For Nevermore Season 1

suddenly regretted the question, realizing that he was basically asking Mako to surrender the confidence of her best friend.
    “I don’t wanna put you on the spot,” he said. “Don’t tell me if she said anything she swore you not to tell. I’m not asking . . .”
    Mako smiled, put a hand on his shoulder, and said, “Relax, Sam. It’s all good. Noella’s fine. I promise.”
    “Phew,” he said.
    “I think the more relevant question is, how are things between you and Becca? How did she take your little conversation? Does Becca know about Noella’s crush on you?”
    The way she asked if Becca knew made Sam suspect Mako of holding something back, like she wanted to ask something more. He would have pressed Mako for answers, but Becca and Vicky suddenly appeared behind Mako.
    “Oh my God, did you hear?” Becca said, rushing up to Sam and throwing her arms around him with an over-the-top hug.
    “What?” he asked.
    “There’s another girl missing. A little kid. Eight years old.”
    “Eight?” Mako said.
    Becca nodded.
    Sam could feel the layer of frost between Becca, Vicky, and Mako, but Becca was doing her best to be good, and he could feel that as well.
    “Yeah, a girl living on Oak Lane. Isn’t that Noella’s street?”
    “What’s the girl’s name?” Mako asked.
    “Tori something or other. She’s been missing since this morning. It’s all over the news. They were showing it on TV in my broadcast journalism class.”
    “That’s the girl Noella babysits!” Mako said. “Oh man. No wonder she’s not in school.”
    Vicky looked like she was about to say something nasty, but the gravity of the situation kept the words in her throat. She opened her mouth for a second, then closed it, smartly going for silence instead.
    “Do they think it’s the serial killer?” Sam asked. “Did they say?”
    “They weren’t saying on the news,” Becca said. “I guess it’s too early to say and the sheriff’s office isn’t saying much of anything, at least not now, other than she’s missing.”
    The warning bell rang, giving the group one minute to get to class before the final bell made them eligible for a yellow slip.
    “OK, gotta run,” Mako said. “Bye, guys.”
    “Bye,” Sam said.
    Mako ran off toward class while Vicky tapped her right foot.
    “OK, I’ll see you at lunch,” Becca said, leaning in to kiss Sam on the lips. “I love you.”
    “Love you, too,” he said, kissing her back.
    But Sam knew he wouldn’t see her at lunch. He was already making other plans. He would leave campus and see if he could help Noella, or at the least offer her comfort.
    And he’d spend fourth period thinking of a perfect lie to text Becca.

    * * * *

CHAPTER FIVE

    Josie had been up and down every street in the entire neighborhood, knocking on doors and asking around, but had yet to see a sign of the missing child.
    As she went from door to door, it occurred to her that even though she’d lived in Aurora Falls forever, she hardly knew any of her neighbors. There was a time, not so long ago, when Josie knew nearly everyone on her street. But lately, the street seemed crowded with strangers. She felt weird and slightly guilty approaching these people now, in a moment of need, rather than making it a point to know them before.
    There was something else mingling with her guilt. A chilly unease she couldn’t quite define. There were several scary-looking people on her street, and while Josie hated to judge people by the way they looked, she couldn’t help but wonder how many of the creepy-looking people were on some sort of sex offender list or were capable of kidnapping a child.
    Behind every closed door lurked a possible monster.
    She felt guilty for even thinking it, but it was an icy truth she couldn’t quite shake.
    As the sun cut through the cloudy sky, Josie’s stomach started to rumble, and she realized she’d not yet eaten. She tried to call Randy, wondering what was taking him so long to check in. Had he and Noella found Tori? Had they run into danger?
    No answer.
    Another uneasy chill fluttered through her gut, mixing with her hunger.
    She left a message on Randy’s voicemail — the fifth message so far this morning. “Hey, Randy. You guys okay? Give me a call, please.”
    Knowing Randy, he probably just dropped Noella at school, then went back to work without even thinking to call. He would have done something like that even when they were speaking; that was his particular brand of