Those Sweet Words (Misfit Inn 2)

As the door shut behind him, she began going room-by-room, including the guest rooms. Unease morphed into active worry when she found no trace of her child. Where was she? Kennedy’s old room was the last one, and again, no Ari. Pru started to shut the door, when she caught a flash of movement. The curtain billowed from a breeze coming in the open window. The window that opened on to the old bodock tree. The one Kennedy had used for sneaking out to meet Xander.

Everybody knew that story, including Ari.

Flynn came up the stairs. “I didn’t find her.” He looked past her. “Why is the window open?”

Pru couldn’t breathe.

Ari always eavesdropped. If she’d heard what the social worker had said, if she’d heard that she’d be taken away…she might run. It was that fear that had driven Pru and her sisters to fight so hard for Ari to stay put after their mother died. Kennedy had stated unequivocally that running was what she’d have done.

As she stared at the open window, Pru realized that she’d been wrong. The situation could absolutely get worse. “We have to call Xander. I think Ari’s run away.”

~*~

“We can’t find her.” Pru’s voice, already ragged from crying, broke again as she met Xander on the porch. The sound of it shredded Flynn’s guts. This was his fault. If he hadn’t opened his big fat mouth… If he hadn’t convinced Pru that this was the best course of action… If he’d never stayed at all, this never would have happened. Ari’s home wouldn’t have been at risk.

Xander put an arm around her. “We’re gonna find her. I promise. Let’s go inside now. I need to get some more information.” He turned to the deputy he’d brought with him. “Clyde, you wanna do a sweep of the immediate area, see what you can find?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ve shouted ourselves hoarse, and we’ve searched the house and barn,” Flynn said, barely trusting his own voice.

“Won’t hurt to have another pair of eyes,” Xander said easily.

He escorted them to the kitchen and put on the kettle himself. “You sit on down. I’m gonna make you some tea.”

Tea. Flynn should have thought of that. Pru’s throat was raw. It would do her good if they could get it down her.

“When did you last see Ari?” Xander asked.

Pru scooped a hand through her hair. “I…about an hour and a half ago? Maybe two hours? She was trying to pick an outfit for the first day of school. I went up to talk to her about half an hour ago, but she wasn’t in her room or anywhere else in the house, and the window in Kennedy’s room was open to the old bodock. You know how much she glommed onto that story of Kennedy using it to sneak out.”

“That she did. Did she take her phone?”

“It’s still on her dresser,” Pru said.

Kennedy burst into the room. “I came as soon as I could.” She wrapped her arms around her sister. “What happened?”

“We were just getting to that,” Xander said. “Why do you think she ran away as opposed just going off hiking without telling you?”

“She’s always really good about asking permission for things,” Pru said.

“Her backpack is gone,” Flynn added. “Along with the entire bag of clementines, a box of granola bars, and part of the new case of bottled water.”

“You’re sure that’s not just up in her room?” Kennedy asked. “Foster kids often hoard food. I’ve never known Ari to do that, but you never know.”

“I—” Pru paused. “I don’t know. We didn’t check. Her room looks like a bomb went off.”

“Ransacked?” Xander’s voice sharpened.

“Teenage girl,” Pru corrected. “She wasn’t taken. She ran.”

“Why would she run?” Kennedy asked.

Pru closed her eyes, her face twisting in pain, and the guilt nearly buckled Flynn’s knees.

He laid a hand on her shoulder, almost surprised when Pru’s hand came up to cover his. “Lydia Coogan was here.”

The tension in the room ratcheted up exponentially. For the first time in their long friendship, Flynn saw an ugly suspicion darken Kennedy’s gaze as she stared him down, waiting for the explanation he’d give almost anything not to tell.