Page 12 of Lost
“My whole life. I was even born in the local hospital.” He didn’t sound smug about it; he was simply stating it as fact. “It’s a great area. I think you’ll come to love it.”
Lysander didn’t doubt it. California truly was a beautiful place, and if Dakota had her way when she got back, they would never be leaving the Golden State. Her whole life she’d aimed to meet their father. Nobody would be able to talk her into leaving him when they finally met, and that meant remaining in California. And for his sister, that was a sacrifice he was willing to make.
When the bell rang, they made their way to their next class together, Lysander grateful he would have somebody to talk to throughout Geometry. He wouldn’t have to sit silently in the middle of the room, pretending to do his work while everybody else chatted away with their friends. He would fit in. As much as a new kid could hope to, anyway.
Eliza Beth was in his Geometry class, too. She sat several seats in front of him with a girl who could have been her sister, sharing earphones between them. Lysander could faintly hear the music they were listening to — something heavy, with a quick but steady beat. It was the sort of sound he was used to hearing coming from Dakota’s room. His hand slipped absently into his pocket, just to make sure that her iPod was still there.
It was.
“I don’t get any of this.” Jack scratched his head, creating a bird’s nest in his hair. “Give me Shakespeare over this any day. I don’t know why they bother trying to teach us.”
“Supposed to be useful later in life, isn’t it?”
“Or so they say. I’ve never seen my mom use it.”
Lysander had never seen his mother use it either, and he doubted that Zack used it while he was out on the road. He shrugged.What can you do?Jack sighed heavily and threw his pen down.
“It’s not that hard,” Lysander said. “I don’t see how you could find Shakespeare easier. This stuff is black and white — there’s only one answer. It just takes a little time to figure it out.”
“Exactly. When it comes to literature, everything’s open to interpretation, so you’re never technically wrong. But with this you’re either wrong or right. And I tend to be wrong most of the time.”
“I’ll help you out,” Lysander offered. “And then maybe you can teach me how to understand Shakespeare.”
Jack grimaced down at the work, but then shrugged and gave a short nod. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Columbus.” He pointed to the first question. “How do we work this one out?”
CHAPTER FIVE
“So how’s everything going, Zack?”
Zack sighed into the phone, sinking heavily onto the dark leather couch. “It’s…fine, I guess. No mishaps at any rate.”
“Fine?” Maria repeated. Zack could hear her shuffling papers over the line, as if she were searching for something. “That doesn’t sound very promising.”
“It’s been two days. What did you expect?”
“Happy families.” The shuffling stopped. A pen clicked. “I know why you’re calling. There hasn’t been any update with the sister yet. I would have contacted you if there had.”
“I know. But I am calling about her.”Dakota. That was her name, he reminded himself. Notthe sister. “Lysander seems pretty adamant that this Alfonzo guy took her. I heard him out, and I think it’s worth looking into him. And I figure what’s the harm? If he has her, we find her, if he doesn’t, we focus our efforts elsewhere.”
Maria paused in her movements. “Just like that, huh? You’re already on board with him?”
“Like I said, what’s the harm?”
“It could do a lot of harm, actually.” A rustle of paper. A drawer opening and closing. “Any resources police use to track him down are resources not being put to use elsewhere. They’re a small town, Zack. They don’t have a huge force. And what if they track him down and he has nothing to do with the girl? You could be ruining an innocent man’s reputation.”
“Or I could be saving a girl’s life.”
“Ah. So that’s it. You’re trying to play the hero. Just like old times, huh?”
Zack wondered if she could tell he was rolling his eyes. This was a long way from when they’d run around as children with towels for capes, her dressed as a fairy princess and him in whatever ridiculous getup his mother had dressed him in that morning.
He wasn’t trying to play the hero.
“I’m trying to do what’s right,” he said instead. “The kid deserves his sister back, and Dakota deserves to be found. I get they’re not a big force in Columbus, but if there was ever a crime worth looking into…” He waited for Maria to respond, to say he was right. All I heard was the scratching of a pen. “Come on, Corte. They’re a small town. What else have they got to do?”
“Zack.”
“Tell them we’ll pay them.”
