Dead Past

I so wanted to go,” said Star. “It was supposed to be really cool. But you know, Paris comes first.”
    “That’s really nice what you’re doing for Star,” said Jenny. “Shopping in Paris for clothes. Wow.”
    “It will be my pleasure,” said Diane.
    She smiled at the two of them—so overjoyed to find them healthy and whole—then quickly refocused her attention.
    “We need to go find Frank. He’s searching the other side of the building.”
    “What’s happened?” asked Star again. “Did the party get busted or something?”
    Diane took Star’s hand. She reached over and took Jenny’s, too. Star and Jenny exchanged glances again, Jenny’s expression asking Star, “What’s up with her?”
    “Diane, what is it?” asked Star.
    “The house on Rose Avenue . . . there was a meth lab in the basement. It exploded while the party was going on and the house burned. Many of the kids didn’t make it out.”
    Star sucked in her breath. The two looked at Diane, wide-eyed.
    “You mean, they’re . . . dead?” said Jenny. She slipped her hand from Diane’s and put it over her mouth.
    “Yes,” said Diane. “I’m very sorry to say that many are dead. When Frank couldn’t find you . . . well, you see why we panicked.” Diane looked at Jenny. “And why your parents panicked when they couldn’t get in touch with you. You need to call them.”
    “I really was tempted to go to the party,” said Star. “If I wasn’t doing so bad in history . . .” She let her sentence trail off.
    “I knew some of the people who were going,” said Jenny. “Bobby Coleman asked me to go with him,” she said to Star.
    Bobby Coleman. Diane hoped her face was impassive. “We need to find Frank. If there’s a pay phone somewhere, Jenny, call your parents. If there’s not a phone you can go outside the building.” As Diane spoke, Star’s gaze never left her face.
    “My parents don’t have a cell,” said Jenny.
    “Then call home. Someone is probably there waiting in case you call,” said Diane. “Frank and I will be glad to take you home.”
    Jenny nodded.
    They both looked so young—and fragile.
    Diane guessed that Frank was searching at about the same speed as she, so he could be on the same floor. They crossed over to the right side of the building. The problem was that the building had so many wings. Frank was likely to be as hard to find as Star. It was little more than chance that Diane had found her. They went down the hallways, looking into the rooms. Frank would be easy to spot. He looked nothing like the students.
    They passed the two young women from the student lounge. Star spoke to them. Their gaze darted to Diane’s face for a fraction of a second as they walked by at a fast clip.
    “Well, what’s wrong with those two?” said Star. “They are such snobs. Just wait till I get back from Paris with my new clothes.”
    So they had known Star after all, thought Diane. They just didn’t want me to linger so they could get on with whatever they were getting on with. Damn little witches.
    “What do you know about those two?” Diane asked Star as she peeked into a classroom.
    “Jessica Davenport and Jamie Dempsey. I call them the Jersey Devils. They are so full of themselves.”
    Diane would wait until they were alone to question Star further. But at least now she had two names to give to Garnett as possible leads. She opened a door to the computer lab just as Frank was coming out.
    “Diane . . .” Then he spotted Star. “Dear God in heaven,” he said and put his arms around her. Star buried her head in his chest.
    When Star had been under arrest and her parents and brother dead, she had tried to kill herself. With the desolation of her grief and the feeling that there was nowhere for her to go, she had lost hope that the world would ever be right again. Frank’s asking to adopt her virtually turned her around. He had made her feel that she was worth something and, more importantly, he had believed her when she said she was innocent. Star was still a handful from time to time, but Diane knew that she was truly grateful that Frank loved and cared about her.
    The four of them walked out of the building and down the sidewalk to Frank’s Expedition. On the way, Jenny called home on her cell. A neighbor answered and Jenny looked surprised. But Diane knew that parents in their situation would leave someone to answer the phone, waiting for any word about their daughter.
    Just as they were about