flickering across the mass of bodies. Ike leaned down and yelled into Theo’s ear. “Let’s be quick. I’ll stay here. You try and get behind the band and have a look. Hurry.”
Theo ducked low and wiggled around bodies. He got bumped, shoved, almost stepped on, but he kept moving along the wall on the far left side. The band finished a song, everybody cheered, and for a moment the dancing stopped. He moved faster, still low, his eyes darting in all directions. Suddenly, the lead singer screamed, then began howling. The drummer attacked and a guitarist lurched in with some thunderous chords. The next song was even louder. Theo passed a set of large speakers, came within five feet of the keyboardist, and then saw April, sitting on a metal box behind the drummer. She had the only safe place in the entire room. He practically crawled around the edge of the small platform and touched her knee before she saw him.
April was too shocked to move, then both hands flew up to her mouth. “Theo!” she said, but he could barely hear her. “Let’s go!” he demanded.
“What are you doing here?” she yelled.
“I’m here to take you home.”
At 10:30, Chase was hiding beside a dry cleaners, watching from across the street as people were leaving Robilio’s Italian Bistro. He saw Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd, then Mr. and Mrs. Coley, then his parents. He watched them drive away, and then wondered what to do next. His phone would ring in a few minutes, and his mother would have a dozen questions. The sick dog routine was about to come to an end.
Chapter 19
Theo and April inched along the wall, sidestepping weary dancers taking a break from the action, and moved quickly through the semidarkness to a door that opened onto a stairway. There was no chance her father would see them, because he was lost in Plunder’s intense version of the Rolling Stones’ “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” “Where are we going?” Theo yelled at April.
“This leads outside,” she yelled back.
“Wait! I gotta get Ike.”
“Who?”
Theo darted through the crowd, found Ike where he’d left him, and the three made a quick exit down the stairs and onto a small patio behind the Kappa Theta house. The music could still be heard and the walls seemed to vibrate, but things were much quieter outside.
“Ike, this is April,” Theo said. “April, this is Ike, my uncle.”
“My pleasure,” Ike said. April was still too confused to respond. They were alone, in the dark, beside a broken picnic table. Other patio furniture was strewn about. Windows on the back side of the house were broken.
Theo said, “Ike drove me down here to get you.”
“But why?” she asked.
“What do you mean, ‘Why’?” Theo shot back.
Ike understood her confusion. He took a step forward and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “April, back home no one knows where you are. No one knows if you’re dead or alive. Four days ago you vanished without a trace. No one—including your mother, the police, your friends—has heard a word from you.”
April began shaking her head in disbelief.
Ike continued: “I suspect your father has been lying to you. He’s probably told you that he’s talked to your mother and everything is okay back home, right?”
April nodded slightly.
“He’s lying, April. Your mother is worried sick. The entire town has been searching for you. It’s time to go home, now.”
“But we were going home in just a few days,” she said.
“According to your father?” Ike said, patting her shoulder. “There’s a good chance he will face criminal charges for your abduction. April, look at me.” Ike placed a finger under her chin and slowly lifted it so that she had no choice but to look at him. “It’s time to go home. Let’s get in the car and leave. Now.”
The door opened and a man appeared. With biker boots, tattoos, and greasy hair, he was obviously not a student. “What are you doing, April?” he demanded.
“Just taking a break,” she said.
He stepped closer and asked, “Who are these guys?”
“Who are you?” Ike demanded. Plunder was in the middle of a song, so he obviously wasn’t a member of the band.
“He’s Zack,” April said. “He works for the band.”
Immediately, Ike saw the danger and came through with some fiction. He reached out with a big handshake and said, “I’m Jack Ford, my son Max, here. We used to live in Strattenburg, now we’re in Chapel Hill. Max and April started kindergarten together. Quite a band you got in there.”
Zack shook hands. He was too slow to put together his thoughts. He frowned, as if thinking caused pain, then he gave Ike and Theo a puzzled look. April said, “We’re almost finished. I’ll be just a minute.”
“Does your dad know these guys?” Zack asked.
