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No, is she okay?
Not sure.
He quickly explained the situation to Carly and she said she’d join in the search right away. He wanted to text something else...but he didn’t know what to say, and right now, his sole focus was on finding Tess.
Thank you.
Of course...and we will find her.
Five minutes later, he and Callan jumped into his truck and started the search along the side streets near Callan’s home. They drove slowly, scanning the space between the houses, looking for any sign of her, but they found nothing.
Several neighbors were out walking and gardening and they asked if anyone had seen her, but no one had.
Oliver’s chest tightened more and more the longer they searched and his phone remained silent. No texts or calls from her—what if she was hurt? What if she was in trouble?
Port Serenity was a safe place. Residents looked out for one another and the crime rate was low. But during tourist season, with an influx of strangers coming through town...
They headed down to Main Street next, and parking the truck, Oliver took one side of the street and Callan took the other as they went into every store and business, inquiring if anyone had seen Tess. Concerned faces and expressions of sympathy were all they received. No one had seen her in days and there was no sign of her on Main Street.
His worry hit its peak when they’d reached the city limits sign and there was still no hint of his daughter anywhere.
Gone without a trace. As though she’d vanished.
An overwhelming sense of déjà vu struck him and he bent at the knees, unable to breathe.
This couldn’t be happening. Not again. She had to be okay. He couldn’t lose her too.
The street around him spun and he felt Callan’s hand on his back. The man’s voice seemed far away as he was telling him to breathe, take deep breaths... Then he was guiding him back to the truck.
Oliver sat in the passenger seat and his vision wasn’t focused on anything in particular as his gaze drifted out the window while Callan drove.
“I’m going to take you back to your place... Maybe she came home,” he said.
His place. A place that may not be his much longer. Right now, that hardly seemed to matter. Without Tess, nothing else would matter. The lighthouse was just a building...
His daughter and the people he loved made it a home.
Callan pulled the truck in front of the house and, seeing a large group gathered there, Oliver felt his gut twist.
A tour group. The first one of the day. Eight expectant faces turned to look at him with various degrees of annoyance to be kept waiting.
“I can’t...” he started.
Callan put the truck in Park. “I got this,” he said, jumping out and approaching the group. “Tours are canceled for today...” He heard Callan tell the group, instructing them to leave and reschedule the experience.
No one seemed pleased, but no one argued with the six-foot-three, muscular former coast guard officer as they dispersed.
Oliver climbed out of the truck but a quick search of the house revealed Tess wasn’t inside. He searched her room and discovered that Ginger (the latest name they were trying out on the kitten) wasn’t there either. The pet usually slept at the foot of Tess’s bed every night, but he hadn’t noticed the animal hadn’t been there the night before, as he’d had no reason to go into the room.
Most nights, he went in to check on Tess and give her a kiss...
The lump in his throat grew larger and he swallowed back the emotions clouding his judgment. He couldn’t break down or think the worst. He had to stay positive. Keep searching with a clear head.
He scanned Tess’s room. Where else could she have gone?
Callan entered the house and called out to him.
“Find her?” he asked, hurrying out to the front room.
