“Of course, Eva. And I’ll let you know as soon as she comes in. Yes, you are probably right. I’m sure she’s simply taking some time to cool off.” She paused to listen. “Yes, I understand how teen girls can be. It’s a difficult time.” Then she thanked her and hung up.

“So, she’s not on her way home?”

“Apparently not.”

“But her mom’s not too concerned?”

“She said that Taylor’s been known to take off like that before when something upsets her. But she always comes back.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, Desiree.” Mrs. Carter stood now. “I’m sure she’s perfectly fine. Probably at a friend’s house.”

“A friend?” DJ tried to imagine who could be Taylor’s friend. Then she thought of Bradford and his mother. Maybe Taylor was with them. Back in her room, DJ tried his number, and he admitted that he hadn’t seen her since morning.

“And you haven’t talked to her on the phone?”

“I left a message.”

“Oh.”

“I told her that I thought it was best if we broke up. I don’t think it was really working anyway.”

“Really?” Now, despite everything, this made DJ really angry. Talk about flaky!

“I know what you’re thinking, DJ. But the truth is Taylor was probably too much for me. I mean she’s fun and smart and everything, but she sort of makes my head spin, you know? I’ve actually already talked to Rhiannon about this. She seems to understand.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning Rhiannon and I are getting back together.”

DJ couldn’t help but let out an exasperated sigh.

“You’re not on Taylor’s side now, are you?” asked Bradford. “It’s not about sides,” she said in a tired tone. “This isn’t a war.”

“No, I didn’t mean that.”

“Well, if by any chance you hear from Taylor, will you let me know?”

“Sure. But I doubt that she’ll be calling me.”

“Right.” Then she told him good-bye and hung up.

18

DJ STAYED UP PRETTY LATE, praying for Taylor and asking that God would bring her safely back to Carter House, but she eventually fell asleep. When she woke up, it was morning and Taylor was still not home. It was pretty early, but DJ knew she wasn’t going back to sleep anyway. So she got up, showered and dressed, and then went to speak to her grandmother in her bedroom. DJ could tell she’d awakened her, but she didn’t care. Something needed to be done now.

“Taylor didn’t come home last night?” said Mrs. Carter as she tied the belt of her satin robe.

“No. And I think you should call the police immediately,” said DJ in a firm voice. “For all we know, Taylor could’ve gotten into a wreck on her Vespa. Maybe she’s lying in a ditch right now with a broken leg and hypothermia.”

“Yes, yes…you may be right.”

DJ folded her arms as she waited for her grandmother to look up the number and phone the police. She explained the situation and then answered their questions. With the help of DJ, she gave them the information. Still, it wasn’t easy to hear Taylor described like that, as if her grandmother were giving details that might later be used to identify the victim of a crime scene. DJ shuddered as her grandmother hung up.

“Now I suppose I should call her mother.”

“Definitely,” said DJ.

“Oh dear.” Mrs. Carter shook her head. “Perhaps boarding teenaged girls is not such a good idea after all.”

DJ wanted to shout, Duh! but controlled herself. Instead she just shook her head and left the room.

The talk at school quickly shifted from the nasty photos on the website to the missing girl. Everyone began to speculate as to Taylor’s whereabouts, and the stories grew grimmer and more depressing as the day went by.

“Maybe she drove her Vespa off the end of the dock,” said Conner.

“Maybe she was kidnapped by some perv who saw her photos and wanted to sell her as a sex slave,” suggested Harry dramatically. Eliza gave him a sharp elbow and a warning glance.

“Maybe we should all just quit talking about it,” said DJ with irritation. “In fact, if you want to do something really helpful, maybe we should all be praying for her.”

“That’s right,” said Rhiannon.

Well, that shut everyone up, and DJ didn’t care if she’d offended anyone. She stood up and walked away from the table. If they wanted to keep manufacturing these pathetic stories, that was their problem, but she did not have to stick around and listen. For the umpteenth time, she tried Taylor’s cell phone again.

“I know you’re probably not even checking your messages,” she said hopelessly. “But I just wanted you to know that I’m thinking of you, and I’m praying for you. I really do care about you, Taylor, and I hope you’re okay. And, you probably won’t believe this, but I actually miss you and was starting to look forward to being your roommate. Please call.” Then she hung up.

“You’ve really changed,” said Rhiannon as they walked to drama together.

“How?” asked DJ dejectedly.

“You care about people.”

DJ turned and looked at Rhiannon with surprise. “Meaning?”

“Meaning, I can see God at work in you. I can see him changing you.”

“Really?” suddenly DJ felt a spark of hope. “You can actually see that?”

“Oh yeah. And not just me. A couple of the kids at lunch mentioned it too, after you left.”

“In a good way?” asked DJ. “Or were they making fun of me?”

Rhiannon laughed. “Well, both, to be honest.”

“It figures.”

“But some of them came to your defense.”

“Who?”

“Conner, of course.”

DJ smiled.

“And Kriti and Eliza too.”

“That’s nice, not that I care what they think. I mean I sort of care. But mostly I’m worried about Taylor right now. I hope she’s okay.”

“Me too.”

“I just tried her phone again.”

“Nothing?”

DJ nodded sadly.

“She’s probably okay,” said Rhiannon as they went into the auditorium. “You can’t really blame her for wanting to lay low after those photos.”

“I hope that’s all it is.”

“I bet she’ll be at Carter House by the time we get home.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

But Rhiannon was wrong. By the time DJ and Casey got home, not only was Taylor still not there, but the police were now waiting to speak to them.

“We’ve questioned everyone else,” said Detective Howard as he led them into Mrs. Carter’s office. “Now, we’d like to speak to you two, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine,” said DJ. For no explainable reason she felt a little nervous. But as she sat down, she noticed that Casey looked more than a little nervous. In fact, she looked downright frightened.

“Mrs. Carter already gave us permission to search your room,” he said to DJ. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

“So when was the last time you saw Miss Mitchell?” he asked them, and they both said it had been the previous morning at school. Then he went through some more fairly ordinary-sounding questions about friends and boyfriends and Taylor’s emotional state and whether or not she had said anything that suggested she planned to take off. After about twenty minutes he was done.

“I appreciate your help with this,” he told them politely. “I know it’s hard on all you girls. It’s always frightening to have a friend go missing. But in most of these cases, it turns out to be a runaway situation. And, after what I heard from the school about the Internet prank, it’s understandable. I’m sure Miss Mitchell will be back soon.” Then he closed his book.

“And as far as the Internet prank?” said DJ. “Is that under investigation too?” She restrained herself from looking at Casey now.

“We’re considering it as possibly being related to this, although it’s not easy to track these things on the Internet—and the website was already down by the time we learned of Miss Mitchell’s disappearance. However, we will put a computer expert on it.”