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Regardless of how it looked, she needed to eat. She picked up the fork and started with the applesauce, because it looked the least offensive. It tasted okay, though it was a little dry. She could feel eyes on her as she ate.

Macy pictured her family. Getting back to them was the goal. She needed to act sweet and happy regardless of how anyone treated her. These people didn't matter, but getting back home did. What if she could be back that day? Her heart sped up.

She thought about Alex running around the bonus room, singing to his favorite songs. He loved creating his own "music videos," and she was usually the one who held his phone to record it. What she wouldn't give to do that again. She had complained countless times about it before, but now she'd gladly record him for hours.

Despite the level of nastiness of the food, she felt better. She'd had a decent night's sleep and now a meal. Macy was ready to get home. She looked around, not sure what to do. The room had emptied somewhat, leaving only a few more kids.

One of them got up and put his tray on a counter and left the room. Macy did the same and followed the sounds of conversation. She found herself in a large room full of kids. Some were watching TV, others were playing games or writing, and another girl sat by a window reading.

Macy walked in, nerves on edge. No one seemed to notice her. She sat down on a couch and watched everyone. Her eyes were drawn to the movie. It was a PG one she had seen when she was a kid, but it had been so long since she had watched TV, she wanted to watch anyway. She didn't have the best angle, but she didn't want to join the others. If Heather had freaked out on them, who knew how they would react to her?

When the movie ended, the nurse who had given Macy her food turned the TV off. The other kids watching groaned and complained before dispersing around the room.

The nurse came over to Macy. "How are you doing? I haven't heard a single complaint about you. That's really good news."

"Like I told the other nurse, I'm ready to go home. I'll do whatever it takes to get there."

"Given your history, it's going to take some time, but if you keep this up, you'll find yourself on the outside soon. Despite what you believe, we're all on your side. We want to see you go back home and to school where you belong."

Macy nodded. She felt bad for Heather. No one would listen to her about her mom—thanks to Chester—and it hadn't gone well. She was desperate for someone to believe her. Macy could understand that. She'd been desperate to get out of the community, and look what had happened. Tears stung her eyes. She was going to have to live with that guilt the rest of her life.

"Tears?" asked the nurse. "You must be telling the truth. I'm glad to see you letting your guard down, Heather. Do you think you're ready to talk with the doctor again? This time without throwing things around his office."

"Yeah." Her voice cracked. She suddenly felt overwhelmed. The tears spilled onto her face.

The nurse sat next to her. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"It's all my fault."

"What is?"

"Everything." She pulled her feet onto the couch and then rested her face on her knees. She cried, not caring how loud she was or who was looking. She continued to cry until she had nothing left. When she looked up, the nurse still watched her. She handed Macy a tissue and then asked, "Do you feel better?"

She didn't, but Macy nodded, not finding any words. She just wanted to go back home.

"I think the doctor would clear his schedule if you're ready to talk with him."

Macy wiped her face. "I am. Can we stop off at my room first?"

"What for?"

"Please."

"Sure. Let's go." She led Macy back to Heather's room. Macy looked around for Heather and found her hiding near the door again. She motioned for Heather to come out.

Heather looked at her like she was crazy. Macy motioned some more until Heather came out and stood next to her.

The nurse looked back and forth between Heather and Macy, wide eyed. "What…? How did…? What's going on?"

Macy looked her in the eyes. "The two of us, we want to speak to the doctor. We need to be heard."

Results

Chad kicked off his wet shoes and closed the door behind him. His clothes clung to him and he needed to get those off as well. Even though he was inside, rain water ran down from his hair into his face. He wiped it away.

"Is anyone home?"

The house was unusually quiet. Had Alex gone to Zoey's appointment already?

"Alex, are you here?"

Silence. He shivered as water slid down his back. He would have to dry out the inside of his car as well, but first he needed to get a shower. He felt empty inside after having sobbed and poured his heart out to Lydia.

He had been afraid she was going to take his outpouring of grief the wrong way, but she kept her word and acted like a friend. She had listened and consoled, not giving him a judging word or look once. His heart ached. Why wouldn't Alyssa treat him like that? Who was he kidding? He knew the answer to that. She was stuck in her own heartache.

Neither one of them was able to give what the other needed. Maybe this time apart
was
what they needed. Hopefully Sharon, or whoever she was staying with, was able to give her the same kind of friendship that Lydia had given him.

"Is anyone home? Final chance to speak up before I strip."

No one responded, so Chad pulled his shirt off, though it clung to him, fighting to stay on. He threw it on the tiled floor and then attempted to pull his pants off too. The drenched jeans fought even more than the shirt had. He had to sit on the stairs and play tug-of-war with them to finally get them off.

He grabbed the shirt and then threw the clothes in the laundry room on the way to his bedroom. He took a shower and put on dry clothes, and then he noticed his cell phone sitting on the bed. The light was blinking, so he picked it up to see what he had missed. Maybe it was Alyssa wanting to talk. His heart tightened at the hope of working things out with her.

Chad scrolled to the notifications and saw that he did have a missed call, but it wasn't from his wife. It was from Detective Fleshman. His heart exploded into a fit of beats. He couldn't explain it, but he could feel deep down that whatever Fleshman had to say was going to be a game changer.

There were no messages, so he called the detective back.

