All That's Missing by Sarah Sullivan Read Free Book Online Page B

standing there in the dark trying to figure out what to do next when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. It was the boy he’d seen earlier, the one named Burton.
    â€œHi,” Arlo said.
    â€œHi,” Burton said. “I was coming to make sure you were all right.”
    â€œThanks,” Arlo said.
    â€œThey’re not supposed to put anyone in a room with Purvis. Everybody knows that.”
    â€œHe locked me out,” Arlo said.
    â€œYou’re lucky,” Burton said. “You should see what he did to the last kid they put in there.”
    Arlo shivered.
    â€œYou can spend the rest of the night in my room, if you like,” Burton said. “You’ll have to sleep on the floor, but we have extra blankets. My roommate, Max . . . The thing is, he sleeps pretty soundly. He probably won’t even know you’re there.”
    Burton was even skinnier than Arlo remembered from seeing him earlier in the hallway. Poor kid had probably been terrorized by Purvis.
    â€œI don’t want to get you in trouble,” Arlo said.
    â€œIt’s OK,” Burton said. “You can go to the dining room early. Mr. Whitehair won’t know the difference.”
    â€œThanks,” Arlo said.
    Burton gave him a nod.
    They made their way quietly down the hall. Luckily, Burton’s room was at the opposite end of the building from Purvis’s.
    Burton pointed to a spare blanket folded up at the foot of his bed. “You can use that, if you want. There’s another one on top of the bookcase.”
    â€œThat’s OK. This is fine.” Arlo took the blanket and made a bed on the floor. He stretched out and closed his eyes.
    Sleep was out of the question, but at least nobody would hassle him here. He lay awake in the dark, planning his escape. When there was a faint orange glow through the window, he got up and started looking for a way out, but there were alarms on all the doors, and the front door was securely latched.
    He was checking out the ground floor, where the dining hall was, when he noticed a panel truck backing up to the loading dock. SEAL’S FINE FOODS was painted in red letters on the door of the cab. Arlo watched the truck inch closer. What he needed was some way to get far enough down the road so that he wouldn’t be spotted walking, just far enough to make it back to town. He could walk home from there. It was only a short ride . . .
about the distance a truck might travel between deliveries.
    Of course. He would hide in the back of the truck and sneak out when the driver made his next delivery. With any luck, it would be at a place close to town.
    Making it down to the kitchen was the easy part. The driver was carrying boxes off the truck and lining them up in the hallway for the cook. Arlo hid behind one of the tables in the dining room.
    â€œAnother box of canned peas?” the cook asked. “Geez, what d’you have, a warehouse of this stuff you needed to get rid of?”
    â€œThey’re on special this month. Whitehair tripled the order.”
    â€œPeas and powdered eggs. What am I supposed to do with that?”
    â€œNo idea, Mac. Say, you mind if I use your bathroom?”
    â€œHelp yourself. It’s down the hall on the right. I’ll be peeling potatoes if you need me.”
    â€œSure thing.”
    As soon as the driver disappeared down the hall, Arlo made a dash through the far end of the kitchen to the loading dock and onto the truck. There were still about ten boxes of food. He squeezed into the back corner behind two cartons of tomatoes.
    Riding in back of a truck wasn’t exactly comfortable. Every time they made a turn, Arlo braced himself in case one of the cartons toppled over on him. The truck slowed to a stop and then accelerated a short distance, picking up speed as it veered to the left.
Must be going onto the interstate,
Arlo figured. Sure enough, it kept a steady speed for a couple of minutes and then slowed