Page 52 of Still Afraid

Was this terror how Chloe had felt when she thought she’d lost him? Or had she held to hope better than he was doing right now?

The closer he got to Chloe’s house, the more wind-whipped the trees appeared. Leaves littered the ground. As he turned into her neighborhood, twigs and branches made navigating the road more challenging, but he wasn’t prepared for what he would see when he turned down her street.

Complete and utter devastation.

It looked like the contents of people’s lives and the houses themselves had been put in a blender and set on puree.

Josh couldn’t even drive down the street. He got out and snapped on Poirot’s leash. “Be careful where you step, boy. Let’s see what we can find.”

First responders showed up as Josh wandered into the wake of the tornado.

A cop yelled at him to stop.

“My fiancée …” He couldn’t bring himself to say any more.

“I understand, but …”

“I’m trained in search and rescue, and so is Poirot here.”

The cop nodded. “Be careful.”

“Of course.”

Josh and Poirot worked their way toward Chloe’s house, but as he turned the corner, he froze and tugged Poirot to a stop.

The house was gone. As were the two houses on either side of Chloe’s. Not just damaged, but flattened. Ripped off their foundations and scattered every which direction.

Where was Chloe? Had she been here when the tornado hit? Had she still been driving? If she had made it somewhere safe, why hadn’t she called or answered her phone when he did?

Maybe the cell towers were down, preventing calls from getting through.

His phone rang.

That wasn’t it. Hope sprang. Chloe?

He pulled the phone from his pocket. It wasn’t Chloe. He answered the call from her dad.

“Josh, where are you?”

Drawing in a breath, hoping strength would come with it, he replied, “On Chloe’s street.”

“Gabe and I are here too.”

Josh turned and Gabe and Troy came into view. They hung up their phones. As Gabe and Troy walked over to join Josh, Poirot yanked on his leash.

“Hold on, boy.”

The dog barked at him.

“So much attitude. I want to look for her too.”

Gabe came up beside Josh. “I hope she wasn’t here.”

Josh nodded. “Let’s look to be sure.”

Gabe grabbed Josh’s arm. “Did you check her location on that app?”

Glancing down at his phone, he shook his head. “I guess I should.” He opened the app and checked.