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“That would be great, thanks.” I wait a while as she types on the keyboard, her eyes scrunched together as she checks over the screen.
“Nope, sorry. Nothing. Not in this state anyway. Turns out you didn’t waste anyone’s time after all.”
“You searched the whole state, and nothing?” I check, a feeling of unease starting to weigh down my shoulders.
“Nothing,” she confirms, before I thank her again and back out of the reception, on to the street. There has to be some mistake. Julian would have been out of his mind the whole time I was gone. Girlfriends don’t just vanish while you go get takeout. And why would he lie to me? I march back to my car as fast as I can without running, and instead of going into work, I drive straight home. Heading straight into Mom’s office, I fire up her laptop and google search my name.
Nothing.
I do a search for lost people in the surrounding areas, and Billy Redman comes up for the first twenty results. I feel myself starting to panic, as I try to come up with reasons why Julian wouldn’t have reported me missing. None of them making any sense. So I dash upstairs and pull Maddy’s jeans out of the wash basket, searching through the pockets until I find the scrap piece of paper she’d pushed inside them when I said goodbye to her. Then I use my cell to dial the number she’d told me to call if I needed anything.
“Grace, hey?” she answers on the third ring, sounding excited to hear from me.
“Hey Maddy, how’s it going?” I get a surprising comfort out of hearing her voice.
“Great, me and Ella are just shopping for things to do out at Abby's cabin. She’s a bit low since Deputy Dan still hasn’t shown up. We’re gonna surprise her to try cheer her up, how are things with you?”
“Great,” I answer, but it’s a lie. Right now, I’m feeling anything but great.
“Mads, I was wondering, did you do anything when the club took me?”
“You’re gonna have to be more specific,” she says, and I picture her mischievous smile on the other end of the line.
“Like, hide police reports about me being missing?” There’s a long pause on the other end of the line and it almost gives me hope.
“I didn’t know anything about you being taken until Brax brought you to the club, and then I checked but there wasn’t anything for me to worry about. Not anything with a computer trail anyway… I just figured we got lucky. If you’re worried about Brax and the club getting into trouble, don’t be, just stick to the story. Are you really okay, Grace?” Maddy sounds worried now.
“I’m fine, honestly.” I try my best to sound convincing.
“Well, if you’re not, you know where we are,” she reminds me.
“Thanks, Maddy, I got to go, I’m really busy with work. It’s nice to talk though.”
“You too, take care of yourself.”
“Maddy…” I manage to catch her just before she hangs up. “How’s Brax?”
Do I wanna hear that he’s fine, or do I want him to be hurting like I am? Why did I even ask the damn question?
“Not good.” Her tone lowers, and I don’t know if it makes me feel better or worse.
“I got to go,” I respond with as much cheer as my voice can muster through tears, then without waiting for her goodbye, I hang up.
I spend my afternoon sobbing on my bed, missing Brax and wondering why the man who’s supposed to be in love with me, didn’t report me missing.
Then later, when I hear his car pull on the drive, I jump straight in the shower, hoping it will lessen the puffiness in my eyes. I throw on some yoga pants and a loose tee and make my way down the stairs. Hushed voices come from the kitchen and I follow them. As soon as I step in the room, they silence.
“George, it's good to see you.” My smile is fake when I notice Julian’s father standing on the other side of the kitchen island.
“Grace,” his arms spread open as he walks toward me and draws me in for a tight hug. “I’m so pleased you’re home, we were so worried.”
So worried neither one of you fuckers reported me missing.
“You staying for dinner?” I ask, draining every bit of energy I have to be polite.
“Can't I’m afraid, Lois has invited some of our friends over. I was just here to take some photos of the place. Julian said you were keen to put it on the market.” My eyes roll between them suspiciously. The conversation had sounded pretty heated before I interrupted.
“There’s no rush,” I shrug, pouring myself a glass of water from the fridge.
