Painless

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“How long has it been since we saw you last, Benji?” my mom asked as she took a sip from her wine glass.

 “Um, I think about four years ago, when you came to CC to pick Bliss up at the end of summer,” Benji said, looking over at me. I kept my gaze on the wall, trying to act as if I wasn’t really paying attention to what they were talking about. I’d never actually told my parents why I’d stopped going to CC, and I didn’t want to get into it now. In front of Benji. Or at all. The point was, I’d left, and that’s all anybody needed to know. My life was fine without friends. We’d all be alone in the end, anyway. No point in dragging out the goodbyes.

“That’s right,” Mom said as if she’d just realized this. Only she hadn’t. Hello? The woman was a secret agent for God’s sake. She knew exactly when the last time was that she’d seen Benji. “I think it’s great that you two have kept in touch over the years. You guys were always so cute running around, attached at the hip like that.”

She flashed a warm smile at him and out of the corner of my eye I could see him beam back. Benji was enjoying this trip down memory lane almost as much as my mom was. They were both thinking about a happier time. When I was still naïve.

I silently seethed. Mom knew I hadn’t talked to Benji in ages, yet she was playing along just to get information out of him. And she was doing a damn good job of it, too. But that’s what made her so good at her day job.

I watched her lean in toward Benji, as if she were about to tell him a secret. “You know, I’d always hoped that you guys would get together…”

“Mom,” I warned.

This wasn’t the first time she’d brought this up—the idea that Benji and I would’ve made a cute couple—though it’d never been in front of Benji before. I could’ve killed her, if I wasn’t totally positive she’d be able to take me down first. Instead, I settled for sending daggers her way with my eyes.

“So, what brings you to town, Benji?” my dad interrupted with a cough. Either he was being nice and saving me from total parental embarrassment or he was beginning to become uncomfortable himself. Either way, I was fully okay with the topic change.

“Uh, Dad, that’s sort of what I wanted to talk to you guys about,” I cut in, drawing their attention back to me. Showtime. “Benji came all the way from Oregon because something’s up. Two of the kids from CC have gone missing. They were both near or in their homes when they disappeared and the police have no leads.”

“Did they run away?” my mom asked, the detective in her coming out to play.

I shook my head. “I knew these kids, Mom. They weren’t exactly the adventurous types.”

“Yeah, but it’s been a few years since you’ve seen them, Bliss. You may not know them as well as you did then,” she argued.

“With all due respect, Mrs. Benson, Bliss is right. They just wouldn’t do this. Something’s definitely going on here,” Benji said seriously. As he spoke, I saw my mom’s face soften.

“Mom, Joanie’s 13 years old and Glenn’s only 12. Except for CC, they’re rarely ever away from home. They don’t have the equipment or training I do to survive out there by themselves. There’s just no way they took off.”

“So what are you asking?”

When Mom was in agent mode, she became super-focused, direct and to the point. I liked to think I inherited some of this from her. That and my ability to defend myself and intimidate people more than twice my size. Not bad genes if you ask me.