Cash picked up on the first ring.
“Hello?” he said, sounding a bit on edge himself.
“Cody is gone,” Bella blurted. “Apparently he ordered a DNA test. You’re not his father, Cash.”
The words all came spilling out before she could even think about them.
“I… what?”
“Cash, he’s not your responsibility,” Bella said. “I know that now. And I know you’re not the type of guy who sticks around anyway. But if you help me find him, I promise I will make it up to you somehow. Please.Please…”
By the time she finished, she was crying so hard that she didn’t hear what he said next. Whatever it was, he hung up immediately afterward, leaving her to her own devices.
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and then forced herself to think. It was Christmas Eve—nothing in town would be open. Cody would know that. He had to have had some kind of a plan. She hurried back to his room to look for clues.
It felt wrong to go through his things, but he was out there alone and probably overwhelmed with sadness. She hadto find him.
His room was neat, a tribute to what a good kid he was trying to be. Her own room had been a disaster area at his age.
His clothing was all folded neatly and tucked away in his dresser. There was nothing under his bed but his guitar case, with the instrument tucked inside.
Somehow, that sight terrified Bella more than anything else that had happened so far.
Where would he go without his guitar?
But she couldn’t afford to panic. She grabbed his backpack and searched it systematically. There was nothing in it but his schoolbooks and folders.
On his desk, the notebook that Cash had given him was set neatly on top of Cash’s folded hoodie.
“Oh, Cody,” Bella murmured, lifting up the notebook for no reason she could imagine.
It fell open to a page of handwritten lyrics. But they weren’t lyrics she had ever seen before.
“Where can you be?”she read aloud.“Where is my Sweet Jane?”
Her heart crashed in her chest as she flipped to the next page and saw more of the same, lyrics covering the pages with notes on the side, all aboutSweet Jane,page after page.
She closed the notebook, and tried to clear her mind.
It didn’t matter how he’d felt back then. Nothing mattered right now except finding Cody.
She hurried out to the living room and pulled on a pair of boots and her coat before checking her phone again. There was still nothing from Cody, and his location was still turned off.
She called him again as she fled the apartment, leaving her key under the mat.
But again, she only got his voicemail. This time, she stayed on the line.
“You know what to do,” his husky teenage voice said. He was trying to sound cool, but the earnest note in his voice gave him away.
“Cody,” Bella said. “I found your note, and I know you’re freaking out. I know this seems like the worst thing that could ever happen, but I promise you that it isn’t. You’re a wonderful person and a wonderful musician. And Cash Law never had anything to do with that. I’m proud of you and I love you. Please let me know you’re okay.”
She made it to the bottom of the stairs, where she opened the door and flew out, crashing immediately into something that felt like a brick wall.
24
CASH
Cash was opening the entry door to Bella and Cody’s building when someone flew out and crashed against his chest, almost sending them both for a tumble into the snow.
