Free Forgotten by Lauren Barnholdt, Aaron Gorvine Page B

voice is low and steady, but I can tell she’s struggling to repress her anger. Her jaw trembles a little as she talks.
    “What did I do to your daughter?” I actually take a step back, that’s how shocked I am. “Ms. Moore, I didn’t do anything to her.”
    Her fists are clenched at her sides, and she lifts a hand up and points a finger at me. “Natalia didn’t just wake up this morning with no memory. Someone did something to her.”
    “I called you,” I say, and shake my head. “Why would I call you if I’d hurt her?”
    “I don’t know.” Her gaze drifts to the floor, as if she’s lost her certainty.
    “Nothing about this situation makes any sense. I don’t understand why she took off with you.” She sighs, then crosses her arms over her chest. “Do you understand how irresponsible you’ve been?”
    “I’m sorry,” I say honestly. “I should have made her call you earlier.” This, at least, is true. I should have made Nat call her mom, keep her in the loop about things so that she didn’t freak out. Of course, I don’t know when we would have done that. I have a mental picture of asking Reed to stop the bond breaking ceremony so that we can call Nat’s mom and tell her we’re fine. We could have kept it short and sweet – sorry, gotta go, late for a movie! It’s so absurd that I have to bite back a laugh.
    Nat’s mom glares at me, and I quickly wipe the smile off my face.
    “Where’s my car?” she asks.
    “I don’t know.” I’m lying, and she knows it.
    “What did you spend the last two days doing?” Her eyes are locked on mine again.
    Obviously I can’t tell her the truth. But if she talks to my dad she’s going to know we weren’t with him the entire two days. I should have anticipated this -- of course Nat’s mom was going to have a ton of questions. But I’ve been consumed with getting help for Nat, not coming up with a cover story.
    “Did the two of you have sex?” she asks before I can come up with a suitable lie.
    “No!” I say quickly. “No, of course not.”
    “Then what were you doing?”
    “We went to a hotel…a motel near my dad’s place.”
    “Why?”
    “To get away. We’d been fighting. And stuff at school has been kind of weird with this girl Raine and some of her friends. It’s normal high school stuff, but it’s been hard on Nat.”
    “Stop calling her Nat!” She shakes her head and pulls a crumpled up tissue out of her jacket pocket, then wipes her nose with it. “Her name is Natalia.”
    “Listen,” I tell her. “I get that you’re upset. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry we just took off. I’m sure my mother’s pissed at me, too, she probably –“
    Natalia’s mom laughs. “I have a hard time believing your mother is anything but drunk.”
    Her words are like a punch in the stomach. My mom is what she is, and I know better than anyone how fucked up her drinking is. But I can’t stand other people bringing it up, acting like they know anything about my mom or our family. I want to say something nasty back to Nat’s mom, but I remind myself that she’s really upset and worried. All she knows is that her daughter disappeared with me and turned up again with some mysterious injuries, no memory, and no idea where her car is. “My mom has problems but she still cares about me, Ms. Moore,” I say quietly.
    She purses her lips and nods. “I’m sure she does. And I’ll certainly want to talk to both of your parents before this is over. But right now I’m going to call the police.”
    “What? Why?”
    “I want them to know about this situation.” She shoulders her purse. “I think the authorities ought to be made aware of it. And because, frankly Campbell, I don’t trust you.”
    I sigh and my whole body feels deflated. I’m exhausted. Mentally, physically emotionally. The past forty-eight hours have been the worst and most stressful hours of my life.
    “Fine. Call the cops.” I turn to go back into Natalia’s room.
    “Please