Finding Abbey Road by Kevin Emerson

bills. Her boyfriend got the check back, anyway.”
    â€œWe’re not so concerned with that issue,” says Detective Reyes. “The mother doesn’t want to press charges for the breaking and entering or the theft, though technically she could. Our only concern is finding the girl and returningher to her home. We’re just trying to get all the facts here. Did you take anything else from the Fowler residence?”
    â€œJust a few personal things. Val grabbed her notebook, a shirt. I think that was it.”
    Detective Reyes’s pen scribbles across the page.
    I glance at Caleb. He’s still staring into the table. “She didn’t want me to tell you,” I say to him. “But I was going to when we had the chance.”
    Caleb nods. “It’s okay.”
    â€œI think that’s all we need to know about that for the moment,” says Reyes. “We have a pretty good idea of what happened outside the club last Friday night. Sounds like a disagreement between the boyfriend and your band member, Matt . . . And that’s when Val ran off. Is that right?”
    â€œYeah,” says Caleb.
    â€œAnd you’re sure you haven’t had any contact with her since that night.”
    Time seems to stretch and the universe becomes untrustworthy. How fast should we respond? It feels like anything we do or say, even how we breathe or where we look or if our hands move will convey our guilt.
    Caleb sighs. “Nothing since last Friday. I keep trying to text her, but . . .”
    He sounds convincing, and Reyes nods. But now her eyes shift to me. I shake my head, feeling like every single movement I make screams guilt. “I haven’t heard anything, either. I went back to the apartment where shewas staying,” I add, just to say something. “But she was already gone.”
    The officer speaks up. She’s been still and expressionless this whole time. “If we checked your phones, or subpoena the phone records from your carriers, we wouldn’t see any evidence of you communicating with her.”
    â€œYou can’t do that without a warrant,” says Randy.
    â€œWhich we could get if it came to that,” says Reyes sharply.
    â€œNo,” says Caleb, stoic and believable.
    â€œNope,” I add, hoping I’m half as convincing.
    Detective Reyes traces over her notes with the back of her pen. I worry that she can see the truth, right there in everything we’re not saying. . . .
    She closes her notebook. “Those are all the questions we have at the moment.” She glances at Charity. “You have our number. Because Ms. Fowler has filed a formal missing person’s case, it is your legal obligation to let us know any information you might gain about Cassie’s whereabouts.”
    â€œWe understand,” says Charity.
    Detective Reyes stands. “I know that Cassie had her reasons for running away, and I know you want to help her. Once she is found, we’ve assigned a social worker to her case to monitor the home. But for the moment, from a legal standpoint, the best thing you can do is help us get her back to her mother. Remember that you’re risking a civil suit if you don’t cooperate.”
    Caleb and I nod quietly.
    â€œThanks,” says Randy.
    â€œWe’ll be in touch if there’s anything else we need,” says Detective Reyes.
    After they leave, we all retreat to the living room, slumping to the couches.
    â€œYou’ve heard from her, haven’t you?” says Randy, rubbing his hands over his face.
    â€œShe’s okay,” says Caleb. “Staying with a friend.”
    â€œDo you know where?” Charity asks.
    â€œNo.”
    Charity sighs. “I don’t know if I want to know whether you’re lying or not.”
    â€œMom . . . ,” Caleb starts.
    â€œNo, I mean it, Caleb,” says Charity. “Believe me, I don’t want Val going back to that woman, but .