Page 123 of His to Keep
She flicks her hand at me in a dismissive wave. “Just a formality, dear.”
My phone buzzes again. The same number. I send it to voicemail.
“Who’s that?”Mom asks, opening and closing all of the cabinets like she doesn’t already know exactly where everything is.
“Spam call, probably.”
It buzzes again with yet another incoming call, but this one’s from the doctor’s office where Scarlet works. Maybe her phone died?
“Hello.”There’sa slight question in my voice, which only amps up when the person to reply is not Scarlet.
“Ellis, it’s Cara. Have you heard from Scarlet?”
I go from confused to concerned in the blink of any eye. “Not for a little while. Why?”
Cara sucks in a deep breath. “We, um, can’t find her.”
“What do you mean you can’t find her?” I clench my jaw so tight, I worry my molars may crack.
“She went to lunch and never came back.”
A quick glance at mywatch,tells me her lunch ended hours ago. “I’ll call you back.”
Iendthe call without waiting for her reply,immediatelypulling up her location. “Why the fuck is it pinging in four places?”I dial her cell, hoping against all odds she answers.But the callrings and rings before goingto voicemail.I try again, butit’sno use.
“Is everything okay, El?” Mom asks, her eyebrows knitted with worry.
“Can you take him?” I ask, nodding to James. “I-I’ve gotta go.”
“Go where?” she asks as I pass James to her so I can call Silas.
He answersonthe first ring. “Thought you were off this week, man.”
“Scarlet’s gone,” I say, not beating around the bush.
“What do you mean gone? Like y’all had a fight and she left, or?—”
“Like she never came back to work after her break and has been missing for hours?—”
“What’s her location?” he asks, suddenly all business.
“There are four. Her car is parked at the office, but they’ve already confirmed she’s not there.”
“How long ago was she due back?”
“A couple of hours at least.”
“Last contact?” His no-nonsense tone combats the panic threatening to overtake my logic.
I swipe over to our chat thread, rattling off the timestamp.
“Got it. Send me thelocations of her phone and shoes,and we can divide and conquer.”
“Ten-four.” I end the call and turn to my mother,who’spacing the room while murmuring to a disgruntled James.
“El?” she asks, her voice watery.
“Need you to watch James, Ma.” I retrieve my gun from the safe, checking the mag and the chamber before placing it back in the holster and securing it to my belt. “I’vegottago.”
