“She wouldn’t answer.”
Rachel pressed her thumb against the sealed flap.
“Why didn’t you call me Friday?”
The question came sharper than she intended.
Mara accepted it without flinching. “Because Audrey begged me not to.”
“She is sixteen.”
“I know.”
“I’m her mother.”
“I know that too.”
“You had a frightened sixteen-year-old girl give you something and tell you to hand it to me if she disappeared from your studio, and you didn’t call me?”
“I nearly did.”
“Nearly?”
Mara’s chin lifted a fraction. “She made me promise to give her until the next class. Then she showed up Monday morning before school to ask whether I still had it.”
Rachel stared.
“Monday morning?”
“She looked exhausted. She said things might be okay. I told her I didn’t believe her.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing.”
“And Monday night she didn’t come to class.”
