a family tragedy." This was the first time she'd said those words out loud. "Afterward, I didn't feel I was fit to counsel anyone. I needed time to help myself before I could return to helping others. To do so prematurely wouldn't have been fair to my patients."

Dr. Janet Moroni, head of the psych department, picked up two sheets of paper. "Latisha Torres wrote you a wonderful referral letter, and Dr. Tori Sampson provided an extremely complimentary character reference."

Marlie's throat clogged with so much gratitude she couldn't speak. She hadn't known either of them had done that.

"We'll be in touch by the end of next week." Jabari stood, holding out his hand. "Thank you for coming in."

After shaking hands, Marlie left the office, closing the door behind her.

I did it. I actually did it .

With a smile, she headed to Tish's office to change back into her custodial clothes. Even if she didn't get this particular job, she vowed to apply for other psychologist positions. Now that she'd made the decision, she was all in.

At the elevator bank, she pushed the button for Tish's floor. The phone she'd set to vibrate buzzed in her pocket. When she tugged it out, her muscles tightened. It was Noah's school. Stay calm . A call during the day didn't automatically mean trouble.

The elevator doors opened. Not wanting to risk losing signal, she stayed in the hallway and took the call. "Hello?"

"Ms. Foxe? This is Aileen Muldew at the Lakewood Middle School."

"Yes?" A subtle vibe in the woman's voice had Marlie pressing the phone tighter to her ear. "Is everything all right?"

"Is Noah with you?"

Oh God . "No. Are you telling me he's not in school?"

"What I'm saying is that we can't find him," the woman continued, her voice growing more panicked by the second. "The last class he was seen in was English, and that was before lunch. After lunch, he would have had time for outdoor recess, then he had a library study period. But no one's actually seen him since English class. We didn't realize he was missing until he didn't show up for gym class."

"No! He should be in school." Marlie speed-walked to the stairwell. "When did his English class let out?" She slammed the heel of her hand on the stairwell door, shoving it open.

"Over two hours ago. We're calling the police now."

" Now you're calling the police?" The first three hours in a missing child case were critical. She of all people knew that. She started racing down the stairs.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Foxe. We didn't know he was gone. We have people searching everywhere for him. Our buildings have electronically controlled door locks. We have outdoor cameras, some of which are livestreamed directly to the police department. We received no notifications. I don't understand how this could have happened."

Still pounding down the stairs, Marlie ground her teeth. Aiden had been standing less than two feet from her when he'd gone missing.

And Frank Manello was still out there.

She knew the drill. The police wouldn't get fully involved until it was 100 percent verified Noah wasn't in school and he wasn't at home, either. "I'm going home to check for him there. Call me if you find him."

"Yes, of course I—"

Marlie punched off the call and threw her weight against the door. Not caring how many looks she got, she tore down the hall to Tish's office.

When she flung open the door, Tish looked up. "How'd the interview go?"

"There's no time. I need to borrow your car." She held out her hand.

"Okay." Tish shot her a worried look as she fished keys from her purse. "What's going on?"

"Noah's missing from school." She took the keys Tish handed her. "I'm heading to your house to see if he's there."

"You don't think that Manello guy has something to do with this, do you?"

She clenched the keys so tightly they dug into the palm of her hand. "I don't know." Yet, in her gut, she knew something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Fifteen minutes later, she deactivated the alarm and ran inside Tish's house. "Noah? Noah? " she called out, searching the ground floor, then bolting up the stairs, praying she was wrong.

The door to his room was open, the way he usually left it. He wasn't there. Leaving no possibility the police could ignore, she opened the closet. Empty, save for the new clothes she'd bought him.

Panic spiked her blood, and she charged down the hallway to check her room and the bathroom, then went into the master suite and checked there, too.

This can't be happening. This can't be happening all over again .

She took deep steadying breaths so she didn't pass out. Back in Noah's room, she sat on the bed. Just that morning, she'd asked him if he wanted her to adopt him. There'd been no doubting the enthusiasm on his face. He wouldn't have run away. He wouldn't.

Something else was happening here.

Clutching her arms around her waist, she fell back onto the bed. Her head hit something hard. She sat up and flung back the covers to find a folded sheet of paper tucked into her laptop. On top of the laptop was a credit card. Her credit card.

She stared at the card. Why would he—? Oh no .

When she'd come in that morning, he'd been doing something on the laptop right before he'd snapped the lid shut. The expression on his face she'd taken as surprise, she now realized was something else entirely. Guilt .

She flipped open the laptop and unfolded the sheet of paper. It was a handwritten note.

Marlie, I know that was the camp we were at in Wyoming. Evan said he can't get in there, but I can, and I don't want to wait anymore. I'm going back there to get Caleb. Maybe we can convince some of the other kids to come with us, too. I'll find a way to call you. I'll also pay you back for the bus ticket. I swear it. Please don't be too mad at me, 'cuz I really do want to live with you. Noah.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "Noah, what have you done?" With her heart in her throat, she entered her password, and the home screen filled with an image. An aerial one. Of Cheyenne, Wyoming .

While she stared at the image a second longer, she was mad at him. Mad as hell. Just when they were on the verge of starting a new life together, he went and did something so incredibly foolish it might get him killed.

Anger morphed to admiration of his courage, then quickly reverted to sheer terror. With trembling fingers, she clicked on the browser history. One of the last sites he'd been looking at was for the Greyhound Bus lines. She clicked the link, worrying what she'd find. The booking page populated, and her heart nearly stopped.

Noah really had purchased a bus ticket from Union Station in Denver to Cheyenne.

She clapped a hand over her mouth. How could she have been so stupid?

All the times he'd asked when they could go get Caleb, including just this morning… She should have seen where his head was at. Why hadn't she?

Noah was smart. Too smart. He'd intentionally planned this trip during school times when there'd be less likelihood of anyone detecting he was gone. But how did he get to Union Station, and how would he get from the bus depot in Cheyenne to the camp?

The next line in the browser history answered that question. Uber . She clicked the link. He'd also used her credit card to get a ride to Union Station and another to pick him up in Cheyenne.

"No, no, no, no!" She sucked in quick breaths. "Stay calm." She pulled out her phone and punched in Evan's number. After three rings, her call went to voicemail. "Evan," she practically screamed. "Noah took a bus to Cheyenne! He's going after Caleb and the other kids!"