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“Wil?” she asked. “He has a son, too?”
I nodded. I lowered my bags to the floor. “If Jack came home with you last night,” I said, unsure how to be delicate, but tried to use a pleasant voice. At least she didn’t appear to be a crazy hooker. Just one of the nice ones. “I mean, he may have called Wil ahead of time to scatter. So he’s probably downstairs somewhere.”
She planted her palms on her hips. “Well, that’s just rude. He shouldn’t kick his own kids out.”
“You get used to it,” I said. I scanned the room, spotting Jack in the bed. His bare ass hung out from the blankets, and he snored like a chainsaw.
A sense of something being wrong thundered through my head. My eyes settled on a faux Coach handbag I didn’t recognize sitting on top of the bed Wil and I had shared. The bed was made up but the top was ruffled as if she’d been sitting on it.
“Still,” she said. She shrugged and pointed to the bathroom. “Let me get dressed.”
I nodded, feeling the awkwardness between us. Neither of us expected the other, and neither of us had a reason to be upset the other was there. She didn’t know she was invading anyone else’s space. I wasn’t going to throw her out naked.
I marched forward, hovering over Jack. I stared down at him, at his temporarily peaceful face. I wanted to smack his head for being an idiot and making Wil hang out by himself while I was gone and so far into the afternoon.
“Jack,” I called to him.
“Mergh,” he replied.
I stepped closer, weary. He could roll over and pop me a good one. “Jack!”
“What?” he called, not opening his eyes.
“Where’s Wil?”
He waved his hand in the air. “I don’t know. Go away.”
“Where’s Wil?” I asked louder.
“How the hell should I know? He ran off with Kayli again.”
I rolled my eyes. His disoriented state wasn’t helping. I turned, looking over the mess. There were beer cans on the table, a couple on the floor. Again, I had a strange sensation that something was off.
The woman emerged from the bathroom in a miniskirt and a low hanging top. Her hair brushed back, and she wore a thick layer of lipstick. She smiled pleasantly. “Want to look for your brother? I’d like to meet him.”
“Yeah,” I said. I headed for the door. “I’ll be back. Could you wait a second and open the door?”
I dashed downstairs to the main lobby and stood there for a moment, contemplating where Wil could be. I checked the workout room, the laundry room, and then searched the office with the computer. All were empty.
I circled back to the front desk. No one was there, so I knocked my hand against the bell, trying to get someone’s attention.
“Hang on. I’ll be right there,” Cody’s voice trailed to me from somewhere down the hallway.
I side stepped until I faced the office down the corridor. “Cody!”
“Is that you Kayli?” he emerged from the office, standing just outside the door, his arm half stuffed in a sports jacket but he stopped when he saw me. “Just you?”
“Yeah. Have you seen Wil?”
He shook his head and shrugged off the jacket again. “Hey, I was going to tell you. One of the business suites opened up. For a few hundred dollars more, we could put you guys in there. It’ll give you more room for the three of you.”
I shook my head. “Not now,” I said, not wanting the sales pitch. “I just need to find Wil.”
“Haven’t seen him in a few days,” he said. “Not since I last saw you.”
That struck me. “Did you tell him about the rent being paid?”
“I left a note under the door.”
My body stiffened. Realization cut through me like a cold knife against my bones. I started off back toward the lobby.
“Kayli?” he called.
I didn’t stop. I marched through the glass doors and let it slam back behind me. I jogged toward the stairs. I thought I heard a cat call but I didn’t stop even to flip a middle finger. My mind whirled, in a panic.
I came back to 221B and had to stop, knocking again, this time short and with fury.
The woman answered again, blinking at me. “Find him?”
“No,” I said, unable to hide the note of fear in my voice. I nudged her aside and then caught the two pieces of paper behind the door again. I stopped, picking them up. One was from Cody, a note to Wil, just like he’d said. It was still folded, like no one had read it.
The other was mine. My eyes looked over the words I had written. There was a small note at the bottom in another handwriting. For a moment, my heart raced, thinking it was Wil leaving a note back for me.
She’s with her boyfriend. She’s fine. - R
I rolled my eyes. Raven. I didn’t have time to comprehend his reasoning now.
I looked up, and then scanned the room again, putting the pieces together. Did Wil miss the notes? Was he out looking for me?
I scanned the room, looking for any sign of him. Some of his textbooks sat on the floor in a neat stack beside the bed. A couple of pieces of clothing were by the entertainment unit, old socks and a pair of shorts. I checked the drawer where he normally kept his clean clothes and other items.
It was empty.
I che
cked the others, ripping them open. In a mad search, I sought out any sign of him. He had to have come back. He had to.
I spun.
“Is there a phone number?” the woman asked, hovering back as if sensing my panic. “What can I do?”
“I don’t know,” I said. Did he see I wasn’t here and then go to stay with a friend? I had no way to reach him if he did.
And then my eyes dipped toward the kitchen. A doughnut sat on the counter, on a napkin. It was the same place I’d seen it last. It was the last time I saw him.
And then I knew. My heart stopped. My breathing slowed to a crawl, even though I desperately needed air right then. I knew, and I don’t know how I knew, but I was sure. If he had come home that night, the first night I was gone, he would have gotten there before I normally would have returned from work. He would have eaten that doughnut. He would have known I left it for him.
No. I felt it. It was why Axel and Kevin never saw him. It was why I felt uncomfortable when they said the neighbors claimed they’d seen him around but weren’t sure where he was exactly. They didn’t know. They had no clue.
Wil was missing.
And I was the last one to see him.
~A~
Marc stood in the middle of his apartment, looking down at the coffee table. His arms crossed over his chest. His friends were sitting on the couch, their eyes glued to Axel.
Despite standing in his own apartment, Marc was a million miles away. His fingers traced over his phone. The ringer was on at the loudest setting and it was on vibrate. He had Corey switch the number on the phone Kayli had to a straight up emergency signal. There was no way he’d miss a call from her. It had made him all too nervous to be sending her back to Jack. He wanted to follow her, but Axel, once he learned she’d left, had told him to stay. She’d be back. If he chased after her every time, she’d stay away longer.
Marc knew that. He’d been the same way with Axel. It was just hard for him to accept this. Once he had changed his mind for good, and settled into just staying with his new friends, everything had changed. The weight on his shoulders disappeared. He’d found a second family with his Academy team.
