“And you never heard from him again?” Lyons asked after I’d finished.
“I tried messaging him, but the app wouldn’t let me. He must’ve blocked me,” I said.
“He ghosted you, is that how that works?”
“No!” I said. “Not necessarily. He looked terrified when he got that message in the cab, like he was in serious trouble. Just like Rob did in the park. What if someone was threatening him? What if that message was from Parker? What if the reason I never heard from him is because he’s… dead?”
I couldn’t hide the panic in my voice.
“Gwen, it’s okay. Dev is not dead,” Lyons said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “DCI Forrester and our team are probably at his address right now.”
“ ‘Probably’ isn’t good enough! I warned you about Josh, and look what happened. You need to find Dev, now. Because in case you hadn’t noticed,” I said, overenunciating the words to make sure he really got the point. “People. Are. Dying.”
“I am well aware of that, Ms. Turner,” he said, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Rest assured, we are working around the clock on this, and we’ll keep you informed of developments.”
“Round the clock, huh? Yeah, so I noticed.”
“Gwen, that’s not—” He was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. He gave me a hard look as he answered it and walked off into the kitchen area.
I watched from the sofa, scoffing the last of the Cheetos as I tried my best to listen.
“Well?” I asked when he came back into the lounge.
“That was Forrester,” Lyons said. “It’s not good news. Apparently Dev hasn’t come home. I have to go.”
“Wait, he’s missing?” I said. I looked at the time on my phone; it was almost 2 a.m.
“Forrester spoke to Dev’s wife,” Lyons said. “She hasn’t seen him since he went out with a friend for a quick drink earlier this evening, and he’s not responding to calls or messages.”
“I’m sorry, his what?”
“His wife,” Lyons said.