See Jane Run

Part 3

Riley looked from Shelby—who had her ear buds in and was bopping in her seat—to JD. Sometimes I feel like I have no connection, no root, nothing tying me to my life, to my brand-new bedroom in our brand-new tract home—to anything, Riley thought. She felt as disconnected and as forgotten as baby Jane, tucked away in a baby book somewhere, dumped in a box, forgotten until unearthed by accident. Tears stung at the back of her eyes.

“So what do you do? You can’t just walk out.” She jutted her head toward the front of the bus where Ms. Carter sat, her profile lit by the greyish light of her iPad. “Carter counts.”

“Or miscounts.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“If you’re not here for the first head count, she’s not going to be missing you for the one later. She doesn’t look like a teacher who’s lost students, and we get a couple of extra hours to really explore. Why? You gonna come with me?”

Riley glanced out the bus window, her mother’s admonitions ringing through her head. She could get lost or murdered or kidnapped—

Her stomach turned to liquid.

What if she already had been kidnapped?

Riley turned back to JD. “So how do you make Carter mess up her count?”

•••

Riley’s heart sped up as the bus slowed down. Shelby’s head was lolled to the side, her temple against Riley’s shoulder, her lips slightly parted as she snored. Riley glanced down at her then gave her a small shake.

“Shelby!”

“What?”

Riley bit her bottom lip. She never lied to Shelby, never kept anything from her. “I’m not going to go on the tour.”

Shelby gaped. “What are you talking about?”

“Jane.”

Shelby rolled her eyes. “What about her?”

Riley didn’t know what to say. “I’m going to find her.”

“You looked online. What else is there?”

She pressed her sweaty palms against her jeans. “There was a missing poster on my computer last night.”

Shelby’s mouth dropped open, but she didn’t say anything.

“I have to find out about Jane, Shelby. I have to know—if she’s me.”

“So go home and ask your parents. Ask to see your birth certificate—after we get home. What can you do about it now anyway? It’s not like you’re going to find Jane O’Leary in the university library or something.”