Gone (Gone #1) by Stacy Claflin Read Free Book Online Page A

I'm missing. They'll find you."
    "Don't count on that, Heather."
    "They know something's wrong."
    He shook his head. "You posted a note online, telling everyone of your intention to run away."
    "What?" She sat up.
    "You didn't think I could figure out those passwords, either?" He laughed. "Snowflake415. Your precious kitty and the date you decided to become vegan."
    Macy gasped. "They'll still look for me. Even if I said I was running away." She clenched her fists. Would they, really? They had to. Her parents wouldn't shrug their shoulders and carry on with life if she ran away.
    "Your note said not to look for you, that you would come back when you were ready."
    She tightened her grip, digging her nails into her own flesh. "They won't believe it."
    "I think they will. I know all your typical typos, your lingo, and all the chat-speak. They'll have no reason to doubt you wrote it from your own account."
    He'd thought of everything. Even so, there was no way everyone would sit around, was there? She was a kid. The police would be forced to look for her, wouldn't they? Or did they not bother with runaways? Not that they would know to look for her below a barn in the middle of nowhere, probably states away.
    "So, Heather, are you ready for lunch? I made you some vegetable soup—vegan approved."
    Macy's stomach growled again, and her mouth filled with water. She couldn't let him know how much she wanted the soup.
    "I'm not calling you dad. You're not my dad."
    "Eventually, you'll be hungry enough to be agreeable. I thought you'd be now, but it looks like you'll need some more time. I'll leave the bowl up here and you can think about it while I go to the store. I might make some other stops too. Come to think of it, I might be gone for quite a while. Are you sure you don't want to eat now?"
    She wanted to eat it more than anything, but there was no way she was letting him know that. "I'm fine. If you know me so well, you know how I lost my weight. I can go a long time without eating."
    "Suit yourself. You're only human. Oh, that reminds me." He held a bottle of water. "You'll at least need something to drink if you're going to survive. You may be able to go a long time without food, but you can't go long without this. Drink it." Chester dropped it, and as it bounced on the dirt floor, he slammed the trap door shut and locked it.
    Her mouth watered at the thought of the soup, reminding her how parched she was. He was right, and she knew it. She needed water. Macy climbed out of her little nest and ran to the bottle of water, picked it up, and stared at it. It was still factory sealed. There weren't any punctures in it anywhere.
    Why had he given that to her? She told him she would never call him dad. Was he not planning on killing her? Did he want her to live? If that was the case, what was his plan? Did he actually want her to become his daughter? Like that would ever happen.
    She twisted the cap off and guzzled the entire bottle. She put the lid back on and threw it into a corner.
    In the distance, she heard an engine start, followed by tires driving on gravel.

 
     
    Sneaking
     
     
    Alex sprawled out across his messy bed, playing games on his cell phone and trying to distract himself from how stressed and worried he was. It didn't fix anything, but at least he could get his mind off Macy for a little while.
    As if it wasn't bad enough that Macy had taken off—or been killed, by the sounds of what the police thought—he and his parents had been questioned. Zoey, too. She had to be as worried as he was. She'd been besties with Macy for as long has he could remember.
    He moved up a level in Factoryville, and then chucked his phone across the room. He didn't care about any of the games. Not now. The police had said they were going to go through Macy's room if she didn't turn up soon, and told them not to leave town. Where would they go? Jerks.
    Rolling over onto his back, he stared at a poster of his favorite band on the