Free Never Ever by Sara Saedi

on her side, Wylie thought. Of all the Dalton kids, Micah was the one who was glued to his iPhone at all times. She was surprised he hadn’t broken out into hives by now, considering he hadn’t been able to use it all day.
    â€œSo, what are we supposed to do until this dinner we’re invited to?” Joshua asked.
    Tinka was clearly done answering questions. She just shook her head and gestured to them to follow her. They stopped at a bungalow and waited for Tinka to fish a set of keys out of her pocket and unlock the door. The bungalow had three beds, with a towel laid out on top of each one. There was a large carafe of water on a table, and a giant spread of fresh fruit and crudités. The maxi dress Wylie had been presented with was already hanging outside the closet door, along with two pairs of linen pants and soft cotton T-shirts for Micah and Joshua. Tinka pointed to the snacks.
    â€œIn case you get hungry before dinner. There’s a bathroom next door. I’ll come get you when dinner’s ready.”
    Tinka grabbed a couple slices of fruit and pranced out of their bungalow without so much as a good-bye.
    â€œWhat do we do now?” Joshua asked them.
    Wylie stuck a mango wedge in her mouth. “I need a nap and a shower,” she answered.
    â€œWell, don’t get too comfortable. We’re not staying here.”
    â€œThat’s not for you to decide, Joshua,” Wylie snapped. “If you want to go home, you can go home. But that doesn’t mean I’m coming with you.”
    It felt good to stop bowing down to him. Wylie was almost an adult. She didn’t need anyone telling her what to do anymore. She grabbed a towel from the bed and let the bungalow door slam behind her.

CHAPTER FIVE

    the inner circle
    gregory Dalton couldn’t wait any longer. He got up from his seat and paced across the lobby of the police station. Pacing was something he’d become an expert at lately. Walking back and forth. Thinking. Putting his hands on his waist. Eyeing the receptionist at the precinct as if to say
I’m a very important person, and you need to deal with me right now
.
    Maura was sitting three seats away from where he’d stood up. So this is what had become of them: two people who were once so madly in love, they spent endless hours together. Now they couldn’t even sit next to each other.
    What was taking these people so long? In what universe did three missing kids not constitute an emergency? The night before, when he and Maura discovered the kids had snuck out, they both felt an initial sense of relief. Neither of them had been looking forward to spending an entire dinner together. Gregory wanted to celebrate hisdaughter’s birthday and have one last night with his son before Joshua was moved into a juvenile detention center, but since they’d broken the news of the divorce, his kids looked at him like he was the sole reason their family was no longer functioning. They were young; there was a lot they didn’t understand.
    After the kids gave them the silent brush-off, Gregory had decided to go back to his hotel room and throw himself into his work. He told Maura he would meet her at the courthouse in the morning. It wasn’t the first time their children had left without their permission and returned in the middle of the night.
It’s what happens when you raise kids in the city,
he always told himself.
They think they’re more mature than their age suggests. They’re too independent. Transportation comes too easily for them. They don’t feel trapped like those kids in the suburbs, who only go where their parents are willing to drive them
.
    Maura and Gregory were so accustomed to the kids coming and going as they pleased, they didn’t even worry anymore when they snuck out of the brownstone. Maura had stopped waiting up for them a long time ago. That night, they figured, like most nights, the kids would climb back up