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I glanced over my shoulder into the stormy darkness. “There was at least one tree down. I had to go around.”
He was already shoving his arms into his coat. “Let’s split up. You go east and I’ll go west. Follow the likely routes back to her house and call me if you see any sign of her.”
“Done.”
I didn’t have his number, so I got it and texted him so he’d have mine. I left while he called to Alyssa that he had to run out for a bit.
Dread knotted in the pit of my stomach as I headed out. The downed tree I’d seen had been sprawled across the road but it didn’t look like it had hit anyone. The only cars I’d seen were the cop car and the guys clearing it. And there weren’t any places for her to run off the road—not there, at least.
That tree might have been down already when she came through, so she’d have detoured around it. There were a couple of options, including the way I’d come. I hadn’t seen her car on the way over, although if she’d gone into a ditch or something, I could have missed it. It was hard to see anything with the heavy rain.
I decided to take a different turn, winding around another road that led roughly in the direction of her house. She might have gone that way.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins. I drove slowly, peering out through the storm, hoping I didn’t miss anything. Had she rolled down a hillside? Or stopped to help someone?
Where was she?
I came around a corner and my heart felt like it jumped right into my throat.
Marigold’s car was stopped in the road with another downed tree in front of it. I slammed on the brakes, flew out of my truck, and ran to the driver’s side.
“Marigold?”
It was empty. And her car was still running.
I opened the door, as if she’d somehow appear. Her purse was on the passenger’s seat, her phone on the center console.
“Marigold!” I called.
No reply.
“Fuck.” I fumbled for my phone and started looking around. Why was her car sitting there? Where the hell was she? I did a circle around her car and used my phone as a flashlight, desperate to find some sign of her. But I couldn’t see a damn thing. The tree was partially blocking the road, but she hadn’t hit it.
Finally, I stopped and called her dad.
“Find her?” he answered.
“Just her car. There’s a downed tree but it doesn’t look like it hit her. But she’s not here.”
“Where are you?”
I told him the street.
“Call the police. I’ll be right there.”
“Done.”
I ended the call and went straight for Garrett’s number.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Marigold is missing.”
“What?”
“Just listen. She left her parents’ house but didn’t make it home. I found her car on Stonybrook Lane. There’s a tree in the road, but it didn’t hit her. She’s not here, Garrett. Her car is just sitting here, empty. She left her purse and everything.”
“What’s the cross street?”
