Series: Penny Dee
Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“Hey.” Silas’s voice cuts through my panic. “We’re going to get Larissa, and then I’m going to find Nessa. And I promise you, baby, I’ll deal with whoever did this.”
I nod because I can’t speak or swallow around the cold lump in my throat. I don’t give a fuck about how I look right now. All of my bravado has leaked out of me. But if I had to choose, the only person I would have led to see me at the core like this would be the man beside me, assuring me that everything will be okay.
“Breathe,” he says.
I take a deep breath and let it go slowly. But it does little to ease the fear chewing me up from the inside out, and by the time we reach Nessa’s apartment several minutes later, I’m barely holding it together.
What if the phone dying wasn’t the reason the call with Larissa cut short?
Questions fly around in my head.
I barely wait for Silas to bring the car to a stop and hit the ground running toward the apartment complex. I punch in the security code, and the door from the street unlocks. Racing up the stairs, my heart is pounding, and when I reach the front door, I knock rapidly.
Nothing.
“Larissa, baby, it’s Auntie Leo.”
Still nothing.
My heart stops.
I knock again. “It’s okay, Larissa. You can open the door now.”
I hold my breath.
Come on, baby. Answer the door.
Inside, the deadbolt turns, and a wave of relief rushes through me.
Oh, thank you, God.
The door opens, and the smell of sugary cereal hits me before anything else.
Larissa stands there with a milk mustache and a wide grin.
“Auntie Leo!” She throws herself at me, and I drop to my knees and pull her into my arms.
She’s warm and sweet and smells like milk and Froot Loops. She squirms because I’m squeezing too hard.
“Auntie Leo, you’re squishing me.”
I loosen my grip just enough to pull back and look at her. Her eyes are bright and happy.
She has no idea what is going on.
“Mommy is such a silly billy,” she says as she takes my hand and pulls me inside. “She forgot to close the front door. Anyone could have walked in.”
My eyes sweep the apartment. Warm afternoon light pours in through the windows as I take in the overturned coffee table and the dark stain of spilled coffee on the carpet. But I also see the other things Larissa didn’t notice. Like the split timber in the doorframe from the door being kicked in, and the small smear of blood on the wall near the doorway.
My stomach twists.
“I tried to clean up the coffee for Mommy, so she doesn’t have to when she gets home,” Larissa says, leading me to the coffee stain on the carpet. Beside it is a stained dishcloth. “But I couldn’t get it out. I scrubbed really hard, Auntie Leo.”
“You did a good job, baby.” I force a smile that takes everything I have. “That was really thoughtful of you.”
Silas stands in the doorway. His poker face is in place as his gaze moves over the apartment, absorbing every detail.
“Pack her a bag,” he says. “She’s staying with us until her mom gets back.”
I look at him, and despite the sickening uncertainty of what’s happened to my best friend, I’m hit with a feeling of love so powerful it almost knocks me over.
“Larissa, guess what?” I crouch to her level and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re going to come have a sleepover with me.”
Her eyes go wide. “A sleepover? Really?”
“Really.”
“For how long?”
“For a little while. Until Mommy gets back.”
“Yes!” She bounces on her toes and claps her hands together. “Can I bring my coloring pencils?”
“You can bring whatever you want, sweetheart.”
She takes my hand, and we walk to her bedroom to pack a bag. She chatters the whole way about which stuffed animals are coming to the sleepover and which ones have to stay to guard her bed. And I am so grateful. She clearly doesn’t know what happened here today or that her mom is actually missing. In her sweet head, her mom is simply being forgetful.
While we pack her unicorn backpack with clothes and stuffed toys, Silas remains in the lounge room and makes some calls while he looks around. He’ll be looking for anything that might give him a clue to what happened here this afternoon.
A new wave of fear crashes into me, and I want to cry because I know something terrible has happened to Nessa. But I tell myself to be strong for Larissa. She’s humming again as she stuffs coloring pencils into her backpack, and for her sake, I can’t afford to break. I need to focus on getting Larissa to safety and protecting her as best I can.
Only then will I let myself wrestle with the question that’s eating me alive.