Chapter 2 - THE DATE ON THE SCREEN
Laura crossed the kitchen in three fast steps and took the tablet out of Emma’s hands.
Not yanked—taken.
That somehow felt worse.
“Go to bed,” she said.
Emma laughed once, sharp and disbelieving. “No.”
Laura set the tablet face-down on the counter. “Emma—”
“No, you don’t get to do that.” Emma folded her arms, fighting to keep her voice from shaking. “You tracked me to Mia’s house. You set a geofence three years ago. Around her neighborhood. Why?”
Laura’s eyes flicked toward the dark window over the sink, as if the answer might be standing outside.
“It’s complicated.”
“That means nothing.”
“It means,” Laura said carefully, “that I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“From what?”
Laura hesitated too long.
Emma saw it. Felt it. Stored it away.
“If Mia’s dangerous, say that. If her family’s dangerous, say that. If you just don’t like her, at least be honest.”
“It’s not Mia.”
“Then what is it?”
Laura pressed a hand to the edge of the island. Her voice dropped. “You are not sleeping at that house. You are not going back there alone. And you are turning location services back on your phone, because I can see you disabled them on the ride home.”
Emma stared. “Are you kidding me?”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” Emma stepped closer. “You don’t get to monitor me like I’m on parole and then tell me to just trust you.”
Laura looked tired all at once. Older. “Sometimes a parent has to make a decision before a child has enough information to understand it.”
“Then give me the information.”
But Laura didn’t.
She only repeated the rule, and Emma went upstairs angrier than she had ever been in her life.
At midnight, her phone buzzed.
Mia: is your mom always like that?
Emma stared at the message, then typed back.
Emma: no. that’s the problem.
The dots appeared, vanished, then came back.
Mia: my dad got weird after you left.
Emma sat up straighter.
Emma: weird how?
Mia: he looked out the window and asked what your mom’s name was
Mia: when i said “Laura Parker,” he just went quiet
Mia: then he told me not to invite you over again
Emma read the messages twice.
Down the hall, she heard Laura moving restlessly in her bedroom.
On Emma’s screen, Mia sent one more line.
Mia: Emma… does your mom know my dad?
May you like
Emma looked at the closed bedroom door, at the darkness under it, and realized with a sick certainty that whatever this was, it went back further than tonight.
Much further.
