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“Thank you so much,” Lia was saying. “You got me in.”
“No problem,” I got out. Silence pressed at both ends and even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I made myself ask, “Should I hang up?”
“Yeah,” Lia said softly. “I have it from here. Thank you.”
“Stop saying that,” I said, more sharply than I meant. “Anytime... Oh and, just in case, good luck.” My throat was tight, and my eyes burned as I looked up at the ceiling. “See you soon, right?”
“Of course,” Lia said softly, as though reassuring me. “See you soon.”
I went to speak but the phone slipped, and the call disconnected. The phone’s screen went black in my hand as I stared at it, picturing Lia hunched at the desk, biting her chapped lips, and staring at the cop’s desktop. Going through those folders, one by one.
What if he comes back early? What if—?
“No,” I said out loud, ignoring how my voice shook. “Lia’s got this. She’ll text me in no time at all, safe and sound at home.”
I jerked awake out of an old nightmare, one that I hadn’t experienced in over a year, and pressed a hand to my racing heart.You’re okay, you’re safe,I told myself, as I struggled to sit up and make sense of why I was on top of the covers.
Rubbing at my face, I blinked at the windows, and a hot whine of panic began in the back of my head. Something was wrong. Soft pink and gold light streamed through them, lighting up the room. As though daybreak had arrived—but that wasn’t possible because Lia hadn’t called.
I sat up straighter, shaking my head and patting my cheeks, trying to figure out when I’d gone to bed. My memories from the previous night were fragments of waiting and falling asleep, of aimlessly clicking around on my computer, and then sitting on my bed—just for a second…
I fell asleep.Now the panic in my head filled my entire body, a sense of being crushed on all sides, and I forced myself upright. My body seemed disconnected from my brain, movements jerky and automatic as I went to my desk, fumbling around through papers and notebooks for my phone. It wasn’t there.
Whirling around, I spotted it on the floor, and pounced. The battery was almost dead.
No text or calls.
“Lia, no—no,” I murmured. “Where are you—where are you?”
Tears blurred my vision. I had to be dreaming. The soft light filling my window couldnotbe daybreak. It couldnotbe the next day, with no word from my best friend. Any moment now, I would wake up and she would be okay, and my phone would fully be charged and full of messages.
Only the light got brighter, and the phone battery got weaker.
My entire arm trembled as I dialed Lia’s number.
“We’re sorry,”said the cold, automated feminine-coded voice.“Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again.”
“No,” I said and went to throw my phone, before grabbing my charger and plugging it in. First, I attempted to track down Liawith the apps on my phone, before rushing to my computer, and whirling through every way I knew to track her.
But it was as though her phone had been wiped off the face of the earth.
Like Lia had been wiped off the face of the earth.
Here and then suddenly gone, just like her mother.
A sob shuddered between my gritted teeth. Okay, I had to try a different approach. I knew the name of the cop she’d gone after—Mickey Weiss, and yesterday I’d managed to sneak a peek at what Lia had been tasked to investigate.
The Michaelson family, notorious gangsters that lurked in the shadows of the Northeast.
That name had made my entire body go cold, and as I began to search them, the hits made it go colder. Everything I found told me a grim, bloody story of the previous generation—the brutal and horrific exploits of the “Rhino” and the “Reaper.” But both those men were gone now, and the family was under the control of the Rhino’s son, Tyler, and his cousins. By all accounts, Tyler and hiscaposwere just as bad, if not worse—especially since they knew how to cover their tracks.
A pit formed in my stomach as I remembered the heavy muscle outside thatSons of Celtnightclub, the gangsters in suits with tattoos, guns, and cold purpose in their eyes. They’d pulled upright after Lia had gone in, and I remembered that twist in my gut, the timing too close a call…
They have her,said the pragmatic, blunt voice in the back my head.The Michaelson family has Lia.I put my hands over my face.And I’ll never see her again.
“No,” I growled and shoved away from my desk.
I took a quick, freezing shower, then got dressed, and made myself an espresso. When, I at again at my computer, I was more awake, more determined, and caffeinated. I then sent a quick message to my work, then my professors, apologizing for being out today and possibly tomorrow.
