All the Rage(40)

I exhale and step into the frigid cold of the place, cold enough to make me shiver and rub my hands together. I step through another set of doors and a metal detector and head to the front desk where Joe Conway—the Conways’ youngest son—sits. Todd told me he’s been working here about a month, I guess, and everything gets back to Dan, so be careful what I say. I can’t think of anyone worse for the job. He gives me a toothy smile, eyes flickering over my body. Paul Grey’s kid. That’s what he’s thinking. She— Whatever thought he has after that, he can’t make me take.

“Leanne Howard said you had my phone. Found it at the lake.”

He blinks. I took the hello right out of him. He looks around, like he doesn’t know what to do about it and he probably doesn’t.

“I’ll just look into that for you,” he says.

He gets up and slips through a frosted-glass door. I lean against the counter. The quiet is unexpected. For some reason, I thought this place would look like in the movies, maybe, Penny’s disappearance being the life in the room, making it frantic, but it’s not. That’s just what I want to see, I think. How can they find her if it isn’t?

When the frosted-glass door Joe Conway left through opens again, Leanne steps out. She’s in full uniform. Her hair is knotted back into a bun and she’s thick on the eyeliner today. She’s got my phone and it’s a relief to have this one thing from that night back where it belongs.

“Do you need my ID?”

“I think you’re who you say you are.”

She sets the phone down on the desk, back facing up, etching in clear view.

Romy Grey.

“Where did you find it?” I pick it up.

“Just off the path, in some bushes, some of the boys did,” she says. “We’ve had it since Sunday night and I told them to call you about it, but—” Big surprise, they didn’t. “When I saw it still sitting there today, I just thought I’d get the job done myself.”

“Thank you.”

“Glad you look better than the last time I saw you. You feeling it?”

I can’t tell if it’s a jab at me or not. I glance at her and she looks soft, not vicious, but a lot of people in this town are a soft kind of vicious. I say sure but instead of leaving, something keeps me where I am, something I need to know.

“Can I ask you about Penny?”

The door behind her opens again and Joe comes out. Before Leanne says anything to me, she turns to him. “Joe, you want to go upstairs and get me those reports I asked you for over an hour ago?”

He turns red. “I was going to do that after I—”

“Don’t give me excuses. Just get them now.”

She watches Joe shuffle off and doesn’t face me until she’s sure he’s gone and I swear she rolls her eyes before she does it. “What did you want to ask me about Penny?”

“You called that weekend, said you didn’t need me to come in.”

“That’s right. I talked to your mom.”

“So what did you find that ruled out a connection between me and her?”

She grimaces. “Romy, I’m sorry but I’m not at liberty to—”

“I need to know,” I say and I can tell she’s readying to refuse me again. “Because a lot of people were looking for me.”

“We were looking for you both.”

“But maybe if they hadn’t been looking for me, they would’ve found her and maybe that’s the difference.” I swallow. “Or maybe it’s not … but I need to know.”

“Oh … Romy, honey—” No. I hate that. Honey. I didn’t ask her for that. I step away from her kindness, clutching my phone. “If I could tell you, I would. I’m sorry, but I—”

“Forget it, I get it,” I mutter because if she won’t give me what I need, she doesn’t get to look at me like she’s sorry for me. “Thanks—for my phone.”

Leanne seems like she wants to say something more, but Joe comes trundling in with a folder full of papers. He eyes us suspiciously. Leanne looks away.

“You have a good day, Romy,” she tells me.





“todd said leanne called,” Mom says, when I come home. “You get your phone?”

“Yeah.”

“I told you it’d turn up.”

I go to my room, find my phone’s charger, and plug it in. I lay on my bed and fade out for the time it takes to get enough power to run and then I inspect it. The screen is okay, but its back and sides are a little worse for wear, scratched up. It’s strange looking at it, knowing they found it while they were searching for Penny, anything about her.

I turn it on and the notifications chime, one after the other.

Voice mails first.

Five frantic messages from my mom.

Romy, where are you?

We’re getting worried …

By the last, she’s in pieces and she’s pleading, come home, please, and promising, I’m not mad at you.

Todd calls too. We’d really like to hear from you, kid.

It doesn’t go down easy, this proof of being loved.

The last message is from Leon.

Hey, Romy. I hope you get this. Pause and static. There’s a hum in the background, like he’s driving and he probably was. Please get this and call when you do. Please. Um. Pause. I don’t want to hang up. He laughs, awkwardly. So call when you get this. Or maybe I’ll see you first … that’d be okay too. I really hope you’re all right.