Chapter 68 Pie
“Anna? What number are you calling me from? This isn’t the camp phone.” She sounds confused and a little worried.
“I know I got a phone from one of my friends. They snuck some phones into the camp.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that you or your friends are doing things that are very much against the rules.” Her voice is full of humor, making me smile. My brain seems to ignore the truth sitting at the back of it.
“Is everything okay?”
And just like that, the sadness of the past days seeps through me so quickly. I turn my back to the room, not wanting anyone to see if I start crying. I don’t want to, but there is something about my mom asking if I’m okay that makes me want to break down all over again.
I sniffle before I can help it, making her ask again. “What’s wrong, Anna? What happened?”
“Nothing mom I was just feeling a little homesick. I was wondering if I could come over for a little bit?”
“It’s not the best time for us, the house is quite a mess still, but you can always come home. When do you want me to come pick you up?”
“I know someone who has a truck here, and they can drive me.”
“Well, that’s easy enough. When do you want to come by?”
“In a few hours?”
“Sounds perfect. But you'd best bet you’ll have to tell me everything once you get here.”
“Yes, I expect no less. Can you text me the address? I can’t really remember exactly where we moved to.”
“That makes sense. We barely moved before camp started. Make sure your friend drives safely and tries not to get caught. We really don’t need to explain this to your father.”
“Is he not home today?”
She sighs loudly, “No, he had business to attend to outside of town. So it’s just me today.”
“Great, I’ll see you soon.” “Bye, honey.”
Turning back to them, they all look very pleased. Even Alec, who still looks quite nervous, is happy it worked out the way it did.
“All we want you to do is try to bring up their work. Don’t let on that you know everything, but see if you can find out anything more.” His dad instructs me. “It would also be great if you could find some papers, notes, photos, or anything really that can inform us of their plans.” He continues.
Talking and snooping. It’ll be much easier to do both of these things, considering that Father is gone today.
“I will be parked down the street, but I’ll still be able to hear everything, so if something's wrong, just yell or do something to alert me, and I’ll be there in a second.” Alec adds.
“Anything else?” I ask, to which they shake their heads no. And that’s all it takes.
Alec takes me back to camp to get myself ready to see my mom. I need a shower and a fresh pair of my own clothes. The walk back to camp is surprisingly quiet. We’re both far too in our heads to talk about it again. And I can feel his upset at the fact that I’m willing to put myself in this situation.
“Get ready, and I’ll come get you in an hour, okay?” “Yeah, I’ll see you then.” He gives my hand a squeeze before leaving me alone at the edge of camp.
It feels like time moves quickly but slowly at the same time as I shower and change into my clothes. It’s not like I fully dread my mother’s attention or time, but it’s hard to think of being around her right now when I know everything. How am I to act like everything's fine? Like, I don’t know this big dirty secret.
I’m grateful that I happened to come right when the main activities had started, meaning I wasn’t around many people. But mainly Beth. I love her, but I can’t handle talking to her right now.
Just like he promised, he came to get me within the hour. It was weird to sneak out of the front of camp instead of going to his house like we usually do. I get into his truck, putting the address she texted me into the map on my phone. He drives following the instructions of the robotic voice.
For the first time in a while, it feels awkward around him. We desperately need to talk all of this crap out. But right now we have more important things to focus on.
He slows at the house I now recognize a bit more.
“Remember, I’ll be right here, so just one yell and I’ll come to you.”
“Yes, I will scream if I need you.”
I get out of the truck, wanting him to pull away before she looks out and sees him. I knock on the door, ignoring the pounding in my own chest. It doesn’t get any better when she opens the door.
“It’s weird to be welcoming you in like this. Almost like you’ve moved out of here already.” She teases, pulling me into a tight hug.
I shove down the thoughts trying to creep in. These arms have killed people. These hands. Her voice was the last thing some people heard. My wonderfully kind mother.
“I’ve not moved out yet.” I tease back, going into the house with her. She wasn’t exaggerating the mess. They really haven’t done much unpacking yet.
“Sorry, I know we promised we’d unpack while you were at camp but we’ve been so overwhelmed with work.”
My ears perk at the word work. “What happened with work?”
She leads me through the house to the kitchen.
“Oh, you know the usual job stuff.” She tries to dismiss me, but I give her a look, making her talk again. “Your father has been searching for the mistress, you know, we talked about before?”
“Yeah, the unfinished job.”
“Yeah, that one. Well, it’s been like near impossible to find this woman or anyone around her. So we’ve been searching high and low. We don’t have many leads, but hopefully one of the few we have pans out this time.” She sighs, leaning against the counter.
I try to memorize every word leaving her mouth. While also trying to ignore the fact that we’re talking about Alec and his pack.
“And if it doesn’t, what will you guys do?” I try to pry for more.
“Well, we’ll have to start over and revisit all the old leads, maybe try to target some known people around her, see if they lead us to her.”
It’s weird how forth coming she is, but I guess it’s partly due to father being gone.
“I’m sorry it isn’t going to plan that really sucks though.”
She smiles at my attempt to sympathize, going to the cabinet to get plates for the pie she baked.