Page 154 of One Night with Number Nineteen

My stomach twists.

But I go for logic over panic. She’s probably in the bathroom.

“Chill,” I whisper to myself and focus on the game.

But when I look back several minutes later, her seat is still empty. Same as it remains during the next whistle.

Maybe the concessions line is long.

Really long.

Except then I see Faye look behind her, her phone pressed to her ear, and even from all the way across the rink, I can see the panic etched onto her face.

Because Lainey still isn’t back.

As the game starts up, I turn to Gray on the bench beside me. “I need help.”

“What is it?” he asks.

“Lainey’s gone.”

Forty-Six

Lainey

My cell buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out, see that the detective is finally calling me back.

“Faye,” I call and when she glances over, I hitch my thumb over my shoulder, hold up my phone. “I’ve got to take this.”

“I’ve got Ollie,” she calls back over the buzz of the crowd.

I zip up the concrete steps, move out into the concourse and then swipe.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Lainey,” the man on the end of the call says.

I frown, glance at my screen.

It’s definitely the number of the police station.

“I was expecting Detective Roberts to call me back,” I say quietly.

“Detective Roberts is on vacation,” the man says. “I’m covering for her and got your message about case number⁠—?”

The crowd roars, cutting off the rest of his question.

“Just a second,” I say. “Let me find somewhere a little quieter.”

I search the brightly lit concourse, see the elevator that leads down to the offices and the Family Suite. I’ll just pop down there. It only takes a second to hit the button to call the car and swipe the keycard, and a few moments later, I’m a couple floors down.

I step off and turn toward the room where the wives and girlfriends and families hang out when they’re not watching the game up top.

“Sorry about that,” I say into the phone. “Are you still there?”

Silence greets me.

“Hello?”