“Oh sure,” Ike said. “Tom and I go back many years. I’d like to talk to him during the next break, if you could pass that along, Zack.”
“Okay, I guess,” Zack said, and went inside.
“Will he tell your father?” Ike asked.
“Probably,” she said.
“Then we should leave, April.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, April,” Theo said firmly.
“Do you trust Theo?” Ike asked.
“Of course.”
“Then you can trust Ike,” Theo said. “Let’s go.”
Theo grabbed her hand and they began walking quickly away from the Kappa Theta house, from Frat Court, and from Tom Finnemore.
April sat in the backseat with Judge and rubbed his head as Ike zigzagged his way out of Chapel Hill. Nothing was said for a few minutes, then Theo asked, “Should we call Chase?”
“Yes,” Ike said. They pulled into an all-night gas station and parked away from the pumps. “Dial him,” Ike said. Theo did so and handed the phone to Ike.
Chase answered his cell phone immediately with, “It’s about time.”
“Chase, this is Ike. We have April and we’re headed back. Where are you?”
“Hiding in my backyard. My parents are ready to kill me.”
“Go in the house and tell them the truth. I’ll call them in about ten minutes.”
“Thanks, Ike.”
Ike handed the phone to Theo and asked, “Which of your parents is more likely to answer their cell phone at this time of the night?”
“My mom.”
“Then get her on the phone.” Theo punched the number and handed it back to Ike.
Mrs. Boone answered with a nervous, “Theo. What’s the matter?”
Ike calmly said, “Marcella, this is Ike. How are you doing?”
“Ike? On Theo’s phone? Why am I suddenly worried?”
“It’s a very long story, Marcella, but no one is hurt. Everybody’s fine, and there’s a happy ending.”
“Please, Ike. What’s going on?”
“We have April.”
“You what?”
“We have April and we’re driving back to Strattenburg.”
“Where are you, Ike?”
“Chapel Hill, North Carolina.”
“Keep talking.”
“Theo found her, and we took a little road trip to get her. She’s been with her father the entire time, sort of hanging out.”
“Theo found April in Chapel Hill?” Mrs. Boone repeated slowly.
“Yep. Again, it’s a long story and we’ll fill in the details later. We’ll be home early in the morning, I’d guess between six and seven. That is, if I can stay awake all night and drive.”
“Does her mother know?”
“Not yet. I was thinking that she should call her mom, tell her what’s up.”
“Yes, Ike, and the sooner the better. We’ll check out now and drive home. We’ll be there when you get there.”
“Great, Marcella. And, I’m sure we’ll be starving.”
“Got it, Ike.”
They passed the phone back and forth again, and Ike spoke to Mr. Whipple. He explained the situation,
assured him everything was fine, heaped praise on Chase for helping find April, apologized for the deception and confusion, and promised to check in later.
Ike pulled over to the pumps, filled the tank, and when he went inside to pay, Theo took Judge for a quick walk. When they were on the road again, Ike said over his shoulder, “April, do you want to call your mother?”
“I guess,” she said.
Theo handed her his cell phone. She tried her house, but there was no answer. She tried her mother’s mobile, and there was no service.
“What a surprise,” April said. “She’s not there.”
Chapter 20
Ike had a tall cup of coffee, which he gulped down in an effort to stay awake. Just a few miles out of town, he said, “Okay, kids, here’s the deal. It’s midnight. We have a long way to go, and I’m already sleepy. Talk to me. I want chatter. If I fall asleep at the wheel, we all die. Understand? Go, Theo. You talk, then, April, it’s your turn.”
Theo turned and looked at April. “Who is Jack Leeper?”
April had Judge’s head in her lap. She answered, “A distant cousin, I think. Why? Who told you about him?”
“He’s in Strattenburg, in jail. He escaped from prison in California a week or so ago, and he showed up in town about the time you disappeared.”
“His face has been all over the newspapers,” Ike said.
“The police thought he snatched you and took off,” Theo added.
