Rain tried to think clearly. Mr. Beauchamp had been running around the yard, and then the neighborhood, calling the boys’ names. Mrs. Beauchamp had been doing the same around the house. The problem, she explained, was that they were autistic twin boys. They often didn’t respond to their names even when someone spoke to them directly, face-to-face. “Should I call the police?” Mrs. Beauchamp asked in an emotional voice. “I have my husband checking all the houses with pools nearby right now, but I don’t know what else to do.”
“Okay, let’s think for a second.” She glanced back at Allie, who was still in some sort of trance. This didn’t seem like the take-charge kind of mom Allie usually appeared to be. She was hugging herself and rocking, crying out that it was “all her fault.” Rain longed to go comfort her friend, but she knew the best way to help her was to find her kids.
“If Mr. Beauchamp is outside, why don’t you cover inside one more time? Let’s focus first on any dangerous places they could be. Are there any trunks or small spaces they could crawl into that might lock behind them? Anyplace where they could…” Rain turned her back on Allie and lowered her voice. “Where they could run out of air?” she finished.
She could hear Mrs. Beauchamp taking deep breaths. “Allie’s really good about child-proofing. I don’t think there are any dangerous places like that. I’m not even supposed to leave the door open, but I didn’t know! My husband thought I was with the kids, and I didn’t realize he was back from the store.”
“We’ll find them,” Rain insisted in a positive voice. “Start with the room they were in. Maybe they got scared or decided to play a game, and they just found a really good hiding spot.”
She stayed on the phone with Allie’s mom as she kept an eye on Allie from a distance. Allie was rocking more violently now, her head on her knees.
The sun disappeared behind some low, dark clouds and Rain shivered while she listened to Mrs. Beauchamp make her way back into the TV room. “I came in here to check on them,” she explained again, “and they weren’t here. I turned off the TV and called them, but nothing so far. So I began running around the house, calling and looking for them, and that’s when I realized the door was wide open.”
“Why don’t we do one more methodical check of the house, and then if they don’t turn up, we’ll call the police. I’ll stay on the phone with you.” She hoped Mrs. Beauchamp didn’t ask about her daughter, because Allie appeared to be in shock. She had wrapped her arms over her head and was now completely still.
The sound of the twins’ names came through the connection as their grandmother begged them to answer her. “There’s really no place for them to hide in here. Other than toys, there’s just an entertainment center, a coffee table, and a sofa.”
“Have you checked behind the sofa?”
“It’s pushed all the way against the wall. This is a pretty kid-proof room, even the windows are…wait—” her voice trailed off suddenly. “I heard something.”
Rain’s heart leapt with anticipation but she spoke softly. “What?”
Now Mrs. Beauchamp was sort of talking to herself, although she kept the phone up next to her mouth. “It sounded like over here, but there’s nowhere…unless…oh my God, what are you doing in there? I found them!” she exclaimed, and then she apparently dropped the phone to wrap her arms around the boys.
Rain could hear the joyful sobs and half-hearted reprimands and she slumped with relief. She held on to the phone, waiting for Mrs. Beauchamp to remember her. Calling out to Allie, she cried, “They’re okay, sweetie! Everything’s okay—your mom found them!”
Allie’s tearstained face lifted off her knees and she looked to Rain’s expression for assurance. Rain smiled and nodded, watching as Allie tilted her head back to mouth a silent prayer toward the cloudy heavens.
Mrs. Beauchamp picked up the phone and explained in a rush. “You won’t believe this—they were hiding behind the cushions of the couch! The upper cushions don’t come off—they are attached at the top of the sofa so they can’t be removed. But these two rascals actually flipped them up, rolled behind them, and then pulled the cushions back down! They each took a side—maybe one hid there first, and the other copied his brother. Oh, thank God they’re okay!”
Rain gently reminded Mrs. Beauchamp that her husband was still frantically searching the neighborhood, so they said goodbye quickly. “Your mom will call back after she talks to your dad,” Rain explained to Allie as she hurried across the yard. She sat down on the steps, curling an arm around Allie’s sagging shoulder. “Hey, they’re fine now,” she reiterated softly, giving her friend a firm squeeze.
