Page 84 of Abandoned

The floor and ceiling seemed to close in on her. She was going to die down here, alone and abandoned. They might find her corpse in a few weeks, but she’d be long gone.

No. Don’t panic. Pray. God?

Will parked at the police station and went in. It was already an hour after his shift was supposed to be done. He’d no doubt missed Zara. He wanted to see her. It would be easier to confront the situation in person than have her ignore his phone calls. But he’d call even if she ignored him. He’d throw pebbles at her bedroom window if he had to. He needed her to understand that he had no intention of abandoning her.

He turned the corner and found Logan sitting in a chair, reading on his phone. “There you are.”

“Yeah, got caught up in a stupid traffic stop that turned into a drug bust. Have you seen Zara?”

“I did but she jetted out of here at the end of shift like she was going to miss an important meeting.”

“She was probably just trying to avoid me.”

“True. Sorry, man. It’s my fault. I didn’t mean to screw things up for the two of you.”

“We’ll work through it.”

“If she’ll let you.”

“I’m praying.” Will rubbed the back of his neck. “Did you wait around for me on purpose?”

“Making sure you’re okay and are going to call her this evening.”

“Of course. Dinner first?” It wasn’t like Zara was going to let him talk yet, so he might as well eat something before groveling. He might have to camp out in front of her window and toss pebbles all night.

“Absolutely.”

“Let me get out of uniform first.” Will turned toward the locker room.

“Cooper. Jackson.” Detective Doug Ramirez ran down the hallway toward them.

Will turned back. “What’s going on?”

“Have you seen Grant?”

Will shook his head, and Logan said, “She left an hour ago.”

Doug said, “I’ve been trying to get ahold of her. But nothing. Do you know where she headed?”

“Why? What’s going on?” Will asked.

“She’s not safe. We were all pretty convinced it was Ernie who attacked her on Saturday night, right? Well, it couldn’t have been him. I’ve got video that’s timestamped, showing him in an altercation at a bowling alley. The owner broke it up, and the police weren’t called, but they tried to finish their fight in lockup this afternoon.”

Doug’s revelation hit Will like a tidal wave. “If it wasn’t Ernie, then who could it have been?”

Doug shrugged. “I haven’t been able to identify another legitimate suspect. Wyatt is in the squad room combing through all of her arrest records since she started at HHPD. No one is off the suspect list at this point.”

Will nodded. Was Zara in danger right now? No peace came with the question. In fact, his gut twisted in on itself. He pulled out his cell phone and tried her number. Nothing. But he hadn’t expected her to answer. “Logan, you try her. She was at least less mad at you.”

Logan tried. Nothing.

Doug asked, “Who might know where she is?”

Logan snorted. “AJ. They’re roommates now.”

Doug’s head crooked to the side. “Really? Don’t suppose you’d call AJ?”

Will said, “I will.” He dialed AJ’s cell.