Back and forth they went, tag-teaming as they told Leeper’s story; his mug shots on the front page, his dramatic capture by the SWAT team, his vague threats about hiding April’s body, and so on. April, who was overwhelmed by the events of the past hour, seemed unable to digest the entire story. “I’ve never met him,” she mumbled softly, over and over.
Ike slurped his coffee and said, “The newspaper said you wrote him letters. You guys were pen pals. That right?”
“Yes. About a year ago we started writing,” she said. “My mother said we are distant cousins, though I could never find him in our family tree. It’s not your normal family tree. Anyway, she said he was serving a long sentence in California, and was looking for a pen pal. I wrote him, he wrote back. It was kind of fun. He seemed to be very lonely.”
Ike said, “They found your letters in his cell after he escaped. He showed up in Strattenburg, so the police assumed he came after you.”
“I can’t believe this,” she said. “My father told me he talked to my mom, and that he talked to the people at the school, and that everyone agreed that I would be gone for a week or so. No problem. I should’ve known better.”
“Your father must be a pretty good liar,” Ike said.
“He’s one of the best,” April said. “He’s never told me the truth. I don’t know why I believed him this time.”
“You were scared, April,” Theo said.
“Omigosh!” she said. “It’s midnight. The band is quitting. What will he do when he realizes I’m gone?”
“He’ll get a dose of his own medicine,” Ike said.
“Should we call him?” Theo asked.
“He doesn’t use a cell phone,” April said. “Says it makes it too easy for people to find him. I should’ve left a note or something.”
They thought about this for a few miles. Ike seemed refreshed and not at all sleepy. April’s voice was stronger and she was over the shock.
“What about that Zack creep?” Theo asked. “Could we call him?”
“I don’t know his number.”
“What’s his last name?” Ike asked.
“I don’t know that either. I tried to keep my distance from Zack.”
Another mile or two passed. Ike knocked back some coffee and said, “Here’s what’ll happen. When they can’t find you, Zack will replay the story of seeing you with us. He’ll try and remember our names—Jack and Max Ford, formerly of Strattenburg but now living in Chapel Hill—and if he can, then they’ll scramble around trying to find our phone number. When they can’t find us, they’ll assume you’re at our house. Just old friends catching up after all these years.”
“That’s a stretch,” April said.
“It’s the best I can do.”
“I should’ve left a note.”
“Are you really that worried about your father?” Theo asked. “Look at what this guy did. He took you away in the middle of the night, didn’t tell a single person, and for the past four days, the entire town has been worried sick. Your poor mother is out of her mind. I don’t have much sympathy for him, April.”
“I’ve never liked him,” she said. “But I should’ve left a note.”
“Too late,” Ike said.
“They found a body on Thursday,” Theo said, “and the whole town thought you were dead.”
“A body?” she said.
Ike looked at Theo, and Theo looked at Ike, and away they went. Theo began with the story about their search party roaming through Strattenburg, passing out flyers, offering a reward, poking around empty buildings, dodging the police, and, finally, watching from across the river as the police pulled someone from the Yancey River. Ike added a few details here and there.
Theo said, “We thought you were dead, April. Left floating in the river by Jack Leeper. Mrs. Gladwell called us into assembly to try and cheer us up, but we knew you were dead.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Ike said. “Blame your father.”
Theo turned around, looked at her, and said, “It’s really good to see you, April.”
Ike smiled to himself. His coffee cup was empty. They left North Carolina, crossed into Virginia, and Ike stopped for more coffee.
A few minutes after 2:00 a.m., Ike’s cell phone vibrated. He fished it out of a pocket and said hello. It was his brother, Woods Boone, calling to chat. He and Mrs. Boone had just arrived home in Strattenburg, and they wanted an update on the road trip. Both kids were asleep, as was the dog, and Ike spoke softly. They were making good time; there was no traffic, no weather, and so far, no radar. Not surprisingly, Theo’s parents were extremely curious about how he found April. Marcella picked up on another phone, and Ike told the story of Theo and Chase Whipple playing detectives, tracking down the band—with a bit of Ike’s help—then randomly poring over thousands of Facebook photos until they got lucky. Once they confirmed the band was in the area, they started calling fraternities and sororities, and got lucky again.