A few raindrops fell from the sky, and Rain slid her hand under Allie’s arm in order to help pull her up to standing. But Allie didn’t budge, she just turned her glassy hazel eyes to Rain, closing them as they began filling up with tears again. In a dull voice, she said, “This happened because of what I did. Because of what I did, and because of what I did to
you
.”
Chapter 25
“What are you talking about? You didn’t do anything to me,” Rain said soothingly. But her nerves crackled as a strange sense of foreboding descended over her. The rain continued to sprinkle down intermittently, but she ignored it, keeping her attention on her friend.
Allie lifted her face up to catch some of the cool drops. When she spoke it was in a faraway voice. “Yes, I did. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. At first, when the twins were diagnosed, I figured that was my punishment. Then I realized ‘autism’ is just a word, just a tool to help get them the support and services they need. They are still my beautiful boys and I love them with every ounce of my being.” She stared off at the tree line past the driveway.
Rain didn’t know where she was going with this, but she tried to stay calm. “Of course you do.” She resisted the urge to suggest they go inside and ran her hand through her damp hair. What difference did it make, anyway? She still had yet to shower.
“My punishment is still coming, and I deserve it. The punishment should fit the crime, but if anything happens to my boys, I will kill myself. They’re innocent.”
The sun emerged from behind a dark bank of clouds and the rain tapered off, but an intense chill settled over Rain. Allie had always carried some of that religious guilt around, being raised Catholic, but these were eerie words coming from her normally upbeat friend. She had no idea what to say, so she waited, rubbing Allie’s shoulder encouragingly.
“I can never make it right,” Allie continued in that dull monotone. “But I can come clean to you.” She gave a harsh laugh and shook her moist curls. “I never even confessed to a priest. I was too scared.”
Now Rain was absolutely dreading whatever was coming, but she was truly at a loss to imagine what could be so terrible. Every muscle in her body was taut with tension, and when the phone rang again, she jumped back as if it were a live grenade in her hand. Then she remembered Mrs. Beauchamp had said she would call back. She answered the phone and handed it to Allie, who put it up to her ear and walked away from Rain.
There was nothing to do but allow Allie some privacy, so Rain sat on the steps, suddenly overcome with exhaustion. She was too tired to even slide over on the step and pinch off the faded blooms cascading from her flower pot. That realization made her remember
why
she was so tired. She hadn’t spent much of last night sleeping. And physically, she was sore in a lot of interesting places. Warmth flooded into her belly as she assessed the pleasant pains in her body.
Despite the awkwardness, she missed Jason already. The showers had moved on for now, so she assumed the guys would stay at Candlewood for a while longer. She supposed that was for the best, though. Her instincts told her that whatever Allie needed to discuss, it wasn’t a topic for group conversation.
Allie approached her, looking defeated. Rain waited for some kind of explanation for her previous comment, but none was forthcoming. So she followed Allie into the house, contemplating the best way to broach the subject.
She spoke up as Allie headed for her own bedroom. “Allie, are you all right? I’m a little worried about you.”
This stopped Allie in her tracks, and she turned around, shoulders slumping. “I don’t know,” she replied.
“Hey,” Rain said, walking toward her. “Everything turned out fine. Kids do stuff like that. Believe me, I know.” She took a deep breath and plunged in. “I need to know what you were talking about before.”
Allie’s response was a reluctant nod. “You deserve to know. I just don’t know how to say it. I don’t know where to start.” She wouldn’t meet Rain’s eyes.
A quick check out the window told Rain that the sun was still holding out. She wanted to make sure they had some privacy for whatever this awful thing was, so she steered Allie out through the porch to the beach. “Let’s take a walk and talk,” she suggested. “And just start, well, just start at the beginning, I guess.”
Darker clouds were rolling in from the east, so Rain turned them west, toward the lowering sun. They walked away from the house, Allie studying her bare feet as she struggled to begin.
“It was a long time ago,” she said softly. “But I’ll always remember the date, because it turned out to be the weekend right before Brandy disappeared.”
