Dodge Mason // Mystery Boy

13

Andrew?

—

About 9 days from the crossing, there was a big parade for the 35th annual Carp Fourth of July parade. None of us had heard anything about Panic for over a week and we were growing restless. That morning I skipped the parade and just stayed home with Kai. We used it as an excuse to sleep in because what's more patriotic than procrastinating? I woke up with a few texts from Dodge.

Dodge🤠: Happy 4th of July

Dodge🤠: Hey can I pick you up in 30?

Dodge🤠: Is that a no?

Dodge🤠: Are you really still asleep?

Dodge🤠: Waaaake upppppp

They were each about 10 minutes apart. I laughed to myself and decided to give him a call. He picked up right away not even letting it ring fully once.

"Hey are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes just woke up," I responded.

"Do you wanna come over today? I just want you to meet some people."

"What people?"

"My sister and my mom," he replies.

"Of course, I would love to," I smile at the thought of it.

"Perfect I'll pick you up in a bit?"

"Okay, see you then," I respond. "Hey Kai!" I yell.

"Yeah?" he yells back.

"Can you stay here by yourself again? Dodge wants me to meet his mom and sister."

"Yeah," he responds. "Wait actually," he adds. "Could he take me to a friend's house for a sleepover?"

"What friend?"

"His name is Xander, he's Liam's brother."

"Liam Griffin?" I ask.

"Yeah," he assures.

"Yeah okay that's fine," I reply while texting Dodge asking if it really was. He agreed to it and I started getting ready.

—

"You have everything?" I ask before we leave.

"Yep," Kai responds.

"Toothbrush?"

"Mmhm"

"Deodorant?"

"Uhhh suddenly I have to pee... one second," he says suspiciously going to the bathroom with his bag. I roll my eyes and laugh. While I'm waiting for him, I get a text from Heather about the next challenge. I go to my room and grab something from under my bed and put it in my bag. When Dodge gets there we thank him for taking Kai and then we drop him off. When we pull up to Dodge's house, we notice the sheriff's truck pulling out of the driveway. I look to Dodge confused but he just shrugs it off almost like it didn't happen. We walk up to the fence and he asks me to wait.

"Sorry, I just wanna get inside and let everyone know you're coming in and make sure the place doesn't look too crazy," he explains.

"Yeah that's fine," I laugh at his nervousness. "I get it,"

"Okay, be right back," he says giving me a quick peck on the forehead before running in. While I'm waiting by their fence gate, I look down noticing the mail on the ground. I check to see if Dodge is coming and pick it up. The name on the package reads "Mason, D." and the name on the red letter reads "Andrew Dodge Mason." Andrew? I hear the door open back up and I see Dodge come out so I bend over pretending to pick up the mail for the first time.

"Hey you have a bunch of mail right here," I say handing it to him.

"Oh, thank you," he replies taking it. "Are you ready?" he asks.

"Of course," I laugh. "Are you?"

"Nope," he laughs. He brings me inside and, who I assume to be Dayna, is in the living room while his mom is in the kitchen. "Everyone," he announces. "This is Delilah."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you guys," I say as confident as I can.

"Hi, I'm Dayna, I'm sure Dodge hasn't said anything about me," she replies.

"He's mentioned you a bit," I say cheerily making her smile a bit.

"Sorry bout that," his mom apologizes emerging from the kitchen. "Trying to get dinner ready."

"Oh it's no problem, would you like any help?" I offer.

"Oh no, thank you so much, but I got it under control. You'll be staying for our little lunch, right?" She asks. I look to Dodge for an answer and he looks back.

"If you want you're more than welcome to," he whispers.

"Yes, I would love to," I reply to Mrs. Mason.

"Perfect! I'll leave you kids to it, food is in the oven, I have to run out for an errand really quickly," she explains fast paced. "Love you, kids!" she says leaving out the door.

"Love you," they reply just before the door closes. Dodge offers me a seat on the couch and he sits next to me.

"So, Dayna, did you know that Delilah is a very talented artist?" Dodge starts.

"Oh I wouldn't say 'artist' I just sketch here and there," I explain.

"I would love to see your work," she replies. We end up talking and going on and on about all kinds of art. Dodge gets up every once in a while to go to the kitchen or the bathroom while Dayna and I hit it off.

"I'll be right back," he says patting my leg before getting up to leave.

"You know, the first time Dodge brought you up, I was so surprised. He doesn't say much about anything. One time he broke the state record at the Legacy Rodeo Series, and we didn't find out until we saw him on TV."

"Well, I hope that's a good thing," I laugh.

"Yeah he doesn't talk much, especially not about our dad or even what happened to me. He wants justice even though it won't do anything to change it." After Dayna finishes, I go to say something but Dodge comes back and sits back down.

"What'd I miss?" he asks.

I look at Dayna who looks a bit panicked. "Just you breaking records for your rodeo competitions," I smile at him. I look back at Dayna who mouths a small "thank you" and we get back to conversing. Eventually, Mrs. Mason comes home and we have lunch. It was nice getting to know Dodge more and hearing about him from his family. After lunch, we hung out in his room. He sat on his bed watching me while I snooped around. I decided to hold off asking about what Dayna meant and the whole "Andrew" ordeal and bring up the next challenge.

"So, Heather texted me about the next challenge," I start.

"About time, it's been over a week," he replies.

"It's a breaking and entering at Spurlock Farm tomorrow at 10pm," I say pulling up the picture of the poster Heather sent me and showing him.

"Sounds simple enough," he replies.

"Yeah but maybe this will help," I say pulling out the paper from my room. "There's all ways a breaking and entering so I've kept this map for a bit," I explain unfolding it onto the floor sitting beside it. Dodge gets up and sits around it across from me. "There's traps everywhere," I warn. We begin coming up with a plan and different ways for us to get in and out. Even if Dodge was possibly hiding things, I couldn't help but trust him.