Midway through the fourth repeat of the playlist, a constant banging from the front door of the building drew Dannel out of his happy bubble. He trudged downstairs, waving off Stanley, who’d poked his head out. A young woman held a struggling Thames in her arms.
“Is he yours? I found him sitting outside the door. He got quite cross when I tried to take him away.” She held Thames out toward him. “Does he belong here?”
“He’s my neighbour’s.” Dannel adjusted Thames more comfortably in his arms. “Thank you.”
After waiting for her to leave, Dannel took the panting dog down the hall to his home. He knocked and waited patiently for either Adelle or Stanley. The former answered with a confused look on her face.
“Did you join Osian on the walk?” She gently plucked Thames out of his arms. “He’s had quite a long one today, given when you left.”
“What are you talking about?” Dannel didn’t even bother to sound polite. “Didn’t you lose him?”
“No, I asked your Osian to walk him. I’ve been a bit peaky for the last few days. And my Stanley had gone out.” Adelle unhooked Thames’s leash and set him on the floor. “Did Osian not bring him home?”
“Someone found Thames sitting outside the building.”
“Oh.” Adelle’s hand went up to her mouth. “Oh, dear. I hope he hasn’t been hurt.”
Or worse.
“Stay inside. Keep your door locked.” Dannel raced up the stairs, ignoring Adelle’s calling after him. He needed to get to his phone. “Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm.”
First, Dannel tried reaching Osian. He called and texted, waiting a few minutes for a response. Osian would never ignore him.
Ever.
Stay calm.
No matter how many times Dannel repeated the phase. He could feel his blood pressure shooting through the roof. His fingers fumbled with the touch screen on his phone, trying to find Detective Inspector Khan’s number.
Answer, you absolute wanker. Answer.
“DI Khan.”
“Osian hasn’t come home. He’s not answering his phone. Something’s wrong.” Dannel’s words ran into one another. He tried to get as much information across as possible. “You have to find him.”
“Dannel. Please. I need you to take a few deep breaths. It seems impossible, but you can do it. Just in and out, count the seconds.” Detective Inspector Khan had an incredibly calming voice. “We’re on our way to your building. Stay there. When did you see him last?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Dannel was panicking. He knew it wouldn’t help at all, so he made himself take a few additional deep breaths. “I lay down to rest. He went downstairs to check Ian’s apartment. Our neighbour Adelle asked him to walk their dog. Thames, he’s her Yorkie, was sitting outside our front door. Maybe the CCTV footage can tell you when Thames came home.”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
After hanging up, Dannel texted Olivia and Roland. Their siblings would handle the news better than their mums. He messaged Fire Chief Wilson to see if Evie might be able to come help in the search.
No matter what the detectives said, Dannel wouldn’t sit around and wait. Osian was in danger. He had every intention of making sure the person he loved most in the world came home to him safe and sound.
By the time the detectives arrived, their flat had begun to fill up. Stanley had come from downstairs. Olivia and Drystan had shown up together with his brother Roland following not long after.
“Chief?” Dannel stared blankly when he opened the door to find a large number of his fellow firefighters crammed into the hallway. “Shouldn’t you be at the station?”
“We’ve got our calls covered for the next few hours. Where are we searching?” He disregarded Dannel’s bewildered muttering. “You’re our family, son. We’re here to help; just point us in a direction.”
Stepping aside to let them into the flat, Dannel acknowledged the detective who came in behind them. He had several constables behind him. He didn’t know how to handle so many people squashed into his place, all focusing their attention on him.
“DI Powell is downstairs with your uncle. They’re going over the CCTV footage to see when Osian left and when the dog showed up without him.” Detective Inspector Khan came over to stand next to Dannel. “Once we know the time he left and the direction, we can use other cameras to hopefully locate him.”
Abra came rushing through the still open door before Dannel could respond to the detective. She peered around at the gathered crowd before rushing over. “It’s not just Oz. Chris isn’t answering my texts or calls.”
“He did stand you up.”
Abra rolled her eyes and waved her phone in his face. “We talked last night. He explained everything. I called him after you mentioned Osian going missing and haven’t heard anything.”
Dannel’s gaze went from Abra to the detective. He hoped their instincts about Chris weren’t about to be proven wrong. “Maybe he’s ghosting you again?”
“Thought about that. So I called his office and spoke with his boss. He didn’t want to answer, but I explained the situation with Osian. His boss called and texted him—Chris didn’t respond.” Abra grabbed Dannel’s hand. “He’s not going to ghost his job and risk getting fired.”
“What do we do?” Dannel turned toward the detective. He was out of his depth. “Can we search for him?”
“I’d prefer you stay here.”
Dannel stared at the man. “They went after Ossie, not me. I can’t sit on my arse while he’s in danger.”
