Pensacola Beach, Florida
During the drive to her apartment, Taylor had convinced herself that Will would be waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Or maybe the dock. She’d given him a key. Could he already be inside?
But there was no sign of Will.
Her knees felt like spaghetti as she climbed the stairs, turning to see if she’d missed him at one of the bistro tables next door at Bobbye’s Oyster Bar. There was no one. Then she remembered that Howard had shuttered the place for December. Her eyes flew across the marina. Howard’s deep sea fishing boat was gone.
By the time she went inside and found it empty, cockroaches began assembling in her gut. She could feel them marching along the lining. She needed to pull herself together.
Will wasn’t here.
Of course, he wasn’t here. How did she expect him to get here?
She’d done such a good job of convincing herself that she hadn’t even considered a Plan B. What was she supposed to do now? It was worthless to try and talk to Dora when the woman had convinced herself that Taylor had taken him.
Who could she call? She couldn’t wait for Howard. Walter Bailey, maybe?
On the drive home, she’d dialed Will’s new cell phone. It rang only twice. Went directly to voice mail. A machine voice. He hadn’t had it long enough to learn how to put in his own message.
Two rings. Did that mean it was shut off?
She called a couple more times. Same response.
The battery had run low while he was at her house over the weekend. He was a kid with a new toy. He probably didn’t remember to charge it.
Oh, Will! Where are you?
She couldn’t panic. She wouldn’t let herself. Not yet. It wouldn’t help Will. What if he was hurt?
Oh my God! What if someone had taken him?
Then her mind went where she did not want it to go.
What if Dora had done the very thing she accused Taylor of doing? What if Dora had hidden him? Taken him away?
There had to be someone she could call. She knew exactly who she wanted to call.
Wanted, but probably shouldn’t.
She wanted to call Jason. But what if that was exactly what Dora thought she’d do, so she could use it against her? Did it matter? This was ridiculous.
Her fingers shook so badly she could barely scroll through her contacts.
He answered on the third ring.
“Hey, I was just thinking about you,” he said.
“Will’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“Dora said he didn’t come home from school.”
“Maybe he had to stay after?”
“The school told her he never showed up this morning.”
“That doesn’t sound right. Did any of his friends see him?”
“I don’t have a clue who his friends are. Dora doesn’t allow him to have friends over. I live too far away for him to have friends over when he’s with me. But I should know. I should know who his friends are.”
“Okay, hold on. We’ll figure this out.”
“Jason, she’s accused me of taking him.”
“What? That’s crazy.”
“He didn’t want to go back yesterday. He wanted to stay with me.”
“But you took him back, right?”
“Yes, of course. What was I supposed to do?”
“We all had a good time. He was just wishing. That’s all.”
“But what if he’s run away?”
“When did she call you?”
“About thirty minutes ago.”
“So he’s been gone—”
“Going on eight hours. Oh my God! Where’s he been since seven o’clock this morning?”
“Has Dora called any law enforcement?”
“I have no idea. I...I hung up on her. She was screaming at me that I took him.”
“This will be Sheriff Norwich’s jurisdiction. You need to call her. See if she’s been contacted.”
“Okay.”
“If she wants to question you at her office or meet you at Dora’s, I can be at either place.”
“No, that’s okay. That’s sweet, but you don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t have to. I want to do it.”
“No, Jason, you can’t.”
“What do you mean, I can’t?”
“Jason, I appreciate your help, but we’re just dating. This isn’t your problem. It’s not like we’re in a relationship or something.”
What was wrong with her? She had spent the night tossing and turning and coming up with ways to push him away, but maybe right this minute was not cool.
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just...I need to handle this.”
When he still didn’t respond, she added, “Okay?”
“Okay. Sure.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”
She hung up before he said anything that might make her feel guilty. All she cared about right now was Will and finding him. Jason had to understand that. Nothing else mattered.