“No, I’m in love.” Her eyes harden. “I had everything, but you were always in my way.”
“Travis loves me. If he wanted you, Janice, he would have stayed with you. How much is it going to take for you to get that through your thick skull?”
She lunges forward and strikes me across the cheek. Pain blossoms, hot and wet, as I taste blood. The edge of consciousness flickers.
“The only mistake,” she whispers, “is that I didn’t end you sooner.”
Travis
She’s never late.
Violet occasionally works longer, but not this long.
She always comes home.
After she didn’t answer any of my calls, I came to the office to track her down. When I arrive, nobody is there. I call Janice, no answer, so I call Haylee.
“Hi Travis,” she answers, her voice light.
“Sorry to bother you, Haylee. But I’m looking for Violet. She hasn’t come home.”
“She was at the office when I left. She said she had a lot of work to do. Have you called Janice?”
“Yeah, no answer. I’ll try again.”
I hang up and dial Janice once more, and this time, she answers. “Travis, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, but I can’t find Violet. Was she at the office when you left?”
“She was. She said she was working late. I told her to lock up, but I haven’t seen her.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, more to myself than her.
“Have you called her?”
I want to snap, of course I have, but I don’t. “Yeah, no answer. Not with her parents. Not with Reagan. I don’t know where she is.”
“Oh,” her voice sounds concerned. “Do you want me to come and help you look?”
That will go down well.
Not.
“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll keep you updated.”
I go up to Violet’s office and see that it is all locked up. She definitely isn’t here. I head back to my desk to get my work phone, because I left it here earlier. I pick it up and am about to put it in my pocket when I notice a message from Violet on the screen. She never messages this phone. Frowning, I open it and see she is responding to a message sent from my phone acouple of hours ago telling her I have a surprise and to meet me downstairs. I never sent that message.
Everything inside me goes still.
Someone sent that to her, to lure her out.
I get the hell out of the building, throw myself into my car, and speed toward the Chief’s house. When I arrive, the Chief and Bill stand on the lawn, hands on hips. They’re deep in conversation about something, but when Chief notices my face, his immediately becomes concerned.
“What is it?” he asks, the second my feet hit the grass.
“I can’t find Violet.”
The air around us thickens.