The next thirty minutes went by so quickly yet dragged on painfully at the same time. The detectives managed to track Osian on CCTV cameras. With another word of warning, they headed out, leaving a solitary constable in the hallway.
“I can’t just stand here.” Dannel paced the flat anxiously in what small space was left with the gathered crowd. “I’m going to see my uncle.”
“You’re not supposed to leave, sir.”
Dannel stared at the young constable, raising his eyebrow. “I’ll be in the shop downstairs, unless you intend to arrest me.”
“Sir.”
Ignoring the constable, Dannel jogged down the stairs. He didn’t glance behind him to see who had followed. His uncle was scanning through CCTV footage when he stepped into the office at the back of the shop.
“Dan, sweetheart.” His auntie came over to wrap him tightly in a hug. “We’ve called your mum and Osian’s mum. They’re waiting anxiously together. Now, how can we help?”
“Which way did he go?” Dannel gently extracted himself from his auntie. He didn’t want physical contact. The world already felt as though it was closing in on him. “Uncle Danny.”
“I shouldn’t.” His uncle hesitated before playing the video of Osian heading down the street with a jaunty Thames trotting at his feet. “He had to be heading toward Phoenix Garden.”
“Thank you.”
Without another word, Dannel rushed out of the shop. He jogged down the street, not knowing what he expected to find. It just helped to be doing something.
“Will you slow down?”
“No.”
“We don’t all have long legs,” Abra complained.
Adjusting his pace slightly, Dannel waited for Abra, Evie, and Drystan to catch up with him. He wasn’t overly surprised to see Osian’s brother-in-law had decided to join them. Olivia had stayed behind.
“She’s organising search groups with your fire chief.” Drystan grinned at him. “You know my Olivia. She’ll have Covent Garden completely covered by searchers in under five seconds.”
Dannel didn’t have it in him to smile. He simply nodded and picked up his pace again, only stopping when they arrived at the main entrance. “We’ll split up and scour the garden. Evie, with me?”
His best friend immediately stepped over to him. She reached down to take his hand. “We’ll find him.”
“No lying.” Dannel didn’t want to believe the worst but knew the odds might not be in their favour. “How many close calls do we get before someone else winds up like Gemma?”
“Chris has gone missing, as well. Could they be together?” Evie took one side of the walking path, and Dannel took the other. Their eyes scanned the ground for any clues. “They’re both capable of defending themselves.”
“Chris’s presence might be comforting or terrifying. The jury’s still out.” Dannel wanted to believe their friend had been truthful with them. He wasn’t always the best person to sniff out a liar. “Gemma had a black belt. She knew how to defend herself. Knowledge and ability aren’t always a guarantee.”
“I’m trying to think happy thoughts.”
Dannel squeezed between two bushes to check along the edge of the wrought iron fencing. “Think happy thoughts quietly, then. If I don’t get my hopes up, it might not hurt so much when everything comes crashing down.”
“Dan.”
He waved off Evie’s concern and crouched down to peer through two of the iron rods. “What’s that?”
Evie joined him by the fence. “I don’t see anything.”
“Over there by the red door.” Dannel pointed to the building adjacent to the garden. “Is that a phone? The case looks like Ossie’s.”
“Shit.”
Racing through the garden to the side entrance, they skidded to a stop by the phone. Evie stopped him from picking it up and immediately called one of the detectives. She didn’t want them to destroy any potential fingerprint or DNA evidence.
In case they needed it to identify a killer.
It was her unspoken reason. Dannel tried very hard not to follow her train of thought to the logical conclusion. They waited impatiently for the police to arrive.
“There’s another one.” Dannel pointed to a glinting screen a few feet away. “Wonder if it’s Chris’s phone.”
“Easy way to tell.” Abra and Drystan had caught up to them. She pulled her own mobile out and dialled Chris’s number. They waited with bated breath and collectively groaned when a familiar Star Wars tune rang out. “Oh, god. Someone kidnapped both of them.”
“Or Chris tossed his to keep the GPS from being tracked.” Drystan said what Dannel had been thinking. Abra punched him on the arm. “You can’t assume innocence based on an abandoned phone.”
Dannel sat on the ground with his back to the wall. He couldn’t stop staring at Osian’s phone. “Ossie’s too careful to drop his mobile. And he’d never leave Thames to walk home on his own.”
The police arrived, disrupting the conversation. Detective Inspector Khan frowned disapprovingly at Dannel, who ignored him. He pulled a glove onto his hand and then picked up Osian’s phone.
“Do you know the passcode?” he asked after trying to turn it on. “Let’s make sure this is the right phone.”
“It’s my birthday.” Dannel gave it to the man. “I’ll make him change it.”
“I’m hurt you don’t trust us to not take advantage.” Abra tried to lighten the mood. Her smile evaporated when the passcode worked. “Damn. I’d hoped it wasn’t his phone.”