Chapter 36

"And then he just sped off," Joyce finished.

"Are you sure it's a he?" Hopper asked while a subordinate took notes.

"Not absolutely certain, but the driver looked like a thin man. It was dark."

Hopper sighed. "Dark-colored van and a man isn't much to go on, Joyce."

"Vill the plate help?" Alexei asked. He handed Hopper a scrap of paper he'd copied it on.

Hopper eyed him. "How sure are you on this?"

"Totally sure."

"All right." Hopper folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. "See Joyce, it helps if you get more than three numbers."

Joyce didn't take the bait, for once. She looked over at Alexei. He nodded. "There's something else."

They brought Hopper in and showed him Lily's drawing. "She made it dis afternoon," Alexei said. "She said dat's Mr. Steve."

"So what are you saying?" Hopper asked.

"I don't know." Alexei shook his head. "Dis isn't for de report, but – ve dought you should know."

"How old was El when she found out she was different?" Joyce asked.

Hopper shook his head. "I don't know. And before you ask, we're not talking at the moment."

Joyce rolled her eyes. "She's an adult, Hop, and don't you think this is a little more important-"

"We don't know what this is, Joyce," Hopper snapped. "For all we know, Conner's at a babysitter, and some drunk hit Harrington by accident."

"Ven it's us, it's never dat simple," Alexei said quietly. "Ve all know dat."

Hopper gave him a dark look, then sighed. "Okay. We know the vehicle we're looking for. Once it's light, if Conner hasn't turned up, we'll start a search. Keep an eye out, in case he ran off after the crash. And let me know if there's anything more with the kid."

After Hopper left, Joyce searched through the drawers. "How do we not have any Camels?" she demanded.

"Ve promised Lily ve'd quit after her teacher said cigarettes kill you," Alexei said wearily, and put his arms around her.

"We should go," Joyce said.

"Vere vould ve go, Joyce?"

"I don't know. Anywhere. You're smart, you'll find a job."

Alexei hesitated. "If our daughter is different, ve can't run from dat. You know. I know."

"It's starting again," Joyce said, and she buried her face in his shirt. He didn't have an answer, so he just held her closer. She took a deep breath and pulled herself together. "We need to check on Lily."

Their daughter was sleeping, but not peacefully. She was tossing and turning in her little bed with the pink bedspread, whimpering at something. Alexei recognized this state very well, in Joyce and in himself, and his heart broke. Lily was too young for this. He and Joyce shared a glance as they tried to decide whether to wake her, but she made the decision for them when she bolted awake with a cry. He and Joyce reacted as one, wrapping her up in their arms and assuring her it was a nightmare, and she was safe. Which all logic said she was, but logic had gone out the window that night, if not before.

Lily refused to go back to sleep unless her parents stayed with her. Normally, they wouldn't have indulged her, but Alexei was sure he wasn't going to sleep that night anyway, and Joyce would have been up at least every hour to make sure their daughter was still safe in her bed. Joyce curled up next to her, and he grabbed whatever stuffed animals and other soft items were close at hand to build himself a nest on the floor.

"It is okay," he said. Lily just whimpered in response.

00000000

The news the next morning carried an appeal from Chief Hopper for information about the driver of the van, and a reward for the safe return of Conner Harrington. The van had been found near the lab. Ricci didn't demand a warrant before he let the Hawkins police search the place, and gave the employees the day off if they wanted to help look for Conner. That was smart, Alexei thought. No one trusted the scientists – why would they, after the girl Barb's death? – and Hopper already knew approximately what they were doing anyway.

Alexei and Darren Jackson joined the search party going through the woods. After they'd completed their patch with no sign of the boy, Darren looked over at Alexei like he was trying to decide something. "We're friends, right?" Alexei nodded. "Can you keep a secret?"

LaTisha had been acting strangely lately, insisting she knew when people were lying, or what they were really thinking. Seemed like a phase they could ignore, Darren said, until she started screaming about a young man who'd passed her on the sidewalk. The man hadn't done anything in particular, but she insisted he was a bad man. Gloria had dragged her home, embarrassed out of her mind, and they'd attributed it to too many stranger danger lessons. Now, they weren't so sure.

Alexei took a breath. "Lily told us about a bad man too," he said, and explained the drawing. "Ve need to tell Hopper about dis," he finished.

"The chief's not going to take a five-year-old's meltdown seriously."

"You might be surprised."

They found Hopper in the lab's parking lot, getting ready to leave. "Anything?" he asked.

"Not exactly vat ve vere looking for," Alexei said, and pushed Darren to explain.

"You have any description of this bad man?" Hopper asked.

Darren looked surprised. "You'd have to ask Gloria."

"I'll stop by around 6," Hopper said. "I need to run some records first."

Darren looked at Alexei after Hopper drove off. "What is really going on here?" he asked.

Alexei sighed. "I dink ve should get a beer. Dis is going to take a vile."