Page 137 of Save the Date
“I can’t believe Cullen Kane was that interested in my personal life.”
Cara’s cell phone was sitting on the coffee table. It buzzed and Bert picked it up and handed it to her. “It’s Marie Trapnell. You want to take it, or should I tell her it’s your day off?”
“Give.”
“Hi, Marie,” Cara said cheerfully.
“Cara?” Marie Trapnell’s voice crackled with agitation. “Have you heard from Brooke?”
“Nooo, we haven’t spoken since Friday. Should I have? Is something wrong?”
“Brooke is gone.”
Cara felt a cold whisper at the base of her neck. “When? Where?”
“We don’t know how long she’s been gone. Holly went to pick her up for the bachelorette party last night at eight, but she wasn’t there. She tried calling and texting, but Brooke never answered.”
“Has Harris talked to her?” Cara’s mind flashed on the pictures from the strip club. “Did they have another fight?”
“No. Not that I know of. I just talked to Harris. He hasn’t seen her since she left for work Friday morning. He and his friends went up to Atlanta Friday, and he didn’t get back till nearly ten last night. He went straight to bed, and he wasn’t really worried about her until just now, when Holly called to ask him why Brooke skipped out on the party.”
“Oh no,” Cara said.
“I’m trying to stay calm, but I’m afraid I’m not doing a very good job of it,” Marie said shakily. “It’s just that Brooke is so emotionally fragile right now. The trial and the wedding, it’s all just too much for her.”
“Have you called her friends? When I talked to her Friday, she mentioned that she was sort of dreading the bachelorette thing. Because she was so tired.”
“All of her friends were with Holly last night. Brooke was the only one missing. And none of them talked to her on Friday or Saturday.”
Cara’s mind was racing with possibilities. “Is her car there?”
“Her car?”
“Brooke’s Volvo. Was it at her house last night?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even think to ask, when Harris called to see if Brooke was with me.”
“You might want to check on that,” Cara said gently.
“I will. I’ll call Harris right now and ask.”
“Marie? You might also ask him if Brooke saw the pictures on his Facebook page.”
“What pictures?”
“Just ask Harris. He’ll know which ones.”
Ten minutes later, Cara’s phone rang. This time it was Harris Strayhorn. No surprise there.
“Marie says you asked whether Brooke saw some Facebook pictures? What are you talking about?”
“I saw the pictures from the strip club yesterday, Harris, before you took them down. I saw all of them. And I wasn’t the only one.”
“Fuuuuck.” His voice sounded distant. “I’m gonna kill Mike Bingham. He swiped my phone and posted them on my page. We were all pretty hammered. I didn’t even know they were on there, until another buddy texted me to warn me to delete them. Which I did as soon as I saw them.”
“Did Brooke see the pictures?”
“Christ, I hope not. Maybe not. She doesn’t look at Facebook on a regular basis.” He groaned. “But if she did see them…”
