Page 106 of Cruel Abandon (Fallen Royals 5)
Seems like the school is moving faster than the Travers family: they’ve canceled classes for the rest of the week.
Liam reads it over my shoulder, then quickly kisses my cheek. “This is okay,” he says to me. “We’ll go home for the week. Clear our heads, get out of Boston.”
“Do you have a car hiding somewhere?”
He rolls his eyes. “No, Jake has my old one. But we can take Theo’s.”
It seems to be settled, then. Liam and I pack small bags in silence. I call Mom and let her know I’ll be visiting, giving Dad a cursory text, too. He doesn’t live in Stone Ridge anymore, but it would be nice to see him before Thanksgiving.
Mom is happy, then suspicious. After all, I had put up a big stink about not going home. Here I am, willingly traveling back?
I promise to explain everything in person, then hang up.
Next, I text Taryn, asking if Whitney was supposed to join us last night. Her caller ID lights up my phone a second later.
“Oh my god, Skylar,” she says when I answer. “Where did you go? One minute we were there, and the next, Jeff was saying you left with Colt? Is that true?”
I gnaw on my lip, then sigh. “It ended up okay, but I wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with Colt… ever again.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
She clears her throat. “Whitney was supposed to join us, yes. She sent me a text that she got sick and couldn’t make it.”
I hum. “You’d think her parents would know, right?”
“Yeah, unless she snuck out anyway. Maybe to meet a boy?” She snorts. “She loves her secrets.”
I was one of her biggest secrets.
“I’m a bit worried,” I admit. “Her mom called me.”
Taryn sucks in a breath. “No offense, but that woman isn’t your biggest fan. Was she calling to accuse you of something?”
“No. I think they’re convinced she’s missing, though.” I zip up my bag and throw it over my shoulder. The plants will survive a week, and the rest is just… stuff. I don’t know why it feels like I won’t come back here. It’s that sneaking feeling in my gut that something awful is about to happen. “I’m headed home for the week. I’ll see you on Monday.”
“You know what? That’s probably for the best. God, I think I need to do the same thing.”
I smile. “Definitely. Do it.”
“You sold me on it,” she says. “And I’ll reach out, see if I can unearth Whitney.”
I can almost feel her wince from here.
“Poor choice of words,” she adds. “Forget I said that.”
“Forgotten,” I say.
I walk into the living room and stop dead. The news… well, it seems Whitney’s parents did move faster than we thought. Liam stands in front of the television, his bag dangling from his fingertips and the remote control in the other hand. Whitney’s picture is on the screen.
“Gotta go,” I say to her. “Holy shit, Liam.”
“They don’t waste time.” He turns up the volume as the anchor appears.
“…Whitney Travers, age twenty, has been reported missing by her parents. They say police have been slow to respond, even with the other girls recently discovered deceased. We’re expecting an official Amber Alert to be issued later today.
“Whitney is the fourth girl to go missing in the Boston area. Jasmine Miller, a college student who went missing back in August, has not been found. Investigators are not confirming whether Miller or Travers are related to Amber Huck’s and Natalie Eldridge’s deaths.”