Awakened Read Online Free PDF Page B

have my father along, but he complied. I wasn’t allowed
     to go; neither was my mom, not that she would have left Leah home or at my aunt’s.
     Sheriff Making had decided that it would be better if only my dad search with the
     group while a few of his deputies and a couple officers from Elmwood City stayed behind
     with Leah, Mom, and me.
    I wasn’t sure if the refusal to let me help was because the sheriff still thought
     I was in some way involved, or if he was truly afraid that they would find Ella’s
     body. I had decided last night that there was no way I was going to wait a few weeks
     before calling Mia. Everyone knew that Ella had introduced us, so Kale’s ridiculous
     claim that it would place Mia in Sheriff Making’s sights could be ignored. I took
     a shower and grabbed my cell then headed back downstairs.
    “Mom,” I called. She looked over, pale as a ghost. I had to remember that I was doing
     the right thing. My lies seemed to be straining her worse than the death of Ella’s
     parents. “I’m gonna head over to Mia’s.”
    Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth. I wasn’t sure what I had said that upset
     her, and I regretted even coming downstairs.
    “She might not know what’s happened yet. You should go and check on her,” she urged.
     “I think your father would be okay with that.”
    I’d thought that I was going to have to fight harder to get out of the house, and
     that might have been the case, had my father been here, but he wasn’t. I kissed my
     mom on the cheek and headed out the door, only to be stopped by two things.
    First, the rental car that Deputy Clae had searched last night; though he found nothing
     to worry about in it, I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain how it was paid for.
     Jace and Ella had arranged it, and I prayed that she hadn’t used her credit card to
     get the vehicle, since I’d told the sheriff that nobody had expected me home.
    The second thing that stopped me was Deputy Clae.
    “Where you going, son?”
    I stifled a chuckle, and it lodged in my throat. Clae was three grades ahead of me
     in high school, but I didn’t think that put him in the position to call me “son”.
     I checked my machismo at the door. It wouldn’t get me anywhere, and I didn’t have
     time to get into a pissing match with a guy who couldn't begin to understand what
     I was going through.
    “Mia’s,” I bit out as I worked the keyless entry to the car and headed in that direction.
    Clae smirked and followed me to the car with the gait of a happy seven-year-old.
    “Oh yeah, that little hot blonde that worked with Ella at Knope’s?” Clae chuckled
     low in his throat.
    I was annoyed by the thoughts I was sure he’d had about Mia, but I let it go, got
     in the car. I’d never been to Mia’s house and didn’t have an address to enter into
     the GPS, so I had to call her. She wasn’t shocked at all that I had ignored Kale’s
     instructions, and she said she was relieved that I was coming. She’d been seconds
     away from calling me.
    After the quiet thirty-minute drive to Elmwood City, I pulled up to a large three-story
     home. I parked in the driveway and gawked at the expansive home. Of course, Mia gave
     off the impression that she came from money, but her home made a statement of wealth
     all on its own. The house sat adjacent to a small lake, and it was shrouded by the
     Elmwoods. Only the front and a part of the side of the house was visible from the
     street. Ella had told me that Mia’s father owned one of the mills in Elmwood City,
     but I understood that it was one of the smaller ones. People in Elmwood City who owned
     one of the smaller plants wouldn’t be able to afford a place like this. So where did
     he get the money?
    I walked up the flagstone driveway past Mia’s Beetle and a sleek, pale-as-milk BMW,
     and knocked on the wrought iron, double-arched doors.
    I looked around as I waited to be let inside. The lake seemed to be on Mia’s