"Idina, you need to come home," Aaron said.

"But I-"

"But you need to come home," he repeated. "This is blowing up. It's insane. It's been four months since you started this. Walker misses you. I know you're invested in this girl, but Idina, Walker needs you. I need you."

She felt the longing on his breath. She loved him, she did, but he did not understand. "If I give up now-"

"What?" he asked. "WHat will happen?"

"Nothing," she admitted.

"Yes, nothing. You've started this, you do not have to end it. The entire state is looking for Erika. If they find her, they will be running head over heels to let the authorities know for that money you offered."

"Yes," she said. It was true. But the more she thought of it, the more she realized she had made a mistake. Putting money out there. What if someone wanted more? She needed to be where she could control the situation. It was out of control. She could not just run away to LA and pretend like it did not exist.

"Nothing," she reiterated. "Nothing will happen at all. It will just go away." She stifled a sob. How had she gotten so caught up in this?

"Idina." his voice was firm yet gentle. It melted her. "Idina, I love you so much. And I love Walker so much. And I can't imagine what you felt that day. But I want to be there for you. You need to come home."

"I know," she said through sobs. "I just- I can't- I don't know what to do. If something happens and it's all my fault, what am I going to do?"

"We can get through it together," he said. He did not say that it would not be as big of an issue if she hadn't gotten drunk and posted all over social media. But at the same time, no one would be looking for her. 

"One more week," she pleaded. They'd only been searching a month since Idina set the efforts upstate. 

"This really means a lot to you," Aaron said.

"Yeah," Idina replied. More than he knew. No, he knew just how much. He knew her. He loved her, and she loved him, but it wasn't enough. Not when it came to this.

"And I know I encouraged you."

"Yes, you did," she said curtly.

"What if I came to New York? I don't think Taye would mind staying with Walker a bit longer."

"How is Walker?" 

"He misses his mommy."

"I know, can you put him on?"

"Yeah." He called Walker over.

"Hey baby," she said when she heard him take the phone.

"I'm not a baby," he said.

Idina chuckled. "I love you," she told him.

"I know, I love you too."

"How are you, how's school going?"

"I hate school. Come home." He hung up.

Well, she deserved that. 

Aaron called her back. "Sorry," he said.

"It's not your fault." She felt so guilty. It was like there were two fishhooks in hear heart, pulling in opposite directions and she was currently in the balance, where they both tugging but none taring. if she took a step in either direction, a line would snap or a hook would take a chunk out of her heart. She was not ready for that to happen. She would rather stay suspended between then.

She told him she loved him, then hung up. There was nothing left to say.

~~~~~

Erika was somewhere between upstate New York and Maine. She wasn't sure where, exactly, but she found a live-in position in a small depanneur in a small town. And if she did not know where was, no knew where she was. Then no one could find her. 

The family was nice, and she tutored their son. People came and went, but no one paid her any mind. 

They might not recognize her now. Erika now knew that the picture blasted across the media was from when she was twelve. Malnourished. Small. 

Turns out a great way to change how you look was food. ANd it did not take a lot, just more than she was used too. Her cheeks filled out and her clothes were less baggy. She did not look like she was about to die. She was not the girl people were looking for. She wasn't the picture of a runaway anymore. 

The bell on the door rang and Erika's eyes raised to the noise. A family was coming in. She stood up straight by the register and watched as the mother herded two kids to the bathroom and the father picked out some snacks. 

Erika looked back at the newspaper she had been reading. Someone was stealing cattle. A cow just turned up on someone's house. It was amusing, to say the least. There had been instructions left to get the cow down, but they had all been encoded. The key to the code had been something related to when the cattle were stolen. The guy had been caught. Some genius who was never smart enough to leave this small town and finally cracked. 

This place might not have been good for him, but it was perfect for Erika. 

She doubted she could stay here until she turned eighteen. But she could definitely get her bearings, get a proper plan. Then leave and wait out the time until she was eighteen. If she was still alive, she could then enroll in adult classes, finish up high school, go to university. Live a quiet, unexceptional life. No one would be any wiser.

"Do you have cheese curds?" the man asked.

"Yup," Erika said. She leaned over the counter, pointing tot hem. She was still too short to reach them without crawling up onto the counter. But she was quite sure she was growing. It seemed it was another side effect of proper nutrition. 

He picked them up and added them to the pile of things on the counter. 

She started to scan them.

"You look familiar," he said.

She shrugged. "One of those faces, I guess." 

His wife and kids came out from the bathrooms as told him the total. He gave her a twenty. She placed it down flat on the counter before calculating the change. Grabbing it and quickly shoving it into the machine was the best way to get caught up all day recounting the register when people wanted to claim they gave you a fifty. It was a bit slower, but no one else was around and it saved her a headache.

She gave them the change and they left.

It was another hour until someone else came through. It was just a singular man.

He stared at her when their eyes met.

Erika knew instantly that she was done for. 

~~~~~

Idina was watching the news. All of a sudden, the broadcast switched form sports.

"Breaking news!" the announcer said. "In the case of the missing girl, Erika Rivera-"

Idina sat up straight, clutching a pillow to her stomach.

"-our sources say the girl was spotted in a small town in Vermont. A family of four was travelling and they noticed their cashier at a local depanneur was very similar tot he missing girl. However, by the time authorities showed up to confirm, the girl was nowhere to found. Police say there were signs of a struggle in the store, however, there is still no news on what happened. Authorities are looking through security camera footage as we speak. Anyone with information is urged to come forwards."

Idina was still. She could barely breathe.

Then her phone started ringing.