Risen Read Online Free PDF Page B

anything wrong.
    “Call me later!”
    I think about saying something else, but there’s nothing else to really say. So I open the door and get out of the car.

    ***
    The officer’s name is Officer Peabody, which I can’t help thinking is kind of a funny name. It’s also pretty funny that I’ve had run-ins with more police in the past few weeks than I have, you know, ever in my life.
    “There she is!” my mom calls. “There’s my daughter, Natalia. She’s the one who was driving the car when it was stolen.”
    The officer looks up, and I keep the fake smile plastered on my face. If I were really getting my mom’s car back, a car that I thought had been stolen, I would be really happy.
    “Hey,” I say, swinging my bag in front of me and hoping that I look nonchalant.
    “Can you believe it’s back?” my mom asks, her eyes shining. “And look, there’s not a scratch on it.”
    “How was it found?” I ask. I keep my eyes on the car, looking at it, pretending that I’m marveling at the fact that it’s back, when really I’m just searching for clues as to what happened. Of course, it’s not like it’s really a big stretch to figure out what happened. Obviously someone put a spell on it and fixed it.
    But why? Who would want to give me my mom’s car back? For what gain?
    Whoever it was did a great job. The car looks exactly the way I remember it. The scratch my mom got on the driver’s side door when a shopping car slid into it is still there. The sticker proclaiming that we need an oil change in a few weeks is there. There are even a few empty McDonald’s bags in the backseat.
    “So the last time you saw the car was in a hotel parking lot?” the police officer asks.
    I struggle to remember what it is I told the police. Did I even tell the police anything? I was so out of it at the time, I hardly remember. What did Cam tell them?
    “Yes,” I say. “In Maine. Um, my… I mean, I think… I was sick after that weekend, and so Campbell Elliot was probably the one that filled out the police report.
    He was with me in Maine.”
    I say this not because I want to get Cam back involved in this – he’s really the last person I want to see or talk to – but because I want to make sure that I let the policemen know there’s a good chance I might not remember the details.
    Officer Peabody looks at me sharply.
    “I had a head injury,” I explain. “And I lost my memory.”
    But he doesn’t seem too concerned about my head injury.
    “Campbell Elliott was with you?” he asks.
    “Yes,” my mom says. “Do you think he had anything to do with this?”
    “Of course he didn’t have anything to do with it,” I say. Cam and I might be over, but that doesn’t give my mom the right to suggest that he might have stolen her car.
    “I was there the whole time. Cam didn’t do anything.”
    “You lost your memory, Natalia,” my mom says. “You don’t remember anything about that weekend.”
    “But I know that Cam wouldn’t have stolen your car.”
    “You’re dating this boy?” Officer Peabody asks.
    I shake my head.
    “Are you sure?” he asks sharply.
    “I’m sure.”
    “Why?” my mom asks. “Is there something going on with Campbell that we should know about?” She puts her arm around me and pulls me close to her, like she’s afraid that Cam’s going to come running out of the bushes and kidnap me or something.
    How annoying.
    “Ma’am, I’m not at liberty to say,” the officer says. His eyes look worried. “But I can let you know that Cam is a person of interest in another, unrelated investigation.”
    “What kind of unrelated investigation?” I ask. “What are you talking about?”
    Anxiety blooms in my chest. Whatever Cam’s involved in, I need to know about it.
    “I can’t say any more.” He gives my mom a sharp look, and she gives a small nod.
    I know what that means – he’s trying to tell her that she should keep an eye on me, that I shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near