“It’s gone!” My voice was barely recognizable through the tears.
“It was dead, Bug.” Eli pulled me closer. “Hit by lightning and deadened. They had to cut it down.”
I shook him off and ran to the stump. Just a mighty circle where the tree had been. “You knew?” I touched the wood, smooth yet grainy.
“I only found out yesterday. The lawyer was telling me about a big lightning storm the town had a few months ago while you were talking with Lennox. He told me they had to cut this big, beautiful tree down and that it was a shame because it was the only life left in the town. That’s how I found out about the town drying up, too. I didn’t know how to tell you…” Eli trailed off, looking beyond the tree at what was now empty space.
I traced my fingers over the delicate rings. “Don’t you feel it?”
“Of course I feel it! I feel it here.” Eli hit his chest so hard that I reached out to soothe him, but he backed away. “But it’s better this way. Don’t you see, Gracie? This town was rotten. It would have taken our tree with it had it not been for that lightning storm. That storm was mercy.”
I shook my head. “What now?”
Eli held his hand out to mine. “Now we go home.” Intertwining my fingers with his, we walked away from the stump. It took every ounce of willpower I had to not look back.
The flight home was uneventful. The previous day caught up with me and I spent the entire flight asleep on Eli’s shoulder, only to wake when we were making our descent. Though we were back in Santa Barbara by the afternoon, I felt jet lagged. My heart was sore, my body achy, and my brain foggy. As Lennox, Vic, and Eli stumbled out of the plane, I got the feeling that they too felt the heavy burden of the previous day.
Vic drove us home and I kissed Eli, promising to stop by after I took a shower. Complete silence engulfed us the rest of the way home, creating a blank space for my mind to run free. Only the faint sounds of the beach wafted through the car as we drove the sunny streets of Santa Barbara. I could hear laughter and the occasional seagull’s cry. It made my heart ache.
The melody playing outside the car was Vera’s song. A song of happiness and eternity, it was a song that never stopped, just like Vera. Once upon a time Vera had been my only person. She’d been the one to teach me to appreciate the world outside and with her I had dived headfirst into life’s ocean—literally.
Now she was gone.
I may as well have buried her back in Georgia.
Shifting in my seat, I pulled my seatbelt aside so I could lean forward toward Vic and Lenny. I stuck my head between their seats and said, “I can’t stop thinking about Vera.”
“Not right now,” Vic replied, barely glancing at me.
“Then when?” I pushed my seatbelt farther aside and inched my head up to get a better look at him. “When is a good time to talk about my missing friend that you’re supposedly looking for?”
“We’re almost back. Wait until we get home.”
I frowned, disappointment seeping deep into my bones, but I leaned back into my seat. I glanced at Lennox, but her mind was elsewhere. The way her eyes were glossed and detached, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she hadn’t heard a thing I’d said.
We couldn’t pull into our apartment complex fast enough. I jumped out of the car, grabbed my bag, and dashed up to Vic and Lennox’s apartment. I waited a good ten minutes, since they did not feel the same sense of urgency that I did, but the minute I saw them walking down the hall I was on them.
“So?” I demanded.
Vic put his key in the lock, regarding me with bored interest. “So?”
“So, what are we doing about Vera?” I followed them into the apartment, feet practically tapping with impatience. Lennox walked up the stairs without another word and I faintly heard a door close. I couldn’t think about what was bothering her, because all I could fit in my skull was Vera.
It was just me and Vic now. Vic rested his elbows on the kitchen counter and turned to me. “We aren’t doing anything. I have a man on it. He’s looking into her.”
“That’s it?” I demanded. “You expect me to sit back and do nothing?”
Vic ran a hand through his long black hair. Frustration flashed across his features like lightning in the desert. “I don’t expect you to do anything, because you can’t do anything. You aren’t properly trained.”
“And you are?” I spat. Vic walked around the kitchen island and pulled up a chair. It was almost like we were having a regular family chat. Almost, except I was standing with my arms crossed, glaring down at him and Vic was staring straight ahead, not even giving me the pretense of his attention.
“I’ve been trained in reconnaissance, subterfuge, and deep level infiltration, but Charlie…” Vic trailed off, as if recalling some distant memory. I waited patiently for him to continue. As the min
utes passed, I began to wonder if he ever would. Then, as if he’d never stopped talking, Vic said, “Charlie is the boogieman. He and a few other men I worked with are the things you have nightmares about. The ones you turn the lights on for, but are glad to have in your dark.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, voice getting higher. “To scare me?”
“So you know without a doubt Vera will be rescued.” Vic pinned me with his black eyes. “If anyone can save her, it’s Charlie. But you need to remember that Vera once worked with Zero. There’s a chance that she wants to be there.” Vic stood up and opened the front door, signaling the end of our conversation.