When Vera first confessed to me that she had been sneaking over to Austin’s house after school before her parents came home from work, I remember the angst of being stuck in the Great Crux. Wanting to tell Felicity about Vera’s secret boyfriend versus being the cool, trustworthy aunt who kept her niece’s secrets. I desperately wanted to be that person Vera turned to, the person she could entrust with anything. Now I regretted wanting that relationship, because it wasn’t mine to take. Now Vera was missing, and if I had just told Felicity, maybe Vera would never have disappeared. Maybe…maybe…maybe…

But it was too late for maybes. And it was too late to tell Felicity what I knew. The domino effect of damage would be too great, especially if she found out about Austin and told the cops. I knew what Felicity thought about people like him. Anyone outside her elite social circle was either a criminal or a predator. She never thought to include herself in that class, but I knew. I knew everything she had done.

I parked as close to the house as the driveway would allow, the headlights swiping across the garage door. On the count of three, Cody and I dashed through the rain, crowding under a scrap of awning when we reached the front stoop. Pushing the doorbell, a weak chime rang through the other side, blended with the sound of television gunfire. I knocked just in case. Cody cupped my hand protectively. When Austin answered the door, a smile cracked his pale face and he swung the screen door open, his arms wide with a hug.

Cody tossed me a skeptical look. I saw what he saw. A boy who probably didn’t know where his next meal was coming from. Bony shoulders and xylophone ribs screaming out under a throwback Sublime T-shirt, full of holes and two sizes too small. Brown emo hair falling defiantly over one eye. A thousand-yard stare expressing fear, threatening trouble. Yet his smile was pure. His smile was hope.

“Miss Marin!” Austin clung to me like I was his mother. The poor kid barely had one; I didn’t mind stepping in when I could.

“Hey, Austin. How are you?” I squeezed him before releasing him, feeling every rib like they’d crack under my pressure.

“Okay, I guess.” He shot Cody a critical look, sizing up this clean-cut straight arrow.

“This is my husband, Cody,” I said, sensing his discomfort. “Don’t worry, he’s cool.”

“Hi, Austin. How’s it hangin’?”

Austin shook the hand Cody extended without warmth and turned back to me. “Have you heard from Vera yet, Miss Marin?”

I shook my head somberly. “Unfortunately not. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to ask you a couple questions.”

“Sure, sure. Anything you need.”