Limetown by Cote Smith & Zack Akers & Skip Bronkie

Author:Cote Smith & Zack Akers & Skip Bronkie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

* * *

There was a voice mail waiting on Lia’s phone when she stepped outside. She’d missed a call from her father’s number, but when she pressed play it was ten seconds of dead air. The short ride back to the dorms she debated whether to return the call. She hadn’t spoken to her father since leaving for Australia, not wanting to think about him, the bonfire, the way he gave up on Lia’s uncle, and in some ways, her mother. But after sitting in her dorm for half an hour, staring at the missed call log, she hit call.

The phone rang once.

“Lia,” a voice said. Lia pulled the phone away to make sure she had dialed the right number. “It’s Mom. Sorry, I thought I’d have a better chance on your father’s phone. Did you get my postcard?”

“What do you want?” Lia said.

“Everything’s fine. Everything’s fine. It’s just that, I got an e-mail, well, then a phone call, from your study abroad chaperone. Something about you not attending class?”

“I’ll make it up in the summer,” Lia said. “I’m focusing on my internship.”

“Oh, okay. That’s good. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. It’s not like you to miss class. Plus, you didn’t return my call the other day.”

Lia thought about hanging up. “I’m just really busy. Okay?”

“I understand,” her mother said, and she went silent for a while. “But, well, can you tell me about it? Your internship? I want to prove to your father that I was right. This trip was a good idea.” Her tone was calm, sincere. She sounded like her old self, the mother who gifted Lia a wooden hummingbird hairpin when Lia turned five. Because, as her mother explained, it wasn’t just Lia’s fifth birthday. It was the fifth anniversary of the best day of her mother’s life.

“It’s actually pretty great,” Lia said, giving in. “I’m working on a story about this secret lab.” She gave her mother a few more details, about Zeke, Menninger, and Dr. McNellis, leaving out the hole in the story, the missing link between Moyer, Menninger, and the miracle workers. When she finished summarizing, her mother remained silent on the other side. “Mom, you there?”

“That’s great, Apple. That sounds really cool.”

There was another long pause. “What is it, Mom?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. It’s just . . .”

“What?”

“Well, who told you about this? I mean, how did this story come about?”

“Research, Mom. Okay? Investigation.” She didn’t like how her mother’s tone had changed so quickly, from supportive to skeptical. So she wouldn’t tell her about the James transcript someone had left on her desk. Or the Moyer transcript someone mailed to her dorm. “And so what if I’ve been skipping class?” Then, to cut a little deeper, “If I’ve been shirking my duties in pursuit of answers, no matter the cost?”

Her mother sighed. “Apple, if you’re going to bait someone, you should make it more subtle than that.”

Even so, Lia could tell the bait had worked.

“It was your idea to come here,” Lia said.

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