The town was on edge. Three girls had disappeared within the space of three months, the third one only days ago.

"What if one of us is next?" Leanne wondered as they filed into the school gym for a mandatory assembly.

Maura opened her mouth to tell her best friend not to worry but promptly shut it. How could she be sure? All of the missing girls had been in high school, around their age. Theoretically, one of them could be next.

"They say bad things happen in threes," Leanne said. "Maybe Katherine is the last. Maybe there won't be any more."

Katherine was˗˗or had been?˗˗the senior class president and captain of the varsity lacrosse team. She sat next to Maura in AP biology. She was nice.

Now she was just . . . gone.

"Charles Manson was convicted of killing seven people," said Mike Donahue, coming up behind them and resting his chin on Maura's shoulder as they shuffled along with the crowd. "Jeffrey Dahmer murdered and ate seventeen guys."

"He ate them?" Leanne said.

Mike made a slurping noise in Maura's ear. "Mm-mm good. Tastes like chicken."

"What is wrong with you?" she said, elbowing him in the stomach. "How do you even know this stuff?"

He grinned. "I like documentaries."

"Nerd," Maura said.

"Take's one to know one."

"What if Katherine's dead?" Leanne said as they climbed the bleachers and found a place to sit.

"Katherine is not dead," Maura said, even though everyone had been wondering the same thing since seeing her face plastered all over the evening news. The disappearance of three girls from one town had even made national headlines. There had been a van from the news station parked outside for most of the day. Reporters had been interviewing the principal, as well as some of Katherine's teachers and closest friends.

"There's probably a very good reason why she's missing," Maura added. "Maybe she ran off with some guy. Isn't her boyfriend in college?"

"Or," Mike said, "maybe some guy is holding Katherine and those other girls hostage in an underground bunker. It'll be twenty years before we see them again . . . if we see them again."

Maura shoved Mike so hard he fell off the end of the row and into the aisle. "Quit being a jerk and go find someplace else to sit," she said.

Mike laughed and got to his feet. "Fine. Later, Red," he said, mussing her hair.

"Don't listen to him," Maura said irritably as she ran her fingers through her hair. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

Leanne shrugged, looking unconvinced.

After several minutes, the principal made her way to the center of the gym, two uniformed police officers flanking her. Maura's heart began to race, and her palms sweat. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"What are the police doing here?" Leanne whispered into her ear. "Do you think they found a body?"

Maura swallowed. "God, I hope not."

The principal picked up the microphone and tapped it. "Is this on? Testing. One, two, three." She nodded, covered the microphone with her hand, and said a few words to the police officers. They said something in return, and she nodded again before finally turning to the crowd. She wasn't smiling. Maura felt like she was going to puke.

"Okay. Good morning, everyone," she said, her tone somber. "As you're all aware, one of Hilltop High's students has gone missing. While every effort is being made to locate Miss Morgan, as well as the two missing girls from our sister school, Lakeview, we want to make sure the rest of you remain safe. That's why we have invited members of the Ithaca City Police Department here this morning to talk about safety awareness. They're going to tell you what you can do to protect yourself when you are out and about town."

Maura's phone buzzed with an incoming text. It was a message from her mom:

Working late tonight. Don't wait up.

Maura replied with the thumbs-up emoji. She had to work, too, so it wasn't as if she'd be sitting around the house waiting for her mom to get home and cook dinner. She could fend for herself anyway.

Powering off her phone, she shoved it back into her pocket and slumped over, resting her forearms on her thighs. She didn't want to be there. She glanced to her left at Leanne, but she was absorbed in what the officers were saying, her eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. She scanned the crowd to her right. Everyone else just looked bored.

She locked eyes with Luke sitting in the next section over. She smiled a little, but his perpetual scowl didn't lift.

Leanne bent her head close to Maura's. "If I sign up for a self-defense class, will you go with me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I already know how to kick ass."

Leanne snorted. "Right."

"I would pay a million bucks to see you kick ass, Red," Mike said, leaning between them from behind.

Maura flinched. "Jesus, Mike. Where did you come from?"

"Straight out of your dreams, Baby."

She glared at him over her shoulder. "Shut up before I kick your ass."

He raised a brow. "I'd let you do that for free."

"Seriously, get out of here!" Maura said, laughing.

"You should be paying attention," Leanne hissed. "All things considered."

The grin fell from Maura's face. "What's that supposed to mean?" she said, even though she already had a pretty good idea.

Leanne pursed her lips. Maura could tell she didn't want to say it, but that didn't stop her. "Meaning . . . your dad."

"My dad didn't disappear," Maura said through clenched teeth. "He left. Big difference."

"But what if˗˗"

"I have to go to the bathroom," Maura said, getting up. Leanne started to get up, too. "Don't follow me," Maura told her. Leanne sat back down, catching her bottom lip in her teeth as she nodded.

Maura made her way down the bleacher stairs as quickly as she could, feeling everyone's eyes on her.

But she didn't care.

She had to get out of there.

***** 

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