"Chad?"

"What's going on? I left my phone at home, so I missed your call."

"There's been a break in the case. Are you sitting down?"

The room shrunk around him. He sat on the bed, preparing for the worst. "I am now."

"We finally got the results."

Chad held his breath. "And?"

"It's not her. The DNA proves that the body isn't your daughter. The girl we found had connections to a cult commune we've been trying to find."

Chad fell back on the bed, having only heard that the body wasn't Macy. "I knew it wasn't her." Tears of gratitude filled his eyes. "What now?"

"Prepare for another media frenzy."

"Of course. But what about the case? What about Macy? We need to find her. Everything has been focused on that body for too long. She's out there somewhere—and she's alive. We have to find her."

"It's time to go through all of the clues with a fine tooth comb. We need to re-investigate clues that didn't get enough attention before. Word needs to get out again for people to keep an eye out for her. I've got someone working on doctoring her photos again to show what she would look like with different haircuts and colors."

"Thank you." Chad couldn't find the words to express his gratitude. His chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe.

Fleshman continued talking, now about the cult again, but Chad couldn't focus. Something about the mountains.

Chad interrupted him mid-sentence. "Can I call you back?"

"Of course. You've got my number."

"Thanks." Chad ended the call and pushed his phone away. He gave into another fit of sobs. He shook, cried, wailed, and even yelled. When he calmed down, he started to drift off to sleep when he heard something in the hall. "Is someone there?" He allowed himself the hope that it was actually Macy, not that she would be able to get in with the new locks and security codes.

"It's me." Alyssa appeared in the doorway.

Chad sat up, rubbing dried tears. His eyes felt puffy.

"Are you all right?" She looked concerned.

"Yeah. I just got off the phone with Fleshman."

She nodded. "I talked with him a little while ago."

"Is that why you're here?"

Alyssa nodded. She sat down next to him, looking deep in thought.

"Are you coming back home?" he asked.

Alyssa looked into his eyes and her face softened. "It kills me to see you so upset. Look at you." She ran the backs of her fingers along his face. "You're a mess."

"Our baby is alive. We have the proof now."

She stared at him, not saying anything.

"Don't you believe it now?"

Her fingers went down and traced his back. "We know that one girl isn't her."

"Macy's alive. She's coming back to us. Why can't you believe that?"

Tears shone in her eyes. "It's been so long, Chad. You know that. We've suffered through this for what feels like an eternity. April is almost here. Where would she be?"

"I don't know that I want to know, but one day she's going to tell us herself."

She rubbed his arm, staring into his eyes.

He cupped her chin in his palm. "Please come back home, Lyss. I can't lose you, too."

Alyssa's lips shook and tears spilled onto her cheeks. She nodded. "We'll see how it goes. You know, agreeing to disagree. If you're right, and I really wish you were, we'll see what happens with the new media campaign. Maybe something will come up proving me wrong. I've never hoped to be wrong more in my life."

"You still don't believe she's coming home." It wasn't a question—and it ripped his heart into pieces.

"I want to, but I can't lie."

They continued staring into each other's eyes. There was so much he wanted to say, but he was afraid of sending her running again. "I've missed you. Please stay home. I need you."

Something in her face changed. Her entire face twisted, and she leaned into his chest and sobbed. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She cried for a while and soon Chad found himself back in tears. He had never cried so much in his life, but it felt good.

He wasn't sure how much time passed; it seemed to stop completely except that the sky cleared and the room lit up.

Alyssa sat back. "I have something to confess."

Chad's heart skipped a beat. "What?"

She looked pained. "I…how do I say this?"

"Just tell me."

"I got the impression you think I've been staying with Sharon, but I haven't."

He couldn't speak. What did she mean? Where was she going with this? Chad knew if she was about to say she had been staying with some guy—who he would kill—he really had no room to judge. He couldn't blame her, not after his relationship with Lydia. But the other man, sure, he could murder him. There wasn't a jury around that would blame him.

Alyssa took a deep breath. "I've been staying with a guy named Rusty."

"Who the hell is Rusty?"

Her eyes widened, begging him to hear her out. "I've been staying in his guest room—alone. He lost his family, his entire family. That's how we started talking in the first place. But nothing happened. I swear."

"What do you mean nothing happened? You've been staying with some guy? Some random stranger? You can't tell me nothing happened." He knew he was being a hypocrite, but he didn't care. Anger burned within him at the thought of her being with another man.

She explained going to the bar and how he had told the waitress to stop bringing drinks and then refused to let her drive home.

"He could have towed you here. You realize that, don't you?"

"I know." She paused. "He did, the first time."

"What first time?"

"It was shortly after Macy disappeared. I couldn't take it and one night, I snuck out and ended up at the bar. I could barely speak, and he got me back home safely."

"When was that? I don't remember you going anywhere."

She frowned. "You slept through the whole thing."

Chad shook his head, the weight of what he had done with Lydia sinking in. If he felt this horrible just hearing about Alyssa staying at the house of some guy, how much worse would she feel knowing he'd had a relationship with Lydia before Macy disappeared?

"I swear, Chad, nothing happened. If you met him, you'd know right away that he's not over the loss of his family. Their pictures and their stuff is all over the house. It's like they just stepped out to go shopping or something."

"Why go to his house?"