Hold My Hand (Sequel to Saved: Adopted by Brendon Urie)

Chapter 47

Abby had learned to listen without looking like she was listening.

It was easier when she was quiet.

People forgot she was paying attention.

They spoke around her.

They spoke over her.

Sometimes they spoke as though she wasn't even there.

Abby had learned that silence could make people careless.

Tonight, the woman was being careless.

Abby sat on the edge of the bed with the television playing quietly.

She wasn't watching it.

She was listening to the voices downstairs.

The woman and the man.

Their voices were different when they thought Abby couldn't hear them.

The woman's voice was usually calm.

Soft.

Almost gentle.

Downstairs, it wasn't.

"—told you this was going to happen."

The man answered too quietly for Abby to make out the words.

"What?"

A pause.

"I said, they found the car."

Abby stopped breathing.

The woman spoke again.

"They weren't supposed to find it."

"They found it abandoned."

"I know what they found."

Her voice cracked.

Just slightly.

Abby leaned forward.

The television continued talking about something she didn't understand.

She turned the volume down.

The voices became clearer.

"How much do they know?"

"Enough."

"That doesn't tell me anything."

"It tells you exactly what you need to know."

Silence.

Then the woman said something Abby couldn't hear.

The man answered.

"She's alive."

Abby's heart jumped.

She pressed her hand against her mouth.

The woman said something else.

The man replied.

"Of course they're looking for her."

A chair scraped across the floor.

"They know she was in the car."

Abby heard footsteps.

Fast ones.

The woman.

Then silence.

"Keep your voice down."

"I am keeping my voice down."

"No, you're panicking."

"I am not panicking."

"You are."

Another silence.

Abby stared at the door.