Gone by Lisa McMann Read Free Book Online Page B

idea. Around here somewheres. I quit school. Followed him here. We lived together for a while and then he took off and I never saw him again. There. Happy?”
    “Did he know you were pregnant?”
    “No. None of his business.”
    “But—but—how did you know he was in the hospital?”
    Janie’s mother has a vacant look in her eyes, now. “He had one of them legal papers—gave it to the paramedics. He had me down as the person to contact. It says he don’t want any heroic measures. That’s what the nurse told me.”
    Janie is silent.
    Dorothea continues, softer. “I think maybe I oughta have one of them papers too. So you don’t have to keep me hanging on when my liver rots out.”
    Janie looks away and sighs.
    Feels like she’s supposed to protest.
    But who is she kidding? “Yeah,” she says. “Maybe.”
    Dorothea lies down on the bed again. Turns away. “I mean it. I don’t want to talk no more about this. I’m done with it.”
    After a moment of quiet, Janie gets up, unsteadily walks to the bathroom, throws up a few cans worth of cheap beer, and then some. “Never again,” she echoes.
    Then she crawls into her room, closes the door, climbs into bed and sleeps.
    2:12 a.m.
    Janie’s running
.
    And running
.
    All night long
.
    She never gets there
.

SATURDAY

    August 5, 2006, 8:32 a.m.
    “Yes,” croaks Janie into her cell phone. “What.” She’s still half-asleep.
    “Janie, is everything all right?”
    Janie’s silent. She should know this voice, but she doesn’t.
    “Janie? It’s Captain. Are you there?”
    “Oh!” Janie says. “God, I’m sorry, I—”
    “Sorry I woke you. I normally wouldn’t call but I heard from Baker that you had a family emergency and you’re back in town. I’m calling to ask if everything is all right. And to find out more, if you’re willing to tell me. Which you’d better be.”
    “I—ugh, it’s complicated,” Janie says. She rolls onto her back. Her mouth feels like it’s stuffed with toilet paper. “Everything’s fine, though. Well, I mean . . . it’s a long story.”
Ugh
.
    “I have time.”
    “Can I get back to you? Somebody’s buzzing me on the other line.”
    “I’ll hold.”
    Janie smiles through the dull pain in her head and switches over to the other call.
    It’s Cabe. “Hey, baby, everything okay? What happened last night?”
    “Yeah, let me call you back in a few.”
    “Done.” He hangs up.
    Janie switches back to Captain. “I’m back,” she says.
    “Fine.”
    “And, uh, I’d rather not go into all the details. So.” Janie’s feeling bold.
    Captain pauses a split second. “Fair enough. You know where to find me, right?”
    “Of course. Thank you, sir.”
    “I’ll see you Monday for our meeting if not before. Take care, Janie.” Captain hangs up.
    Janie flips her phone shut and groans. “What is with everybody calling me at eight-thirty in the freaking morning?”
    9:24 a.m.
    Showered, fed, brushed. Janie feels a tiny bit better after taking an ibuprofen and drinking three glasses of water. “Never again,” she mutters to the mirror. She calls Cabel back. “Sorry it took me so long.” Janie explains what happened last night as she walks across the yards, up his driveway, and in to his house.
    “Hey,” she says, hanging up.
    Cabel grins and hangs up too. “Did you get breakfast?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Wanna go for a drive?”
    “I—sure. I was actually thinking about going to the hospital.”
    Cabel nods. “Cool.”
    “Not that I feel obligated, because I don’t.”
    “Nor should you.”
    Janie is lost in thought. Going over what her mother said last night, although much of it is fuzzy after all that beer. “I think,” she says slowly, “he’s probably not a good person.”
    “What?”
    “Just a feeling. Never mind. Let’s go.”
    “Are you sure you want to go if he’s a bad person?”
    “Yeah. I mean, I want to find out for sure. I just want to know, I guess. If he’s bad. Or not.”
    Cabel shrugs,