Rain’s heartbeat, already rapid from nerves, shot up painfully. Maybe Jason was right, and Allie did know something about what happened to Brandy. She prepared herself for the worst and murmured for Allie to continue.
****
The party was given by a fellow cheerleader, so it was attended almost exclusively by cheerleaders and the football and basketball players. Technically Rain would have been welcome, as the steady girlfriend of the school’s star football player, but she wasn’t there. Rain had chosen the company of Jason, Brandy, and A.J. to her handsome boyfriend, which mystified Allie. They all knew Brandy was having an especially hard time right now dealing with all of A.J.’s college visits, but frankly Allie was getting sick of everyone fawning all over her. No matter what they all did, it was never enough.
So Allie was feeling bitter and jealous. She was friendly with the girls on her squad, and she enjoyed their company. But Rain was her best friend, or at least she had been up until lately. These days, Brandy and all her issues seemed to be occupying the majority of Rain’s time.
Perhaps that was why she drank so many of the beers that were being smuggled into the party through a small basement window. Icy aluminum cans were being passed indoors by the pale, disembodied hands of the athletes outside, who were also carefully hiding extra six-packs in the snow drifts before making an entrance. Haley’s parents were actually home, which is how Allie managed to be at the party at all this evening. She cracked a beer and eyed the food table, her stomach growling. She hadn’t eaten dinner, and she was proud of herself. She wasn’t going to break her diet now.
So by the time 11:00 rolled around, she was pretty tipsy. There were two other girls that had the misfortune of midnight curfews, so Rick offered to drive them all home. As he walked them out to his car, he put his arm around Allie and asked her if she was okay. It was nice, she thought, that someone cared, even if he was probably just worried about her throwing up in his car or something. He opened the passenger door for her and helped her into the front seat. “Chivalry lives,” she commented with a smile.
He dropped the other two girls off first, letting the car idle in front of the last house as he turned to Allie. A dusting of errant snowflakes fell on the windshield. “Do you have a few more minutes? I need to talk to you about something.”
She glanced at the dashboard clock and nodded. For Rick, she would risk being a few minutes late anyway. She frowned to herself at this thought. He wasn’t interested in her, he was Rain’s boyfriend. Surely this had something to do with Rain.
And it appeared that way, at first.
“Why do you think Rain’s been spending so much time with the rest of your group?” he began, as he drove aimlessly through the darkened suburban streets. “Lately it seems like all she wants to do is hang with those guys, and it’s starting to piss me off. Brandy’s a bad influence; I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes postal one of these days. And that prick Jason obviously wants to bang Rain. You need to tell me what’s going on.”
Her first instinct was to defend her closest friend. But why should she? She didn’t really understand it herself. If she had a boyfriend like Rick, the most handsome guy in the school, she certainly wouldn’t risk losing him by spending all her time with other guys, even if they were just friends. And Brandy was a mess. She was popping pills and skipping school and God only knew what else.
The bitterness and the alcohol combined to make her bold. “I wish I knew, Rick. She’s been ignoring me, too. Seriously, if I were lucky enough to be going out with you, I wouldn’t be blowing you off for them.”
“Yeah?” he questioned, glancing at her quickly with raised eyebrows. A dangerous pause, fraught with possibilities, lingered between them. “Thanks, Allie, for saying that. It means a lot.”
Rick reached over as he said this and grabbed her hand, gave it a squeeze. He left their hands linked as he steered with the other, driving with a little more purpose now.
She shrugged. “It’s the truth. Anyway, Brandy’s always got some drama going on. Her mom’s got prescription meds all over the house, weird people are always coming by there, and A.J.’s out of here next fall. I guess Rain just wants to support her as best she can.”
“Well, I think you both have done all you can for that girl. She’s a whack job.” The car slowed to a stop at the end of a dark dead-end street.
“You know that, and I know that. The others don’t seem to get it. Meanwhile she has a guy like A.J. bending over backward to make her happy. He’s crazy about her.”
“He’s a pussy,” Rick declared. “You’re the one that deserves happiness. You don’t go around doing destructive shit like Brandy, and you haven’t gotten sucked into her pity party either.”
“A lot of good it’s done me. Whatever. Nice girls finish last.”