Born To Be Wild Read Online Free Page B

be there?”
    Micah shook his head. “Not until morning. But in the meantime, we can talk to people on the street while working our way back in this direction.”
    Not having a better idea, Isabel followed him out of the house and into the truck again. Lucy, where are you? As they drove, she kept her gaze roaming from one side of the road to the other. They were halfway to the school when her cell phone rang.
    Her heart thundered in her chest when she saw the caller ID. Detective Frank Ochoa. She pressed the talk button. “Hello, Detective. Any news?”
    “I’m sorry, Ms. Falcon, but no. I wanted to tell you that we weren’t able to track your daughter’s phone. Either it’s turned off or the battery’s dead.”
    “But you’re going to keep looking for her, right?”
    “We’ll keep searching in a circular grid around the school until dark. Then we’ll start again in the morning. I’m afraid we haven’t gotten any leads. But I’ll keep my team on it.”
    “Thank you, Detective.” She clicked off.
    “That didn’t sound good,” Micah said.
    Her eyes stung from imminent tears. “They couldn’t pick up a signal from her phone. No leads, either.”
    “We’ll find her, Isabel. I promise we’ll find our girl.”
    Isabel knew how determined Micah could sound when he set his mind to something. The trouble was, he didn’t always follow up on his promises. But this time was different, she told herself. This time, he was a man, not a boy. This time he would come through for her.
    She only hoped nothing horrible had already happened to Lucy, and that when they found their daughter, she would still be the bright, cheerful, and innocent girl she had always been.
    The alternative was unthinkable.
    …
    “Annie, wake up, please wake up!”
    Having freed herself of the seat belt, Lucy leaned over and tried to shake her friend awake. Blood shot all over her from where the metal pole had gone through Annie, pinning her to the seat of the bus. Lucy tried desperately to stop the flow. Oozing between her fingers and over her hands, Annie’s blood was warm and sticky, and the smell made her stomach churn.
    The bleeding wouldn’t stop and Annie wouldn’t wake up no matter how loudly Lucy called her name. She got the sinking feeling she couldn’t save her friend, but she couldn’t stop trying… She just couldn’t.
    With a lurch, Lucy started awake from the familiar nightmare, only to face a strange darkness. Her heart was pounding and she could hardly take a breath.
    Dim light from the moon filtered through windows in a room she didn’t recognize, giving her a limited view of her surroundings. Where was she? This wasn’t her bedroom. She checked her hands to make sure they weren’t bloody. Then, on wobbly legs, she got up from the bed and tottered to the door.
    Locked.
    No, no, no! She had to get out of here!
    Had to get home.
    Mom was going to kill her.
    Banging on the door, she yelled, “Hello? Are you there? You locked the door! I have to go home now!”
    No matter how much she banged or shouted, she got no answer.
    She should have been on the bus, but she hated getting on it anymore. She always tried to find a way to distract herself until the last minute, but this time she’d waited too long, and the bus had left without her.
    And then she…she…
    She wasn’t sure what had happened. Frowning, she tried to remember. She couldn’t. She didn’t know how she had gotten here, or even where “here” was.
    Her head still wasn’t clear. No matter how hard she tried to remember what had happened, everything after seeing the bus rumbling away down the street was one big blur…
    And now she was locked in a strange room.
    Afraid.
    The sensation whispered through her, making her shiver.
    What was going to happen to her?
    She’d been wondering that for months now. She was afraid all the time.
    She groped for the wall switch and turned it on, flooding the room with light. The walls were pink, the fluffy bedding