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I shake my head. “No, I’m afraid I haven’t.” I make a face, wishing I could tell his dad how weird Hunter has been, but if he has gone missing I don’t want to make his dad even more worried than he already is.
“Shit,” I hear his dad mutter followed by sniffing. “I’m sorry,” his dad says shakily. I hear a sob on the other line and I feel my heart pound in my throat as my stomach twists. “She died Saturday night and I need to tell Hunter,” he sobs. “But I can’t find him anywhere.”
My stomach stops twisting and I feel a sense of numbness come over me. “Hunter’s mom,” I say slowly, “is dead?”
“She died in her sleep.” I hear him sniff followed by the sound of blowing his nose. “I’ve been calling and calling, but he’s not answering.”
“Don’t worry,” I say while turning back to the police station. “We’ll find him. We’ll have him give you a call as soon as possible.”
“You’re so kind. Thank you.”
I turn off my phone and throw open the door. Looking around, I don’t find Rachel sitting at one of the chairs. They must have taken her to the back after she spoke with the front desk. Shit, I can’t leave now. I’ll have to wait until she comes out from one of those rooms.
I force myself into a chair, wishing I had ample space to pace, but the uniformed lady is staring at me, as if waiting to pounce the moment I take out my phone. Seriously, what is her deal? I shake my head, telling myself she’s not worth the time to fret over. My leg bobs up and down and I can stop fidgeting with my fingers.
Hunter’s mom died. I can’t believe she’s gone. I only met the lady a hand full of times, but she was sweet and nice and made really delicious cookies. This is going to kill Hunter, when and if we find him. I can’t believe he’s not picking up his phone, but the dude has been acting weird for the past month.
How am I going to tell him that his mom is gone?
“Seth?”
I look up, finding Rachel standing in front of me with a wide smile.
“Huh?” I blink. I am so out of it. I didn’t even hear her approach.
“What do you mean ‘huh’?” She says teasingly while grabbing my hand and pulling me up. “It’s done. They took me to the back room immediately, and I filed the report.”
I nod. “Great.” I cringe, hearing the lack of joy in my voice. This is a big milestone for Rachel. I could at least act interested. I should be excited for her, yet I can’t stop thinking about where Hunter is.
What if something terrible happened to him?
“What’s going on?” Rachel asks while leading me out the door. Her frown deepens when we get outside and she turns towards me, crossing her arms as the wind whips her curly golden hair around us. “I thought you would be more excited for me.”
I sigh and run my hands through my hair. I should just tell her I’m not feeling well and walk her to the store. She doesn’t need to be involved in this. Hunter has been an ass to her since the ski trip. I don’t need her worrying about him and she has work to get to.
But I don’t want to hold information from her. Especially when she cares for the asshole.
“Hunter’s mom passed away on Saturday.”
Rachel gasps, her hand covering her mouth while her eyes glimmer with unshed tears. “Oh no,” she breathes. “How’s Hunter taking it?”
“That’s just the thing,” I say while rubbing the back of my head. “That was Hunter’s dad. They can’t find him. He hasn’t been answering his phone.”
Rachel’s brows furrow. “What?” She asks. “But I saw him on Saturday before I met with Lauren and Charlie.”
“Was that Saturday night?” I ask, feeling hopeful even though he could have ended up anywhere between Saturday and today.
She shakes her head and my hope deflates. “No, during the day.”
I sigh and grab my phone, swiping through my contacts to call Lucas. I’m going to need some backup for this.
“Do you think something happened to him?” Rachel asks, her voice shaky.
I grimace while holding the phone to my ear, waiting for Lucas to answer. Hopefully he’s not in class yet. “That’s what I’m worried about.”
Rachel stalks away from me, nearly running down the ice covered sidewalk.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I shout while chasing after her.
