Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“I-I...” I scrub a hand over my face, groaning into my palm. “I don’t know.”
I hope she’s okay. Fuck that—any other outcome is unacceptable. She has to be, or I will absolutely lose my mind. If someone hurt her, I will— I shake my head, snapping myself out of the dark line of thinking.
My dad’s favorite nugget of wisdom pops into my head. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. I return to my safe grabbing another mag, as yet another piece of his fatherly wisdom, passed down mostly through stories of him, makes itself know. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
“Okay, well...” she nods before patting my cheek. “I know whatever’s going on, you’ll bring her home.”
“I really hope you’re right.”
“I know I am.” She sounds so sure of me, in the way only a mother can. “Now, go get our girl.”
After dropping a quick kiss to both her and James’s foreheads, I shove my feet into my boots and sprint out the door to my truck.
A text comes through the second I crank the engine.
Silas: First location’s a bust. Side of the highway, phone’s busted.
Me: I’m heading out now. Will update ASAP.
Silas: Let me know if you need backup.
I toggle out of our thread and redial the office, barely tamping down my frustration when the stupid automated menu starts. “Thank you for calling Lake Fortune Obstetrics and Gynecology. Please listen carefully to the menu options, as they have recently changed.”
“Fucking hell.” I check her location again, none of the blips have moved. I home in on her necklace, and my heart lodges itself into my throat, a sense of helplessness washing over me. She’s damn near forty miles away, as the crow flies. And to make matters worse, the location completely unfamiliar.
“To speak to the front desk, press two.”
I jam my finger against my screen, my stomach churning as I wait for a real person who can get Cara on the phone. But the universe has apparently decided to shit all over me, because all I get is hold music.
“Motherfucker.” I punch the wheel as my frustration gets the better of me. I feel as though I’ve aged fifteen years in the last five minutes.
“Lake Fortune Obstetrics and Gynecol—”
“This is Ellis Wilder calling for Cara,” I snap, cutting whoever’s on the other end of the phone off.
“Sir,” she starts, “There’s no need—”
I cut her off again, softening my tone this time. “It’s about Scarlet.”
She releases a shaky exhale. “I’ll get her right now.”
“Thanks,” I say, but she’s already placed me back on hold.
Minutes that feel like hours pass before the awful jazz is replaced by Cara’s worried voice. “Did you find her?”
“Not yet.” Admitting it feels like defeat. Like I’ve failed her in a situation where failure’s unacceptable. “I need you to walk me through everything you can remember. No detail’s too small.”
“Okay,” Cara whispers, her voice carrying the same worry swirling inside of me like a hurricane. “I-I can do that.”
I listen intently as she begins recounting their day, committing every word to memory.
“I saw her this morning in the break room. We chatted for a minute, and she showed me a picture of James you sent this morning. I didn’t really see her after that. I, um, I poked my head into the break room during her lunch break, but she wasn’t there.”
“Her car is still there?” I ask, even though I know the answer.
“It is. She went to lunch with...” she hesitates.
“With who, Cara? I need to know everything.”
“Dr. Snider said the cameras showed her talking to Clint in the hall before leaving with him.”
“And what about Clint?” I ask, pressing the accelerator down as I merge onto the interstate, wishing like hell this was just a bad dream. “Did he come back to work?”
“No.” Her single-word response lands like an anvil on my chest, making it damn near impossible to breathe.
“Has anyone tried calling Clint?” Unease over his involvement flickers to life inside of me. Is his presence a coincidence or something more?
“Yes, both of them. A few times.”
I deflate at her reply. What if they were in a wreck? “Thanks, Cara. If you think of anything else or hear from either of them, call me.”
“I will.” The line goes dead. and I give my full focus to the stretch of interstate before me.
The bitter taste of dread coats the inside of my mouth as I eat up the miles separating us.
It only intensifies as an insidious thought creeps to the forefront of my mind. What if Clint isn’t missing? What if he took her?
“Fuck, no,” I mutter the words aloud, tightening my grip on the steering wheel. “Then again... his interest in her was definitely more than friendly.”
God, I’ve devolved to arguing with myself—out loud. But now that the idea’s taken root, I can’t shake it. He felt like bad news from the moment I first met him. Reading people is something I’m damn good at. In fact, the only person I’ve ever been wrong about was Scarlet.