Chapter 3 - the lie about the bicycle)
Tyler waited until Rick left for work.
The moment Rick's truck disappeared around the corner, he followed Jack upstairs.
Jack closed his bedroom door.
Tyler opened it again.
"What happened to your knee?"
Jack sat on the edge of his bed.
"I fell."
"Off what?"
Jack shrugged.
"My bike."
"You don't have a bike."
Silence.
"Try again."
Jack stared at the carpet.
Tyler's irritation began turning into fear.
"Jack."
"Leave me alone."
"No."
"I said leave me alone."
"And I'm saying you lied."
Jack looked up sharply.
"So?"
"So why?"
"Because I don't want to talk about it."
"Maya disappeared last night."
"I know."
"Rick told you not to say her name."
Jack's face changed.
"You were listening?"
"I heard enough."
"No, you didn't."
"Then tell me the rest."
Jack stood.
"Get out."
"Did Rick hurt your knee?"
Jack's eyes flashed.
"No."
"Did he hurt Maya?"
"Stop."
"Do you know where she is?"
"STOP!"
Jack shouted so loudly that Laura called from downstairs.
"You boys okay?"
Tyler and Jack stared at each other.
Tyler answered.
"Yeah."
Jack's eyes filled with tears.
Then he whispered, "Please stop asking."
That stopped Tyler.
Not because it satisfied him.
Because Jack sounded terrified.
Tyler closed the door.
"Okay."
Jack looked suspicious.
"Okay?"
"I'm not asking."
Tyler sat beside him.
"But if something happened, you can tell me."
Jack's mouth tightened.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"You said you weren't asking."
Tyler exhaled.
"Fine."
Neither spoke for a moment.
Then Tyler noticed a streak of dried brown dirt on Jack's bedroom floor.
It led toward the closet.
He stood.
Jack immediately moved in front of him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"What's in the closet?"
"Clothes."
"You hate folding clothes."
"So?"
Tyler reached for the handle.
Jack grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
That confirmed it.
Tyler opened the door.
Behind a pile of shoes sat a small backpack.
It was not Jack's.
Purple canvas.
One strap torn.
A silver keychain shaped like a moon hung from the zipper.
Tyler had seen it dozens of times.
Maya's backpack.
His stomach dropped.
"Jack."
Jack began crying.
"Don't tell Mom."
Tyler stepped back.
"Why do you have Maya's bag?"
"She left it."
"When?"
Jack shook his head.
"Jack, when?"
"Tuesday."
"Before she went home?"
Jack said nothing.
Tyler looked at the backpack.
Then at the bandage around his brother's knee.
Everything in the room suddenly felt wrong.
He crouched.
"Did you see Maya Tuesday night?"
Jack whispered, "I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because he'll hurt you."
Tyler went still.
"Rick?"
Jack squeezed his eyes shut.
"He said if I talked, something could happen to you. Or Mom."
Tyler felt rage rise so quickly that he almost stood and marched downstairs, despite knowing Rick was gone.
Instead, he forced himself to stay calm.
"Jack, listen to me. Rick doesn't get to decide what you say."
"You don't understand."
"Then help me understand."
Jack wiped his face.
"I saw something."
"What?"
Jack shook his head.
"I can't."
"Was Maya here?"
Another silence.
Tyler lowered his voice.
"Is Maya alive?"
Jack flinched.
That was answer enough.
Tyler's pulse accelerated.
"Jack."
"I don't know."
"But you think she might be."
Jack suddenly stood.
"I said I don't know!"
Laura called from the hallway.
"What's happening?"
The bedroom door opened.
Both brothers turned.
Laura looked from Tyler to Jack.
Then saw Maya's backpack.
Her expression changed.
"What is that?"
Jack froze.
Tyler made a decision.
A bad one, he would later realize.
He lied.
"Maya left it yesterday."
Laura frowned.
"Before she disappeared?"
"Yeah."
"Why was it in the closet?"
Tyler forced a shrug.
"Jack forgot."
Jack stared at him.
Laura picked up the backpack.
"We should give this to the police."
"No!"
Jack lunged forward.
Laura stopped.
"Jack?"
He looked panicked.
Tyler intervened.
"Maybe let me take it. I'm heading out anyway."
"To where?"
"Community center."
Laura hesitated.
Then handed him the bag.
"Go straight to the police station."
Tyler nodded.
He did not.
He carried Maya's backpack two blocks away and sat behind an abandoned baseball dugout.
Then he opened it.
Inside were school notebooks, two candy wrappers, a paperback novel, headphones, and a small wallet.
Nothing unusual.
Then Tyler found the phone.
It was hidden inside a zippered inner pocket.
Maya's phone.
The battery was dead.
Tyler stared at it.
Police had told Catherine that Maya's phone was missing.
They believed she had taken it with her.
If her phone had been in Jack's closet the whole time, Maya had disappeared without it.
Tyler powered it on using a portable battery from his car.
The screen lit.
Twenty-seven missed calls.
Most from MOM.
Several from friends.
One notification showed an unsent video in Maya's messages.
The video was twelve seconds long.
Tyler pressed play.
The image shook violently.
Darkness.
Rain.
Maya's breathing.
Then the camera steadied.
Tyler recognized the Bennett backyard.
The garage light was on.
Rick stood beside his truck.
He was dragging something large from the truck bed toward the garage.
A rolled carpet.
No.
Not a carpet.
The object moved.
Maya whispered behind the phone.
"What is he doing?"
Then Rick turned.
The video jerked.
Maya ran.
The recording ended.
Tyler replayed it.
His hands started shaking.
Something moved inside the object Rick had been dragging.
Something alive.
But Maya had recorded the video before she disappeared.
Which meant whatever Rick had been moving into the garage that night was not Maya.
There had been someone else.
Tyler looked toward home.
At the distant roofline.
At the garage beyond it.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message from Jack.
DON'T COME HOME YET.
Another arrived.
RICK CAME BACK.
May you like
A third message followed.
HE KNOWS THE BACKPACK IS GONE.
