Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton

Author:Julie Carrick Dalton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

22

THAT SUMMER

“I’m still not sure why we’re doing this,” Cadie’s mother said as they drove over to Crittenden Farm to join in the search for Juan.

“The kid’s been missing for days,” her father said.

Cadie slumped down in the backseat.

“He’s not a kid. It says he’s twenty-two,” her mom said.

“But he’s still missing. I talked to Raúl about it yesterday and he’s pretty upset. Says Juan is really reliable, and apparently, he didn’t take anything with him. Not his money or family photos. He didn’t even cash his last paycheck from the farm or say good-bye to anyone.”

“There’re thousands of acres of woods around here,” her mother said. “What do they think we can accomplish?”

Cadie dug her fingernails into her thigh, trying to push out images of Juan’s misaligned buttons.

“I doubt this will do much good, but Raúl went through a lot of effort to organize this. He’s even putting up a reward and Dolores is making lunch for everyone who shows up to help.”

“Mrs. Garcia is helping?” Cadie bolted upright in her seat. Dolores knew as well as Cadie did that they weren’t going to find anything near Crittenden’s.

“Turns out he works at the hardware store, and I guess they really like him.”

“It feels like too much of a coincidence that he disappeared the same day as the convenience store robbery and shooting,” her mother said.

“Juan didn’t shoot anyone,” Cadie said.

Both of her parents whipped their heads around. The car veered onto the shoulder and her father jerked the steering wheel to right the car.

“Oh, honey. I didn’t realize you knew him,” her mother said.

“I don’t really. He was, he is Daniela’s friend. He wouldn’t shoot anyone.”

Her parents exchanged a concerned-parent look.

“If you don’t want to go, we can take you home,” her father said. “It never occurred to us you might know him. I’m sure Juan is fine. I think it would mean a lot to the Garcias if one of us showed up, but we don’t both need to be there.”

“I’m fine. I’ll go with you,” Cadie said.

Dozens of cars lined the driveway to the farm. Why had all these people showed up to look for someone most of them probably didn’t even know? Cadie sloshed through the muddy ruts in the driveway and made her way to one of the barns where people had gathered. Raúl distributed whistles and gave people instructions on where to go.

“Blow your whistle if you find anything,” he told everyone as he handed out maps. The smell of pupusas wafted over to where Cadie stood. She let go of her mother’s hand and walked toward the smell.

Dolores stood at a folding table to the side of the barn, handing out pupusas wrapped in paper towels. Cadie’s stomach churned, but not with hunger. Dolores’s shoulders were hunched and she moved in tight, jerking motions, slapping away hands that tried to grab second helpings.

Her skin looked almost gray against the backdrop of the weathered barn. Cadie stood in the driveway watching Dolores flicker smiles and accept compliments on her cooking.

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