Fire in the Stars Read Online Free Page B

memories. He’s having a hard enough time fitting in without having this written on his forehead. He’ll come back when he’s had time to sort himself out.”
    Amanda hesitated. She didn’t want to scare Sheri by pushing the panic button prematurely, but Sheri’s denial of the darker possibilities seemed odd. “I’m not so sure. He’s been walking the edge a long time, and I don’t think he’s thinking clearly. God knows what he’ll do if he’s desperate.”
    They were crossing the grass toward the house, and Sheri turned to search Amanda’s face. “He would never hurt Tyler.”
    Despite her words, there was uncertainty in her eyes. Amanda didn’t respond. Desperate people hurt their children all the time, sometimes from the depths of a depression so black they believed they were saving their children from an impossible world and other times from a vengeful wish to hurt their partner by taking away the thing they loved most. “But what about hurting himself? Has he ever talked about ending it all?”
    Sheri gulped a sharp breath. She strode inside, checked the house phone and the street yet again. Her jaw worked. “There was a time, this winter, when he asked me to hide all the axes and knives. I wasn’t sure if it was to protect me, or him.”
    â€œDid he go for help?”
    â€œAsk for help? Phil? Besides, here in Grand Falls, what kind of help is there? Trauma counsellors falling out of the sky, are they?”
    Amanda came to her side and put a gentle hand on her arm. “I know this is scary, but we have to consider it. Because I think maybe it’s what this is all about. He said he forgives you and he hid his cellphone where we would eventually find it, but only once he was too far away for us to stop him. I bet if we search it, or decipher the password on his laptop, we’ll find a note.”
    Sheri’s chin quivered. She snatched the cellphone from Amanda’s hand and tried to thumb through links. Once again a password stymied her. Frustrated, she shook her head. “Goddamn Nigeria! It made him so paranoid! It swallowed a wonderful, caring, trusting man and spat him back, destroyed. But Phil is a strong man. He’s a fighter. Even if he’s on the edge, he’s not going to quit on Tyler. He’s seen too many children suffer …”
    â€œBut would he quit on you?”
    Sheri flinched.
    â€œPlease call the cops, Sheri.”
    Sheri averted her eyes and walked to the window as if to put distance between herself and Amanda’s pressure. “I need to think. Let me call his family to see if they’ve heard from him. Maybe he felt a need to visit home. There are a lot of possibilities to explore before we press the panic button.”
    Amanda forced herself to back off. Every ounce of her screamed danger , but maybe she was overreacting. She could no longer trust her own alarm system; it had failed her one crucial time, and now its sirens shrieked at even the smallest hint of danger.
    â€œOkay, good idea. I’ll take Kaylee for a walk before she mutinies, and when I get back, we’ll take stock again.”
    The walk through the quiet, leafy residential streets was peaceful, giving Amanda time to sort through her fears. She was surprised Sheri had not already contacted Phil’s family in Manitoba, which seemed an obvious first step for a worried wife to take, but perhaps the family ties were tenuous. When you spend most of your adult life in tumultuous, faraway lands, a placid, prosperous home can feel like a very distant place.
    As always, Kaylee’s boundless enthusiasm for each new person or patch of grass made her smile, and by the time they rounded the final corner half an hour later, Amanda felt almost relaxed. She hoped there might be a police cruiser in Sheri’s drive, but instead, parked behind her own motorcycle was a dusty red pickup.
    As she mounted the front