Page 78 of Breathing Under Water

But I can’t. I can’t do anything until my boy is back home.

39

McKenna

April 2024

“Georgia? Like the state? I have no idea why Leo would have been going down there.” This is what I tell Beck when he calls me Thursday afternoon. I’ve just left the library, and I’m walking back to my car on the other side of campus.

The police have found Leo, and Beck’s parents are on their way down to southern Virginia, where the cops apparently intercepted him. Leo hasn’t told the police why he was on this pilgrimage to the South, so Beck says he’s calling to see if I have another guess.

“I think you’re going to have to wait until Leo wants to tell you.”

“It’s no wonder he likes you so much. Seems like you really respect him,” Beck says, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. If Beck thought I was so great, he shouldn’t have ghosted me after what happened at Hollyhock. But then he pulls back again anyway. “That said, the texting between you two, it’s got to stop.”

“Whatever, Beck.” I tap my thumb against the phone and disconnect the call.

The next night when my phone rings, I’m shocked to see Leo’s number on the screen. So much for Beck and his grand plans to boot me from Leo’s life. I step out of Glory’s room and answer from the hallway.

“Leo! Everyone was so worried about you.”

“I didn’t get the drone. I’m sorry. They caught me and made me come home before I got there. Are you mad I couldn’t get it?”

“The drone? What drone?” And then, all of a sudden, I realize. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. “Oh my god, Leo. You found the nephew? How?”

“No, I never found him because they caught me first. But I was on my way to his house in Alpharetta. That’s a town in Georgia,” he says.

“How did you find his address though?” I repeat my question.

“The buyer sent me a message last week. He said his nephew said I could have it back, that he never disassembled the drone, so it was still intact. He didn’t want to pay for shipping, so I’d have to pick it up.”

“So you decided to go all the way there? Why didn’t you just call the guy?”

“His uncle said if I wanted it back, I had to pick it up.” Leo repeats this point as if it’s obvious.

“Leo!” I’m so frustrated that he put himself in this situation to help me, but I force myself to rein in my voice before continuing. “I know when people give you instructions, it feels like you have to do exactly what they say, but sometimes there are other options, and it’s okay to ask. I bet the guy would have worked out a different arrangement with you had you just asked.” I know Leo interprets things hyperliterally, but I hate what his whole family just went through all because of me.

Before he answers, I get another incoming call. Glancing down at the screen, my stomach drops.

“Leo, I’m going to have to call you back.”

As I switch over to the other line, preparing for the tongue-lashing I know is coming my way, I notice Mauricia outside another resident’s room, watching me from down the hall. She must see something on my face. I nod to let her know I’m okay, and she proceeds into the room where she was headed.

I move the phone back to my ear and say cautiously, “Hi, Berry.”

“McKenna, we need to talk.”

I’m seated in the Becker family’s living room with Berry and her husband, Phil, and Phil’s father, Hollis. Phil’s dad has a Roman nose like his son and closely cut white hair. Even though they’re much older, they both look so much like Leo and Beck that it’s a little unnerving. I shift my eyes away from them and study my surroundings instead.

It’s the first time I’ve been inside a private home since we closed on Glory’s house, and I’m struck by so many small things I didn’t realize I’d been missing. The lingering smell of pancakes wafting in from the kitchen, the framed family photos hanging in the foyer, the pile of shoes near the door. I’m not here to get nostalgic though. Berry purposely invited me at a time when Leo would be out, so I brace for whatever is coming.

“Leo explained to us why he went searching for the drone,” she says as soon as she sits opposite me.

“I’m so sorry,” I rush back at her, glancing at Phil and Hollis too. “I didn’t ask him to do that. If I’d known his intention, I would’vetold him not to go, I swear. I know how dangerous it was for him to set off all alone like that. And to go to some stranger’s house? The guy could have been an axe murderer.”

Berry holds up her hand to get me to stop talking.

“He’s not an axe murderer. I actually spoke to him by phone yesterday, and he’s very personable. He’s the manager of a nice hotel right outside Atlanta.”