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“With Bella?”
“Good thought. Hold on.” He dialed Bella.
“Hey, tall, dark, and handsome. What’s up?”
Without any fanfare, he blurted out, “Is Oakley with you?”
“No, should she be?”
“No, I can’t find her, and my gut is clenching.” Along with his muscles, mind, teeth...
“I’ll call her. Hold on.” Listening to dead air was ominous in his present mental state.
She came back on. “Nope. It goes directly to voice mail.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll let you know when I find her. You’ll do the same, right?”
“Of course.”
He disconnected and reconnected with Kaden. “Can we track her?”
“No, man, her phone was just turned off.”
“Damn. I didn’t get that necklace for her, nor did I get Sharlee to teach her the Keep Safe program. It’s going to happen as soon as I locate her. She isn’t with Bella and didn’t answer when Bella called either. It went straight to voice mail.”
Ryker paced the parking lot, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of the situation. He texted her, hoping for a response, but it went unanswered. If her phone was off, nothing would get through. Where was she?
His panic mounting, Ryker sped over to Oakley’s apartment. But when he let himself in with the key she’d given him, the place was empty. There were no signs of a break-in or struggle, but that only made the knot in his gut twist tighter.
It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. Oakley would never just disappear without a word. She wasn’t the type to stand him up or change her plans last minute. No, something was very wrong here.
He retraced Wednesday night, all good. They had made slow, gentle love before falling asleep in each other’s arms. Thursday morning, she was in a hurry, but her mood had been up. She grabbed an apple and a pastry, which he grumbled about good-naturedly because she had used the treadmill for a few miles before showering and heading off to work. They had talked on the phone last night at ten-thirty like always. They had spoken after court this morning. They were happy. Content. No, it wasn’t because she had changed her mind or was irritated with him.
Ryker knew, deep in his gut, that Oakley was in danger. And if no one else would help, he’d have to take matters into his own hands. He would search every inch of this city to find the woman he loved, no matter what it took. He wouldn’t stop until Oakley was safe in his arms again.
“Where are you, Oakley?” he whispered under his breath, his heart pounding with dread.
