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said.
    Something in the universe of high school life was shifting. Maybe Alicia was on our side only to make a buck. Maybe only because she was as bored with Dave’s routine as the rest of us. Maybe she actually wanted us to make it. At any rate, it was a first.
    “You won’t be sorry,” Win said as the band fired up again with the alma mater and we all rose for the mandatory sing-along.

CHAPTER FIVE
    “Sorry, I couldn’t call sooner, Mom, I left my phone in the room by mistake. Just got in.”
    “Christopher?” My mother sounded as panicked as I knew she would. My roommate appeared to be studying—though since classes didn’t start until Monday, I couldn’t be sure what.
    “Yeah, it’s me,” I said.
    “We got you that phone so we could stay in touch. It doesn’t do anyone any good if we can’t contact you,” my mother said. My parents had broken down and added me to the cell phone plan before I left for school. I think Win’s disappearance had Mom spooked, but Dad said it would just be cheaper than paying long-distance charges anyway. But I knew it was a sacrifice on top of so many more they’d made for me to be here.
    “Sorry, Mom. I still can’t get used to carrying it around.”
    She ignored me. “Christopher, an
FBI agent
called here this morning,” she whispered.
    “Mom, you’re whispering.”
    “I am not,” she continued in a slightly less hushed tone.
    “Nobody’s tapping the phone, Mom,” I said. At least, I didn’t think anyone was tapping the phone.
    “Don’t change the subject!”
    I gave up. “Some guy named Ward just left.”
    “That’s who called us! You already spoke with him?” she asked. “What did he say? Did he harass you?”
    “Mom, it’s cool. Just calm down,” I said. “Is Dad there?” She often needed my father to talk her off the ledge.
    “I’m on the extension, Chris,” my dad said. “Just got home. Helluva day, too. Tried to set that sign at the new Applebee’s on 64, but the wind was just—”
    “Allen!” my mother shrieked. “Our son has been interrogated by the FBI! Our Win is missing! No one cares about the sign!”
    “It was no big deal,” I lied. “He just wanted to know about the trip, whose idea it was, if I’d heard from Win.”
    “Have you?” my mother asked.
    “No,” I admitted. “Since Coggans stopped calling last week, I sort of thought maybe that meant Win had come back.”
    “Lydia Coggans hasn’t called me back in that long at least,” my mother offered. She’d been calling daily to see if they’d heard from Win.
    “How about the nonexistent uncle in Seattle?” my dad asked.
    “Also news to me,” I said.
    “Why do you think they didn’t ever ask you about that one in all those conversations we had after you got back?” he asked.
    “Probably the same reason Mr. Coggans didn’t give me a heads-up about sending an FBI agent my way.”
    “Oh,
Christopher
,” my mother said. She only called me Christopher when she felt especially maternal or when I was in trouble. Now both applied. “Christopher, how could you not have known? How could he have lied about that?”
    I sighed. “All I know is what I told you. What I just told the investigator. We’ve been through all this a hundred times.” After I showed up without Win and my mom wigged out, we must have been over the events at least that often. Mom was beside herself, Dad was concerned, and we even sat down with Win’s parents for only the second time in the history of our friendship.
    “He believe you?” my father asked.
    “I don’t know. I sound pretty stupid. I guess I did overlook a few details.”
    “Just tell the truth, Chris,” my dad said calmly. “It’ll sort itself out.”
    “Of course he’ll tell the truth, Allen,” my mother snapped. “Our son is an honest boy. If he says he doesn’t know what happened to Win, then I believe him.” She sounded near tears. She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself.