Maggie nodded. “The police blew her off.” Like they did me. “Now she’s second-guessing herself, trying to get a handle on what happened, and not doing a very good job of it. She sounds pretty messed up.”

“Did you write back?” Linnie asked.

She nodded. Eventually. “I asked her to email or call me and told her to contact the dean and visit the crisis center. The problem is … I don’t think she has.”

“Told the administration?” Caleb asked.

“Told anyone, that I know of.”

Sam plowed a hand through his hair. “You haven’t heard from her.”

“At all. Not once. I sent her a couple more messages but haven’t gotten a single reply.”

“That’s … really bad,” Caleb said.

“You think she’s done something to herself?” Sam asked.

Maggie pulled out her phone and found Jane’s last email. She handed him the phone.

“Fuck,” he muttered after reading it.

“Let me see.” Palming the phone, Linnie read the email and touched her upper lip with her tongue. She passed the phone to Caleb, then threw an arm over Maggie’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Try not to freak. If the girl’s missing, enough time has passed for someone to notice.”

“Definitely,” Sam said. “A roommate, RA, parent, professor. A ton of people, most likely.”

“But I still feel responsible. She reached out to me, and I, well … blew her off.”

“Not intentionally,” Linnie said gently.

Maggie fidgeted with her hair, smoothed it. “I think I need to go there.”

Caleb handed her the phone. “To the college?”

“Yeah. I feel bad that she was trying to contact me and I wasn’t answering. I also need to see my mom.”

“How come?” Linnie asked.

“Well … she and Aunt Wren talked on the phone recently. They…” She wrapped a curl around her finger. “They had a bad fight.” She and Sam shared a glance.

Linnie and Caleb looked confused, but Sam just swiped the air and said, “Long story.”

It was a long story. And in a couple of weeks, when the show opened, it would become a public story.

Sam rubbed his forehead. “I’ll loan you my truck if I can figure out how to get Kate back and forth from school on the days Dad can’t take her. Oh, wait … crap. Kate’s got ballet Tuesday night.”

“Ballet?” Linnie said. “Did she just start that?”

“Three weeks ago.”

Pain flitted across Linnie’s face. She lowered her gaze to the floor.

Sam didn’t seem to notice. He was frowning at Maggie. “Dad needs his car on Tuesday. Still, maybe I can borrow Wren’s—”

Maggie shook her head. “I appreciate that, but I’m not leaving you and Kate stranded without a car. And Wren’s not going to be able to help. She has to get herself all over the place this week.”

Sam nodded, resigned. “She’s scrambling.”