Chapter 25

 

I headed back to the office with a bit of a spring in my step. Even though I hadn’t solved the case, I had a renewed hope that I would. Plus, I had had a kiss from Jake, so I couldn’t help but feel happy about that. I told myself I wouldn’t let Jake distract me from my business, but it almost seemed as if this was out of my control. I couldn’t stop myself when he kissed me, and I liked it.

I’d always said I would have a successful business first before I even pursued a relationship, and I wasn’t at the successful business part quite yet. Sure, I was doing well, but not how I saw myself performing and reaching that goal. It was just a few kisses though. That didn’t mean it would be a relationship. I needed to stop putting so much thought into it. It probably meant nothing and I would treat it if it meant nothing.

I stepped inside my office and over to my desk. “Dorothy, I’m here. What was so important that you needed to see me right away?”

She didn’t answer. Dorothy wasn’t at her desk. After all the texting and calling Dorothy wasn’t even waiting for me. I assumed she was in the restroom, so I put away my bag and sat down behind my desk. I pulled out the file that I had for the case and studied it. Things were awfully quiet around here. It wasn’t like Dorothy to be that quiet.

“Dorothy, what are you doing in there? Is everything okay?”

She didn’t answer. I paused and listened for any sounds. Suddenly, I got an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something seemed off about this situation. I needed to see what was going on in there. Maybe Dorothy was sick. I pushed to my feet.

“Dorothy, what are you doing in there?” I asked as I headed across the room and over to the tiny little bathroom.

I knocked on the door, but she didn’t answer again. My panic had spiked. I grasped the door knob and turned. It was unlocked.

“Dorothy, are you okay in here?” I peeked my head in, but the room was empty.

She wasn’t in there. There were no other places to hide in this office, unless she crawled under her desk for some unknown reason. I would think that was a crazy idea, but for Dorothy anything was possible. I walked over to her desk to take a look. Everything seemed to be in order. Her desk was always neat. I scanned the room to see if anything else was out of place, but everything looked normal. I would have to call Dorothy and find out where she was. Maybe she was just outside looking for me.

Yes, that was probably it. I would take a look outside. She would probably be walking through the door at any moment. Still, I wanted to know what was so important that she needed to talk with me right away. I guessed she’d given up on me and gone for more yarn on her own. Though I wasn’t happy that she’d left the office door open with no one here.

That was when I noticed her purse was beside the desk. She never left without it. So she had to be around somewhere. I decided to look outside for her. She could be out there feeding the seagulls again. If I caught her in the act I was going to take away all the bread she had stashed to feed them with.

I stepped outside, expecting to see her right near the door. She wasn’t there, so I scanned the area. She was nowhere in sight. I decided to take a look down by the water. I went over to the area leading to the beach and as far as my eyes could see she wasn’t anywhere around.

“Dorothy, where are you?” I called out.

I hadn’t expected an answer and I didn’t get one. She could’ve left with the man she had been dating. Why didn’t she call me? I picked up my cell phone and dialed her number again. There was no answer. I left a message and sent her a text. She wasn’t the only one who could do that. I would continue this until she finally decided to answer me. She was probably punishing me for not being at the office exactly when she wanted me.

On my way back to the office, I noticed something on the ground. I walked over for closer inspection. It was exactly what I thought. I reached down and picked up the peppermint. It was still in the wrapper. Sure, she could’ve dropped one out of her purse on the way in, but I hadn’t noticed it earlier when I walked by my office to the beach.

Plus, it wasn’t like Dorothy to lose her mint. They were precious to her. They meant everything. She wasn’t about to lose one.

That was when I noticed the other mints. They led down the sidewalk like a trail of breadcrumbs. Was Dorothy trying to let me know where she was? The only problem was they stopped at the end of the sidewalk. They didn’t lead to any other clues. No car, nothing. I had a bad feeling about this, and I didn’t think Dorothy had left on her own.

Was she really missing? Who would have taken her? Her purse being here and the mints on the sidewalk all led to me believing that someone had taken her. I scanned the parking lot one more time to make sure she wasn’t somewhere, maybe watching me and getting a good kick out of scaring me. I wished that was the case, but unfortunately I saw her nowhere. I had to do something quickly.

I could look for her on my own, but this was a dangerous situation. I couldn’t risk that someone could be harming her at this very moment. The very thought made my stomach twist into a knot. I rushed back into the office and grabbed my phone. I hoped to have a text from Dorothy or a missed call. Unfortunately, there was nothing, so I did the only thing I knew to do and that was to dial Jake.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” he said.

He probably thought I was calling because of that kiss. This would really burst his bubble.

“Unfortunately, I have a problem.”

“I knew it. What happened?”

“Dorothy is missing.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. “She just called you.”

“Yes, I know, and when I got to the office she wasn’t here. She was nowhere in sight.”

“Are you sure about that? Maybe she just went out for more yarn,” he said.

“Her purse is still here and I found mints on the sidewalk, as if she dropped them on purpose to let me know where she was.”

“I’m on my way,” he said. “Try not to worry.”

“I’ll try. Thank you, Jake,” I said.

Now I had to figure out what to do while I waited for Jake to arrive. I paced the office floor while I waited for Jake. Thank goodness it didn’t take long before he entered my office.

I rushed over to him. “I’m worried about her. I left messages for her, but she still doesn’t answer.”

“Do you think she’s mad at you because you took too long in answering her calls?” Jake asked.

“I thought about that, but I don’t think Dorothy would last this long. She’d try something like that and give up after five minutes.”

Jake touched my arm. “Don’t worry, Maggie, we’ll find her. Can I take a look at her purse?”

I guided Jake over to Dorothy’s desk.

“Anything unusual here?” He scanned the top of the desk.

“Just the usual yarn, extra knitting needles, more yarn, stashes of breadcrumbs…,” I said.

Jake opened a cabinet door on the front of the desk and an avalanche of peppermints tumbled to the floor.

“Oh, and a few extra peppermints.”

While Jake took a look around, the door opened. My hopes were dashed when I realized it was Jake’s partner. The last person I wanted to see. She eyed me up and down for a second. Without saying a word to me she focused on Jake.

“What have we got?” she asked.

“Maggie’s assistant is missing.”

She cut another look at me, as if to say, couldn’t I find her? Maybe Dorothy had just stepped out for a moment. I really didn’t want to go through all this with Abby. I forced the tears back. With Dorothy missing it was like part of me was gone. There was no way I could let them see me cry.