Chapter 42

I nodded. I was lucky. Thankfully, I knew it. “And Bing’s all alone.”

“But why?” she said. “Carl’s family is in jail. His mom is dead. His dad has been missing for years, last I heard. Why is Bing all alone then? He could be here in half a day. Could be anywhere, so why there? All I’m saying is, if he’s alone, maybe you should leave him that way.”

I’d already wondered about what she was saying. I figured he was simply antisocial. Plus, Big Sur might’ve been remote, but it was beautiful nonetheless. In other words, there were worse places to live. There was Syria. There was Alabama. People paid good money to stay in Big Sur. That much I knew firsthand. Plus, like she said, it was his family’s land. His dad had owned the house. The address was on the mortgage paperwork.

My heart suddenly stopped. “Carl was never reported dead, though, right? As far as you know, he’s simply missing.” She nodded. “But Bing was simply missing, too.”