The Probability of Violet and Luke(66)

“You think it’s about my mom?” Luke asks so suddenly it throws me off guard and takes me a moment to respond. “What the detective can’t tell you yet? Do you think it has something to do with my mom?”

I zip up my bag and pick it up. “I wonder… maybe.”

“I hope it is,” he says, anger lacing his tone. I know that he means it—that he wants her locked up just as much as I do. He swings the bag over his shoulder, his muscles jerking a little as if they’re sore. Then he walks up to me and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek.

“You ready?” he asks, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear and looking me steadily in the eye. It seems like he’s asking me much more than if I’m ready to leave his uncle’s house. Like if I’m ready to go back to Laramie. To live with him.

I nod, not sure which question I’m answering, but I guess I’ll find out when we get there.

***

Luke’s uncle seems really upset when we walk downstairs to leave, arguing with Luke over wanting to call his father and borrow some money. Luke says nothing about the fact that he already, I guess deciding to let Cole clean up his own mess. Irate, Cole stumbles over to the coffee table in the living room and chugs about a half a bottle of Vodka. “To ease the pain of the beating,” he says when he notices us watching him. Then he flops down on the sofa and moments later he passes out.

Ryler seems like he wants to go with us, just to get out of the house, lingering in the foyer as Luke drops his bag onto the floor to give him one of those awkward one-armed hugs guys do.

“You can come hangout with us whenever,” Luke tells him, pulling back and picking up his bag, his eyes drifting to the living room where Cole’s on his back, his arm dangling over the side of the sofa. “Even if it’s just for a break.”

Ryler smiles but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes as he lifts his hands, What the hell would I do in Wyoming?

Luke looks to me for translation and when I pass a long the message, he says, “The University’s pretty cool there.”

He raises his pierced eyebrow, amused. Me go to school? That’s a funny idea. I barely made it through high school.

“Hey, I was the same way. In fact, I almost dropped out,” I tell him, feeling strange that I’m talking about my past so lightly. “And I actually like college.”

Really? He mouths and I nod. He pauses, looking back at his dad who was never there for him growing up, beaten up and passed out drunk on the sofa and then mouths to me, Maybe one day.

I nod then he gives Luke and I his phone number and we finish saying good-bye. Then Luke and I hit the road. It’s early, the sky glowing orange from the sunrise, which means we should get there before sunset. We’re a few days earlier then we planned, which means we’ll be missing less classes and I think Luke and I can both appreciate that fact. We spend half the drive listening to his music and he playfully tells me he’s going to make us a f*ck tape of our own when we get home. He keeps saying we and I know I should be grateful, that I have a place to live with people who care about me, but it’s scaring me at the same time. God, if I could just have one more moment with my parents so they could tell me that this is all okay. That I’m doing the right thing.

As I’m in the middle of this thought, my phone starts to vibrate from inside my pocket. I quickly turn down the music and take out my phone, letting out a breath of relief when I see the screen. “It’s the detective,” I tell Luke and he nods, looking as nervous as me.

“Please say you can tell me now,” I say as I put the phone up to my ear.

“I can, but it’s both good and bad news,” he tells me, sounding a bit disheartened. “The good news is I finally got that warrant to search Mira Price’s home. And we found something that could be potentially useful but we’ll still need to run some DNA tests right now to confirm.” He gives a long pause. “And then there’s the bad news. Two bad newes actually.”

“That’s not even a word.” I make a joke to attempt to hide my true feelings. That I’m excited and terrified at the same time. They might have evidence. My parents might finally have justice.

Luke gives me a concerned sideways glance as he steers the truck down the freeway. “Is everything okay?” he whispers.

I shrug and whisper back, “I’ll let you know in a minute.”

“Well, I’m declaring it a word for this conversation,” he says and then sighs, losing all humor. “The first bad news is that Mira is MIA and from talking to the neighbors and landlord, she’s been gone for a while.”