Ike assured them April was fine. He relayed her version of all the lies her father had told her.
Theo’s parents were still in disbelief, but also amused. And they were not really surprised that Theo had not only found April, but went to get her.
When the conversation was over, Ike shifted his weight, tried to stretch his right leg, wiggled here and there in his seat, and then, suddenly, almost fell asleep. “That’s it!” he yelled. “Wake up, you two!” He punched Theo on the left shoulder, ruffled his hair, and said at high volume, “I almost ran off the road. You guys want to die? No! Theo, wake up and talk to me. April, it’s your turn. Tell us a story.”
April was rubbing her eyes, trying to wake up and understand why this crazy man was yelling at them. Even Judge looked confused.
At that moment, Ike hit the brakes and came to an abrupt stop on the shoulder of the road. He jumped out of the SUV and jogged around it three times. An 18-wheeler honked as it roared by. Ike got in, yanked his seat belt into place, then took off.
“April,” he said loudly, “talk to me. I want to know exactly what happened when you left with your father.”
“Sure, Ike,” she said, afraid not to tell the story. “I was asleep,” she began.
“Tuesday night or Wednesday morning?” Ike asked. “What time was it?”
“I don’t know. It was after midnight because I was still awake at midnight. Then I fell asleep.”
“Your mother was not there?” Theo asked.
“No, she was not. I talked to you on the phone, waited and w
aited for her to come home, then fell asleep. Someone was banging on my door. At first I thought it was a dream, another nightmare, but then I realized it wasn’t, and this was even more terrifying. Someone was in the house, a man, banging on my door and calling my name. I was so scared I couldn’t think, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t move. Then I realized it was my father. He was home, for the first time in a week. I opened the door. He asked where my mother was. I said I didn’t know. She had not been home the last two or three nights. He started cursing, and he told me to change clothes. We were leaving. Hurry up. And so we left. As we drove away, I thought to myself—Leaving is better than staying. I’d rather be in the car with my father than in the house all alone.”
She paused for a second. Ike was wide awake, as was Theo. Both wanted to look back and see if she was crying, but they did not.
“We drove for awhile, maybe two hours. I think we were close to D.C. when we stopped at a motel next to the interstate. We spent the night there, in the same room. When I woke up, he was gone. I waited. He came back with Egg McMuffins and orange juice. While we were eating, he told me he had found my mother, had a long talk with her, and she had agreed that it would be better for me if I stayed with him for a few days, maybe a week, maybe longer. She admitted, according to him, that she was having some problems and needed help. He told me that he had spoken to the principal at the school and she had agreed it would be wise if I stayed away from home. She would help me get extra tutoring if I needed it when I returned. I asked him the name of the principal, and, of course, he didn’t know it. I remember thinking how odd, but then it would not be unusual for my father to forget someone’s name ten seconds after a conversation with her.”
Theo glanced back. April was gazing out the side window, seeing nothing, just chatting pleasantly with an odd smile on her face.
“We left that motel and drove to Charlottesville, Virginia. The band played that night—Wednesday, I guess it was—at a place called Miller’s. It’s an old bar that’s now famous because it’s where the Dave Matthews Band got its start.”
“I love that band,” Theo said.
“They’re okay,” Ike said, a wiser voice from an older generation.
“My father thought it was so cool playing at Miller’s.”
“How’d you get in the bar when you’re thirteen years old?” Theo asked.
“I don’t know. I was with the band. It’s not like I was drinking and smoking. The next day we drove to another town, maybe it was Roanoke, where the band played to an empty house in an old music hall. What day was that?”
“Thursday,” Ike said.
“Then we drove to Raleigh.”
“Were you in the van with the band?” Ike asked.
“No. My father had his car, as did two other guys. We always followed the van. Zack was the driver and the roadie. My father kept me away from the other band members. These guys fight and bicker worse than a bunch of little kids.”
“And drugs?” Ike asked.
“Yes, and drinking, and girls. It’s silly and kinda sad to watch