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The woman descended into sudden sobs, and I gritted my teeth, my patience at an all-time low. How did someone as fucking amazing as Elena come from this snivelling bitch?
“Why would she be driving my dad’s car? That makes no sense.” Without waiting for her to reply, I gunned the engine and headed straight for the house. As soon as I came to a stop, I swiped my phone from my pocket, dialling my dad’s number. It rang and rang and eventually went to voicemail. Next, I tried Elena’s, letting myself into the house at the same time. I ran to her bedroom, hearing the call go straight to voicemail.
When I opened her bedroom door, that was when I knew that something wasn’t right.
The room was neat—too neat. Everything was tidied away, other than a notebook on the bedside table in front of the small stack of books I’d bought her. I glanced down, and my gaze was drawn to the duffel bag lying on the floor next to the bed. Crouching down, I unzipped it and peered inside.
There wasn’t much to be seen. Some clothes, a few books and papers, and a cheap-looking phone that was still sealed inside its box.
The clothes…these weren’t the ones that my mother had given her. These were her originals—I recognised one of the hoodies, and even if I hadn’t, the low-quality material would have given it away.
“What are you planning, Elena?” I asked aloud. Taking a seat on the bed, I dialled my mum’s number as I picked up the notebook from the bedside table.
“Knox.”
I didn’t let my mother say anything else. “Mum, have you seen Elena? Or Dad?”
She was instantly alert—I could tell from her voice. “I haven’t seen Elena. I believe she was sleeping when JoJo and I left the house early this morning, according to Letitia, at least. Your father is meeting JoJo and I here at the club for brunch in around forty minutes. Why, what’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure yet. I just got to the house—spent the night at Hatherley Hall—and I saw Letitia running down the driveway screaming something about seeing Elena driving Dad’s car.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Exactly what I said.” I flipped the notebook open, skimming past scribbled pages—song lyrics, music compositions, little doodles of music notes and other music-related things that I didn’t know the names of. Pausing before flipping to the next page, I had a sudden thought. “On Friday night, I asked Dad if he had any time this weekend to take Elena out for a driving lesson.”
My mother sighed. “That’s probably it, then. Letitia may not have recognised the difference between the Nissan Juke and your father’s car, especially if she saw them from a distance.” She paused. “Although I can’t help wondering why she would be so upset about Elena driving. Did you check the garage?”
“Maybe she thought she’d crash it.” Dropping the notebook to the bed, I strode towards the door, then stopped. An instinct made me turn back and pick it up before I left. When I reached the garage, I saw that the Nissan was parked in its usual spot, but my dad’s SUV was nowhere to be seen. “The Nissan’s here, but Dad’s car isn’t.”
“Your girlfriend must have made quite the impression for him to trust her with driving his precious car when she hasn’t yet passed her test.” My mother’s words were light and teasing.
“Not my girlfriend.”
“Yet.”
I became aware of the sound of someone shouting and screaming, and I groaned. “Mum, I need to go and see what this woman’s problem is. Can you phone me if you hear from Dad or Elena?”
“Knox. Her name is Letitia.”
“Mum.”
She sighed again. “Of course I will. Keep me updated on things your end.”
Carefully bending the notebook in half, I tucked it into the pocket of my joggers, then headed back to Letitia, who’d made it back up the driveway and now appeared to be limping.
“Tell me what’s going on, right fucking now.” My patience levels were below zero at this point.
“She’s g-going to be hurt…the car…didn’t mean to…h-he’s supposed to pay, not her,” she hiccupped between sobs.
“Who’s supposed to pay?”
“Your father!” she screamed. Tears ran down her blotchy face. “This is…all…his…fault!”
This woman was fucking unhinged, and I didn’t have time to deal with it. I needed to find Elena and my dadnow.
“Where are they?”
“I-I don’t know.”
