Only Shadows

Chapter 4

Izzy

Caleb pulled out of the dirt clearing in silence. He hadn't asked Izzy if she wanted to drive, and she hadn't offered. They hadn't spoken the whole walk back to the car. The impending twilight gave the woods an ethereal, eerie feel with the shadows growing long and the jagged tree branches reaching across the path like sharp claws.

He eased the Lexus down the dirt path more slowly this time, almost like he was afraid to hurt her. But she didn't feel hurt, she felt numb, empty, emotionless.

Her phone buzzed. "Crap," she murmured. "I forgot to text Brie."

"You'd better send her a message. I think she was serious about calling the cops if she didn't hear from us."

"I thought you wanted to call the cops?" Izzy said, side-eyeing him as she typed a text to Brie.

Izzy: We're fine! Driving back now.

Brie: Find anything?

Izzy: Sort of. Tell you tomorrow.

She got a thumbs up in response, followed by a winking ghost emoji and a cheering lobster GIF.

"It's good to see a smile," Caleb said.

"Huh?" Izzy looked up from her phone. "Is Brie always that silly?"

"She tries to keep it light."

"I should probably tell my mom I'm not going to be home in time for dinner." Izzy pulled up her mom's number and pressed record. "Olá mãe! I'm running late 'cuz of my study session today. Say hi, Caleb!"

"Uh, hi, Mrs. Sinclair," he said.

"We're studying for our Algebra test next week. I'll be back in an hour or so. Save me some food, ta?" Izzy finished the recording and plugged the phone into the car charger.

"Thanks," she said. "That should get her off my back."

"I didn't realize you spoke Spanish."

"Portuguese," Izzy corrected. "My mom's Brazilian. Actually, she's Japanese-Brazilian."

"Really? That's cool." Caleb slowly turned onto the main road. "Are your parents strict?"

"No usually. They're gone a lot, but they're still mad at me for that D in math. They think that I," Izzy deepened her voice to impersonate her father, "am too distracted at school, and obsessing about cheerleading and boys is wasting the privilege of going to Pinnacle Crest Academy." She dropped the voice. "At least, that's what my father thinks, so they made me drop out of cheerleading, and I'm grounded from going on dates or anything until my grades come up. Not that it matters."

"Pinnacle Crest is a good opportunity."

"You would say that. You're obsessed with the place."

"Not all of us were born into money," he said softly.

She let that hang in the air for a moment. "I'm sorry. You're right."

After a moment, Caleb said, "My mom's a detective. She used to bring me to crime scenes when I was little."

"Really? You're kidding."

"It could be hard to get childcare in an emergency, so I tagged along. It got me interested in crime and mystery."

Izzy half smiled. "Thanks for at least coming with me and trying to help. I wish we had found something better... but I'm glad you didn't let me come out here alone." She twisted her fingers at the edges of her soft, tangerine shirt.