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I shrugged my shoulders and then shook my head. “No, I haven’t seen him since my last session with Mac on Thursday. Maybe he went out of town for a few days?”
Abby looked worried as she glanced up at Knox. “See? Even she hasn’t seen him and she’s his neighbor!”
Knox scratched the back of his neck and looked like he was struggling to find something appropriate to say. “We’ll blow up his phone until he answers, okay? Abbs, he’s fine. If something was really wrong with him we’d know about it.”
I was feeling sufficiently uncomfortable and felt as though I’d been social enough to hold me over for the next few weeks, minimum. Obviously, I didn’t give her the answer that she wanted and I had nothing else to say that would help, so I said the next best thing. “I’m gonna… go.” I jerked my thumb behind me.
“You scared her.”
“I didn’t mean to scare her,” she said and then turned towards me. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I-”
“She worries too much. Always has. I’m sorry,” Knox shook his head and flashed a megawatt grin. He really was quite handsome. If I hadn’t felt so awkward, I probably would have taken a moment to check him out.
“It’s ok-”
“I don’t need you to apologize for me. This is exactly what your mother was talking about.”
I put up a hand and shook my head, laughing partly because I was uncomfortable and partly becau
se the bickering was actually hilarious. I thought things like that only ever happened in romance novels or movies, but these two seemed like they were made for each other. It was almost scary. “Are you guys married?”
Knox’s face went paler than he already was and his eyes widened just a fraction. Abby on the other hand, laughed and shook her head. “No, but we probably should be with the way we argue. Listen,” she stepped a little closer and reached out, squeezing my hand lightly. “I really am sorry if I scared you. I just… worry. Maybe too much, but still. Do you have siblings?”
I shook my head.
“If you see him could you please ask him to call me? I’d really appreciate it.”
I nodded my head. “Yeah, of course. I’ll let him know as soon as I see him.”
She smiled her thanks and the two of them said goodbye before turning and walking away. I watched as he gripped the back of her neck and leaned down to kiss her temple, whispering something in her ear before she laughed.
All at once I was angry. Angry at Logan for taking advantage of the fact that he had a family who cared about him tremendously. Angry at the fact that I didn’t have my own siblings to look out for me and check in on me when I didn’t respond to a phone call. But mostly I was angry at myself for developing some minor, juvenile crush on someone I barely knew. Okay, maybe he had phenomenal bone structure and maybe he was compassionate, but those two qualities didn’t make up for inconsistent behavior. I could understand Logan not speaking to me because we really didn’t have any kind of personal relationship. But to hit the mute button on his own sister was wrong. Especially considering she cared enough to come up to a random stranger in the supermarket asking for favors.
I finished up my shopping and drove home, still fuming. The sky was a dark gray and I could smell the snow. It was a weird thing to say, but very true. It smelled cold, a little frigid. It was the smell that came with Christmas and the holidays and it was always something that I used to welcome. But ever since Gran had passed away I dreaded when the holidays came around. Christmas was right around the corner and I could feel a certain level of sadness trying to pierce the careful bubble I’d put around myself.
I pulled into my parking spot and got my bags out, balancing them and stumbling towards my house. The water was already getting choppy, a warning of what was to come tomorrow. After I put the groceries away I went to Logan’s, fully planning on banging on the door until he answered it. But when I approached his front door I saw that it was cracked slightly, giving me a slight glimpse into the empty living room.
Something didn’t feel right.
I pushed the door open and looked around, craning my neck painfully without stepping into the living room. There was no sign of Logan in the living room or kitchen and all was quiet aside from the faint noise of a television upstairs.
“Logan?” I called out gently and stepped over the threshold. Mac’s toys were strewn across the living room floor and his leash lay carelessly over the arm of the couch.
Dread settled in my stomach as I automatically assumed the worst. What if Conlon had gotten to him when he was least expecting it? There was no yipping from Mac and no response when I called for either one of them. It could have happened when I was out. Maybe Conlon showed up to finish what he’d started last month or maybe, as Logan previously warned me, Conlon had his buddies take care of it.
“Logan?” I called out again a little louder.
How could I have been stupid enough not to call the police the night he told me what happened?
How could I have let his words cloud my judgement?
I whipped around in a circle and looked for something, anything to defend myself with in case someone other than Logan was in the house. My eyes finally landed on a hockey stick on the floor next to the couch and I picked it up, squeezing it with a white knuckled grip before walking to the stairs. I took a deep breath and began my ascent, mentally ripping myself a new one for not just leaving and calling the cops when I felt like something was off.
When I reached the second floor, I looked down the narrow hallway and saw an open door to what I assumed was his bedroom. The sound of the tv got louder and louder as I approached the door, holding the hockey stick so tightly that my fingers hurt. But a loud groan stopped me in my tracks.
It was Logan. I knew it immediately.
