Her eyes filled.
“They said I shouldn’t have called you.”
I felt something cold move through me.
“Anything else?”
“They said I ruined the trip.”
I closed my eyes for one second.
When I opened them, Mrs. Patterson was looking away.
She had heard.
I crouched again.
“You did not ruin anything.”
“Okay?”
Skyla nodded.
“Say it.”
“I didn’t ruin anything.”
“Again.”
“I didn’t ruin anything.”
“Good.”
I took her inside.
The house looked normal.
Too normal.
Three packed school lunches sat in the refrigerator.
I opened one.
Skyla’s name was written on it.
That stopped me.
Why prepare a lunch if they were leaving?
Then I realized.
Appearances.
If anyone looked casually, it seemed like routine continued.
There were frozen meals.
Cereal.
Milk.
Snacks.
Enough food.
That did not make leaving a child alone legal or safe.
It made it planned.
Upstairs, Skyla’s room was small.
Clean.
The walls were light blue.
A bookshelf.
A desk.
A twin bed.
Then I saw the suitcase.
Pink.
Half-packed.
