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father.”
    She stopped for a second. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet. “We haven’t been married for some time. He left town years ago and just moved back.”
    â€œLisa’s father,” Micky said. “But the kid in the—”
    It was my turn to elbow Micky.
    â€œLet’s go before it rains,” I said to Micky.
    â€œSure, but—”
    I grabbed his arm and pulled him away before he could tell Mrs. Chambers anything about Carter and the man in the hospital.
    This was something Lisa should explain. But if my guess was right, there wasn’t much left to explain.
    We didn’t find Lisa in Bell Park. Instead, we found her bicycle. At the edge of the drainage ditch at the far end of the park— near the sewer tunnel entrance.
    â€œIs she inside?” I asked.
    Micky looked at the dark sky. He held his hand out, feeling for drops of rain.
    â€œI hope not,” Micky said. “It’s going to rain any second. And rain hard. You know what that means.”
    I nodded. It meant a lot of water. The drainage ditch was empty now, but during a hard rainstorm, it would fill with fast,muddy water higher than my waist—like a flash flood.
    I moved to the iron bars at the front of the tunnel and looked inside. It was just a black hole—a huge black hole. If she had decided to hide in the sewer tunnels, it could be years before we found her. And that was only if she didn’t hide.
    I thought about the rain. If she was in there, Micky and I needed to warn her.
    But if she wasn’t in the tunnels, we would be putting ourselves in danger for nothing.
    â€œLisa?” I yelled. “Lisa?”
    â€œDon’t yell,” she said in a grumpy voice. “It hurts my ears.”
    I nearly had a heart attack. I never expected her to be so close. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw her outline. She was sitting inside the tunnel, about twenty steps away.
    â€œCome on out,” Micky said, moving beside me. “We want to talk.”
    â€œNo,” she said.
    â€œWhat do you mean
no
?” Micky asked.
    â€œIt’s a two-letter word for buzz off.”
    From where Lisa sat, Micky and I would be two dark figures against the light of the sky.
    â€œWe want to talk,” Micky said.
    â€œBuzz off,” she said.
    â€œBut—”
    â€œBuzz off,” she repeated. “Or don’t you understand English? Maybe I should tell you in French.”
    I smiled a little. Her bicycle spoke more French than she did.
    â€œI came here to be alone,” she said. “I wanted to go where nobody would bug me. So in case you haven’t figured it out, I don’t want to talk.”
    â€œYou have to talk,” Micky said.
    â€œWhy?” came her voice.
    â€œBecause we know about you and Carter.”
    Silence from inside the tunnel.
    â€œWe saw his Dad in the hospital today,” Micky told her. “It’s the same guy in the photo at your house.”
    Silence—but only for a second. I saw her outline as she got to her feet and turnedaway from us. As my eyes understood what was happening, my ears heard the pounding of her feet as she ran deeper into the tunnel.
    â€œLisa!” Micky shouted. “Lisa! Stop!”
    She didn’t. The echo of her footsteps faded. Then there was nothing but the blackness of the tunnel—with Lisa somewhere inside.
    â€œNuts,” Micky said. He kicked at a rock. “Dumb girl.”
    Before I could say anything, a crack of lightning caught the corner of my eye. A crash of thunder rolled over us.
    And it began to pour.

chapter twelve
    â€œNow what?” I yelled above the rain. Heavy hard drops pounded my skull. Within seconds, my hair was soaked like I had just taken a shower.
    Micky didn’t answer. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the tunnel. He popped open the cage door and pulled me inside.
    â€œAt least in here we’ll be dry,” he said.
    Not for