Chapter 29
“Do you think they’re fine?” Casey worried as she emptied her second mocha.
“Of course. She can handle Jericho well enough,” Mrs. Evergreen replied as she sipped her coffee, holding the cup daintily with perfectly manicured fingers.
“That’s not what I meant. It’s been two hours and she hasn’t called.”
“Well, I think we should give them some time. Making up is a tricky business.”
“Do you think she blew and left?”
“No, she did that a few times already.”
With a sigh, Casey slurped down the rest of her mocha and stood up, ignoring her urgent need to pee. “I don’t have a good feeling about this. Can we just drive over and check it out? We don’t need to get too close, just close enough for a peek.”
Uncertainly, Mrs. Evergreen set the cup down. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.” The pair left Starbucks and headed for the car parked neatly next to a FedEx van, and buckled themselves in. Casey drove.
It was dark and cold outside. The windows had fogged up a little and Casey didn’t dare turn on the heat for fear of condensation on the windshield. Outside, everything was still and silent, and there were little people on the street. She missed Salem. Everything was still bright and going-on even in the late hours of the night, like New York City.
Glaring up at the air purifier that had lost its scent a long time ago, she surreptitiously pressed down on the gas a little harder, still trying to shake off the premonition that something was wrong.
“Do you hear that?” she said suddenly.
Mrs. Evergreen perked up. “What?”
“That.”
There was a faint drone in the air, up above their heads. The distant wail of a siren beyond that. Winding down the window to hear better, Casey strained her ears. By now, they were so close to the house it was no longer necessary to focus. It was loud and clear.
Police sirens. The muted chop-chop-chop of a helicopter.
She’d been right.
Unconsciously, a reaction born purely out of panic, Casey stamped down on the pedal. The car shot forward with a burst of speed, and Casey decided there was no time to waste. Releasing the pedal to ease the car into a slightly slower speed (but nowhere near safe), she speed-drove round the last few bends to Jericho’s house with her heart in her throat. Beside her, Mrs. Evergreen was tight-lipped and white face, gripping the door handle so hard Casey was afraid the door would burst open.
The car skidded to a halt on the tarmac just yards away from the house. The house. Police cars blocked up the front, someone was cordoning up the area, and the helicopter- perhaps the strangest sight of all- was preparing for take-off after having presumably landed.
Tumbling out, she dashed to the nearest officer, Lila’s mother right at her heels.
“Sorry, no people allowed right now-”
“I’m her best friend!”
“And I’m her mother!” Mrs. Evergreen bellowed from behind. Their expressions must’ve been convincing enough because he blanched and let them through.
“There!” There was a sheriff standing up front, talking seriously with a young police officer- Casey shoved the latteraside without an apology.
“What the hell happened?” she demanded.
“You are?”
“Her mother,” Mrs. Evergreen interjected from behind. “Tell us everything.”
YOU ARE READING
Not Very Bimbo
Teen Fiction"I've always been a cruel, popular girl in Salem High. I'm the best. People act like it. I act like it. Jericho doesn't. He's my biology teacher. But it's not like I care about what he thinks. I don't. I mustn't... But he's hiding something. Somethi...
