Free These Starcrossed Lives of Ours by Megan Linski Page B

The town will go nuts once this gets out, though it probably has already.”
    It had. Over the next few days the entire community was in a panic, joining together to try and figure out exactly where the boy had gone. Search parties were sent out and kids were kept indoors, but no luck. A week passed and the child was still missing.
    “There’s an emergency prayer meeting at my church for the boy,” Ian said, grabbing his coat. “Do you want to come, or stay here?”
    “What’s praying going to do? God can’t hear you,” I said, looking at him.
    Ian gave me the most horrible glare, and inside I quivered. Something in me broke when he looked at me like that...it felt like my very soul was crumbling.
    “Christie,” he said. “You might not realize it, or if you do, appreciate it, but my faith is very important to me. I feel like it will make a difference, and you have to let me believe that whether it’s true or not. Besides, I’ve done all I can and it’s still not enough. I can’t sit here and do nothing.”
    With that statement he left.
     

Ian
    This was the first time Christie managed to make me angry, and damn, was she good at it. She’d hit me at a place that was so vulnerable at so terrible a time, it was unbelievable. My faith meant everything to me. I knew Christie couldn’t understand that because of where she was and all she’d went through, but at the very least I wanted her to appreciate what I believed.
    I smacked the steering wheel, hard. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let a kid disappear right under my nose? I knew that I was only a social worker, but I felt responsible for every one of those kids. They were all special to me in different ways, and the child that was missing, Harlem, was no exception. He reminded me a little bit of myself, running wild around on the playground with an energy that exhausted everyone but his classmates. He was often found in my office because he had ADHD and the teachers had trouble handling him, but he never gave me any problems. He had a lot of talent, in the classroom and on the sports field when he played soccer. He was so bright and cheerful. The thought of that child being extinguished by the darkness of the world was enough to...
    I hit the steering wheel again. Dammit Ian! I had to keep it together! I pulled into church, slamming my car door. I needed to calm down. The last thing I needed was the community seeing me like this and then talking behind my back, making my boss think I was unfit for the job. My best friend Kara was outside the door, leaning on the wall.
    “Hey,” she said. “You’re late. Is everything okay?”
    “I’m fine,” I said. “I’m just a little upset.”
    “I can imagine,” she said, opening the door. “It’s complete chaos in there. Are you sure you want to go in there?”
    “I’ve done everything I can for this boy, Kara,” I said, and I dropped my head. “My head’s on the chopping block at work. The parents are calling for all of us to be fired, and since I’m new, I’m the first target.”
    “You have to be strong, Ian,” Kara said, and she placed a hand on my arm. “Nobody is going to fire you if you show that you really care. And I don’t know anybody who cares more about people than Ian Rosenthal.”
    I tried to believe her, but I couldn’t. This town always needed a scapegoat. Growing up here, I’d realized that. And no matter how good of a job I did trying to patch things together, if I wasn’t careful, that scapegoat would be me.
    “This is just bringing back everything,” I said, and I felt angry tears welling up in my eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about Lia.”
    “This is different. Lia ran away,” Kara told me, and she grabbed my shoulders, squeezing them tightly. “We’ll find the little boy, I promise.”
    My spirits weren’t much better after I left the church. When I got home I found Christie sitting on the couch in silence. She jumped right up when I walked in