Chapter 18
I SCANNED the street, scrambling to find Alice before she vanished. The line of one-story buildings cast shadows across the first two lanes of Main Street, leaving the other side glittering in the lowering sun. The flavor of Jack’s chili still filled my nose, but I still caught hints of grass and hot asphalt. A group of three people walked down the sidewalk towards me, hands and arms gesticulating as they talked between themselves.
Alice hadn’t gone far. She leaned with one arm against the oak tree in front of Jack’s, quivering. Her chin was tucked to her chest, and her hair cascaded down to conceal her face. Her sobs made me feel like I’d breathed powdered glass.
I walked up next to her. “Alice?”
She didn’t answer.
Teenage girls: more volatile than sweating gelignite. I ma
