I followed the building around to the front gate. My only chance was to come up on the car and pretend I’d gotten turned around since all the garages looked the same. Once again, I had to play dumb, no matter how much I hated it. But there were a lot of things about my life that I hated these days.
Ethan came out of garage 1221 as I walked up to the car. “What happened? Where were you?”
“I got lost.” I turned around and looked at the building, pretending to be confused by the layout. “I went back to the car because I got some dirt or something in my eye, but someone yelled for help.”
“Really? I didn’t hear anyone.” Ethan scrunched up his face.
“I guess it’s tough to hear outside noises from the storage garage. You were all the way in the back of it.” It scared me how easily the lies spilled from my lips. He nodded, waiting for me to continue. “I thought it was you calling me at first, so I followed the voice. But it turned out to be some guy who lost his passkey and couldn’t get in the gate. I didn’t know how to get the gate open without a key, so he ended up calling the office for help. After that, I had a little trouble remembering how to get back here. I think the heat is messing with my head.” I could thank George for that excuse.
“Well, unfortunately, I have some bad news.”
So many things came to mind. He’d found the manager’s body. His family had called and said they were checking the cottage in case Ethan was hiding out there.
“It’s your ring. It wasn’t in the desk drawer where I left it.”
“What? Do you think your family is here? Did they come looking for you?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. Besides, they have no idea I put the ring in the storage garage. My parents probably assumed I kept it with me. I should’ve kept it with me, but I couldn’t.”
I didn’t want him to have to explain his actions to me again, so I reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Then what happened to my ring? Why isn’t it here?”
His face turned cold. “Someone broke in and took it.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WHAT was with everyone stealing my stuff? This was getting ridiculous now. It was like someone had it in for me, knew I was a monster and was trying to mess with me.
“Was anything else missing?” I was determined to find some indication that this wasn’t all about me. That things like this happened to other people, too.
“Not that I could tell.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “There could be other stuff missing, though. I don’t really know what my cousin had in here. I didn’t look around that much when I put the ring in the desk.”
“But still.” I shook my head. “Why would someone come to a storage facility, pass up a bunch of stuff they could sell, and only take a ring that was hidden in a desk drawer? How would they even know it was there?”
“Good question.”
“Are you sure you put it in here? Is there any way you forgot what you did with it? That you lost it?”
“No!” He sighed, making an effort to calm down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just don’t understand this. I put the ring here to keep it safe. I knew you’d want it back.”
I stared at him, hating that whoever was screwing with me was screwing with Ethan, too. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t deserve this. He wasn’t like me.
“What if…” I stopped, afraid that if I said what I was thinking, Ethan would get more upset. But I couldn’t help thinking the ring I found in that wooden box really was mine. It didn’t make sense. Ethan hadn’t put it there, but if my ring was missing from the storage facility, and two people had already broken into the cottage, it didn’t seem so strange that someone could’ve planted my ring in that box.
Ethan was staring at me, waiting for me to finish my thought.
“Sorry, this heat is messing with me.” I shook my head, pretending to brush off the heat. “I was going to say, what if we pack up some things to take back with us and stop for milkshakes on the way home? I could really use a cold drink.” Ethan used to bring me milkshakes all the time when I was sick. It was our thing.
“Sure.” He kissed the top of my head, which was easy considering he was 6’2” and I was only 5’6”.
I pointed out a few pieces of furniture to bring back to the cottage with us—an end table, an ottoman, and a leather chair. Ethan somehow managed to fit it all in the trunk. The nice thing about his car was it was a hatchback. The trunk was enormous; with the back seats down, it was almost like having a small truck.
“Anything else?” Ethan wiped his brow with the back of his hand.
I eyed the beanbag chair, knowing he was waiting for me to give the okay. “Take it.” I elbowed him in the ribs.
“You sure? It doesn’t exactly go with anything, and I know you don’t really like beanbag chairs.”
“I like you, though.” I smiled and reached up on my toes to kiss him lightly on the lips.
“Like?” he said, after we pulled apart.
“Sure. You’re my best friend, aren’t you?”
He cocked his head to the side. “Well, yeah, but I’m your boyfriend, too.”
“Duh. I know that.” He was fishing for reassurance. “You know I love you. I just wanted you to know I like you, too.”
“That’s what the beanbag chair is all about?”
“Yup, and don’t you forget it.” I playfully pushed him toward the storage garage as I got in the car.
Ethan had this amazing way of making me forget the bad things in my life. He’d done it when I had cancer, and he was doing it now, too. But I couldn’t forget for too long. Too much was a mystery to me right now, and after our outing this morning, I could add my missing ring to the list. And then there was George… The list I added him to was entirely too long.
After Ethan packed up the car, we hopped back on Route 80. Ethan said he knew an ice-cream shop not far from here. His aunt and uncle used to take him when he was a child. I stayed in the car while he went inside for our milkshakes.
He left the car running so I didn’t melt in the heat, and I let the air conditioning blow right on my face. I could see the huge line in the ice-cream shop. It looked like everyone within a twenty-mile radius had come out for ice cream. I couldn’t blame them. It was really hot today. It was going to be a while before Ethan got to the front of the line, so I turned on the radio and leaned my head back. Music filled the car, drowning out the thoughts in my head.
At some point, I started to drift off, but then I heard a strange buzzing sound. I sat up, realizing it was coming from the radio. It was one of those emergency alerts. I turned up the volume.
Please be advised that the heat index is unusually high for this time of year. Take extra precaution against heatstroke by staying hydrated and indoors as much as possible. There have been several incidents of heatrelated fatalities in the area.
I wondered if the police would think George was one of the heat-related fatalities. I switched the radio off, not wanting to hear any more. Even in the air-conditioned car, I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I opened the glove compartment to search for a napkin or tissue.
Ethan wasn’t exactly neat. The glove compartment was filled with gum wrappers and melted protein bars. Yuck! No napkins. I got out of the car and opened the trunk. Maybe there were some floating around back there under the furniture we’d packed. With Ethan, you never knew where you’d find things. But other than a lone sock, I didn’t find anything.
Back in the car, I searched the floor under my seat. Gross, but I was desperate. A piece of paper sliced my finger, and I jerked my hand back. “Stupid paper cut.” I squeezed my finger to stop the stinging. Then I reached my other hand under the seat again, wanting to know what had cut me.
I pulled out a yellow Post-it note and froze at the sight of it. Another one? I could see the black magic marker bleeding through it from the other side. My hand shook as I flipped the note over.