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“She’s always been afraid of him finding her. It’s just weird she wouldn’t tell me where she was going. She tells me everything, Kase.”
“Meet me at her apartment.” I end the call and take long strides to my bedroom.
“What’s going on?” Everly asks, walking into my bedroom. Her eyes widen as she watches me slip my holstered gun onto my hip.
“I’m not sure if it’s anything.” I grab my wallet and keys off my dresser and look up at her worried expression. “Ellie’s gone missing. I’m sure she needed a break from everything, but her best friend is worried. Just do me a favor and stay here. Don’t leave.” If by chance, there’s any truth to Tori’s concern, they could easily take Everly for Ellie.
“This is all my fault. I was a major bitch to her,” she says, wrapping her arms around her waist.
I pull her into a hug. “No. If anyone will take the blame, it'll be me.”
Her arms wrap around me. I wait for my body to take over and think it’s Ellie, but nothing comes. It’s about damn time it can tell the difference. I breathe a sigh of relief.
Walking to my bike, I text Cody, asking him to make sure Everly and Reed don’t leave the apartment. I relax a little when I receive a thumbs up text. Tori’s already waiting in the parking lot when I roll up. I glance around Ellie’s car, checking handles to see if it’s locked. I make a mental note to get a Slim-Jim from Hudson later to check her trunk. Neither of us wastes any time talking as we head to her apartment. I keep walking when Tori stops for the elevator.
“I’ll meet you up there,” I say over my shoulder.
“Oh yeah, forgot about your aversion to elevators.”
I make it to Ellie’s door a few seconds before Tori does. “Is that necessary?” she asks, pointing to the gun on my hip that I have in my grip.
I hold my finger up to my mouth. In a whisper, I reply, “Yes. Did you search her entire apartment when you were here earlier?”
“Um… I mean, I went into the rooms, but I didn’t search all the closets,” she whispers back.
I nod, holding my hand out for the key. “Stay behind me.”
The ingrained instinct of clearing a room takes over. I move from room to room swiftly and efficiently with Tori right behind me. Nothing is out of place, worry setting in more with each step. It’s everything Tori told me already, but seeing it for myself confirms what I didn’t want to before. Something is wrong.
Tori’s eyes follow me as I pace the room. My phone is gripped tightly in my hand while I think of who to call first. Where would she go? Did she see Everly, and that’s why she took off? But why didn’t she take her car? Questions continue to swarm my head and I’m getting frustrated I can’t answer them. I scroll through my contact list and press the Lighthouse’s number.
“Is she really there and you’re just covering for her?” The question grates out of my clenched jaw.
“No, Kase. She told us she was dealing with something personal, so we thought she was taking off for a few days. Is everything okay?” Diane asks.
“I… I don’t know.” My head drops. Where are you, Ellie? I pop back up at the sound of a phone ringing. Jerking my head in Tori’s direction, she shrugs. “Gotta go, Diana,” I snap, hanging up on her. The ringing sound is muted, but it’s a phone. We both dash into her bedroom just as it stops ringing. I drop to the floor and look under the bed, but find nothing so I call her phone. It goes straight to voicemail.
“Does Ellie have another phone?”
“She’s never mentioned it.”
“Go through her drawers,” I demand, pointing to her nightstand. “There’s a phone in here and we need to find it.”
Drawer after drawer we check until my fingers land on something hard in a pile of soft material. “Found it.” I hold it up and Tori runs over.
Twenty-five missed calls. Someone’s trying to get a hold of her. Staring at the phone, I wonder what else Ellie is hiding. She has an ugly past I just learned about, but did she tell me everything? The black flip phone lights up when I open it.
“Why do you think she has another phone?” Tori asks over my shoulder.
I shake my head. “Not sure. But someone else is trying to find her too. Let’s see who it is.” It’s the only phone number in her contacts and it’s a Texas number. I have a hunch it’s her dad’s number, but why a burner phone. The phone rings twice before a raspy voice answers.
“Well, well, well… my little slut has finally decided to call dear ole daddy.” Chills crawl up my spine. Who the hell is this? “I hear you breathing, girly. What’s wrong, you think just because you moved away, I wouldn’t find you? Well, get ready ‘cause Daddy’s coming home.”
“You fucking try,” I roar. “If you touch her, I will hunt you down and tear you apart piece by fucking piece and throw you out for shark food.” My chest vibrates with anger, it takes every fiber inside me not to launch the phone against the wall.
This can’t be her dad.
His laugh is like a needle scraping inside my veins, making them bleed.
