Page 83 of Somewhere Only We Know
The world stopped moving.
She knew. She knew and she had run away.
A fear gripped me that made me break out into a cold sweat. She not only knew, but she had bolted. By herself. Distressed.
In the city. By herself and without her disguise. I had a mental image of her being mobbed and the fear grew, tightening in my chest.
I had to find her.
I tucked my phone into my pocket and tried to get out of the club, getting stuck in large groups of people dancing or drinking. The dark sweaty room that had been so hypnotic and full of possibilities minutes earlier turned into a nightmarish maze. Bodies kept pushing and the music was so loud I couldn’t think.
But I had to think. Fast. I was only gone for a short while, so she couldn’t have gone far. I thought about cats—how if you gave them thirty seconds to get away from you, they found some obscure location to hide in, usually very close but near-impossible to find.
Look close.
When I managed to get out of the club, a chill gust of wind hit me and I took a deep breath. My brain flipped through all the possibilities of where she could be, whirring into different directions for each one.
I scanned the crowds in front of me—mostly hipsters and young professionals.
Food was always a possibility. There were small cafés open up and down the hillside streets. I ran and checked each street near the club—but no sign of that sweatshirt.
There was a chance she was walking back to the hotel. God, there were so many places she could be.
I needed help. I pulled out my phone.
“Stop being so obsessed with me,” Charlie said when he picked up.
“Charlie. I can’t find Lucky.” I tried to keep my voice steady but it came out high-pitched and desperate.
“Did you lose her at the club?” he asked, voice loud as he turned down the volume of the music in the background.
“Yeah, she… she saw something and freaked out. When I was in the bathroom. It was only a few minutes ago but she could be anywhere and I don’t know—”
“Where are you?” he asked.
Within minutes, the cab appeared in front of me. I jumped into the front seat.
“Well, you’re a mess,” he said cheerfully.
I dragged my hands down my face. “Thanks. I looked everywhere around the club. I can’t find her.”
I could feel his stare and sighed. “What?”
“How did she get lost?”
A crowd of people ran out in front of us, one of the girls wiggling her fingers at us through the windshield as she passed. Charlie didn’t even notice, he was so fixated on me. I watched the girl strut down the street in a high pair of boots. Like the kind Lucky wore onstage.
“She found out something and… left me. Upset, I think.”
I could barely hear Charlie’s low-muttered curses. “I told you to stop what you were doing, Jack.”
“Are you seriouslylecturingme right now?” I smacked my hand on the dashboard. “She could be lost, or maybe mobbed again. She could behurt!”
“Hurt byyou.”
What in the world! I looked at him in shock. Charlie and I never fought. He never got riled up enough to instigate anything with me.
“You were taking photos of her, weren’t you?” That accusatory tone. “For Trevor?”
