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“Fuck, Luca. It’s okay. I’m sure Nicky is fine.” I didn’t know if I entirely believed the statement, but I wasn’t going to say otherwise as I wrapped my arms around him. I’d be a fucking wreck if it was one of my sisters that was MIA after a disaster. I couldn’t do anything for Nicky, so I poured all of my focus onto Luca. I wasn’t going to let him go through this alone.
We congregated at my parents’ place. Luna came too in her own vehicle. Everyone had been taking turns calling and texting Nicky, but she hadn’t answered. I messaged Jasper a few times, but there was no response from him either. The news was saying that the library fire was arson. The entire facility was ravaged, completely unusable by the time they got the fire under control. No deaths had been reported, only smoke inhalation for a few of the staff who were nearest to the spots the fire had started.
Luna shoved a cup of chamomile tea into my hands after making some for both my parents, but I just stared into the steam. None of the hospitals had called, which meant either she was dead and hadn’t been recovered yet, or she had skipped work without telling anyone. I desperately hoped for the second option, even though it felt very unlike her to have done so. My sister loved rules. If ever there was a time to wish a personality one-eighty on someone, it was now. At this point I was even hopeful that she’d run away with the circus just to have her not be missing in that fire.
I watched Luna flit around, taking care of my family, hauling out a batch of cookies I’d made and setting them on a plate for people to nibble. I didn’t bother picking one up with how hard my stomach was turning.
A knit blanket dropped over my shoulders and Luna plunked onto the couch next to me. “We’ll keep an ear out.”
I nodded absently.
The hours passed in a blur. We’d heard nothing by morning. Everyone had fallen asleep in the living room, waiting to hear, and we were all in rough shape when we woke. I put my ringer on as loud as it could go and went about my tasks for the neighborhood while Luna and Allie went to work, Sidney staying behind to help our parents. The repetitive nature of a lot of my tasks helped, even though there wasn’t much to keep my mind from whirring. We had watched the news together that morning, Luna throwing together scrambled eggs and toast for everyone. I hadn’t focused on how much it meant to have her there at the time, but now that she was gone to work, I wished she were back with me.
Afternoon came with still no word, and I went to work, floating through in a daze.
I had to believe Nicky was okay. If she would answer the phone, I could let this weight drop off my shoulders.
Lux walked in while I was checking my phone for the thousandth time for news. “Luca, phone.”
I shoved it into my pocket. “Sorry. I’m—I’m waiting to hear from family.”
My voice shook and Lux took me aside. “Luca, what’s wrong?”
“My sister is missing.” I spilled out everything and Lux pulled me into a hug.
“Do you want to go home? Be with your family while you wait for news?”
“I should work. Keep busy.”
Lux nodded. “Okay, but you’re free to go at any point.”
“Hi, I’d like to sign up for a membership.” The familiar voice was a balm to my panic, and I stood dumbfounded at Luna standing there in a pink workout ensemble, her curls tamed in a high ponytail.
“Of cour—” Lux began, before I darted in.
“I’ll do it.”
Lux glanced between us, and, when Luna didn’t seem bothered by me practically throwing myself at her, relented. “Luca will get you all set up. Let me know if you have any questions he can’t answer.”
“Will do.” Luna beamed at Lux, and my boss left us in peace.
“What’re you doing here?” I whispered, leading her to the desk.
“I thought you could use some company, and I figured any boss would be more amenable to me hanging around as a paying customer than you chilling on speakerphone with me while you waited for news.”
My heart squeezed. Luna had not only thought of that, but was willing to pay and waste her rare free time being here for me.
“I have an update for you, though.”
“Yeah?” Hope blossomed in my chest.
“I went a little Internet stalker on Nicky’s coworker that I met at the club a little while ago. I managed to get ahold of her and she said Nicky wasn’t at work the night of the fire, or the night before, but she hasn’t heard anything from her either.”
Worry for one thing was replaced by another at her words. Now we could be pretty certain that Nicky hadn’t been turned into a crisp, but she was still missing.
“I should call Mom.”
“I already told Allie. I talked to Miranda on the drive over here and called Allie right after I was done so she could spread the news. I told her I was going to swing by your gym to talk to your boss anyway and that I would let you know.”
