Chapter 55 Grayden
FIFTY-FIVE
Grayden
I’d already been to Silver Ridge Elementary a couple of times with Piper to drop Ollie off. My truck’s engine whined as I pulled up, brakes squealing. Ollie stood in front of the school with a young woman tapping her foot beside him.
She headed over to meet me as I jogged toward them. “You’re Grayden O’Neal? I’m sorry, but you’re not on the pickup list. I already called Grace O’Neal, since she’s one of Ollie’s emergency contacts.”
“Grace is my sister.”
Ollie stood there with his oversized backpack on his shoulders. He looked like he was just barely holding back tears.
I crossed the distance between us. “You okay, Ollie?”
“I’m worried about Mom.”
“Me too. But we’ll find her. We’ll get this all fixed.”
He threw his arms around my neck. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I hugged him back. “I’m glad too. Now, let’s go over what happened, and we’ll keep trying your Mom.”
From what Ollie and his teacher said, Piper was supposed to show up at school half an hour ago. Within a few minutes, Grace’s SUV pulled up and parked behind my truck.
I waved to her, though I also had my phone to my ear. I was trying Piper’s number again.
All kinds of bad scenarios were flying through my head. Could Piper have fallen and hurt herself? Could the coffee shop have been robbed? Maybe she’d gotten sick. Passed out.
Fuck, my heart wouldn’t slow down.
“Hi, this is Piper’s phone,” a voice said. Not Piper.
“Rina?” I asked.
“Yeah. Is this Grayden? I saw your name on the screen.”
Grace was talking to Ollie’s teacher now. I nodded at her, but kept my ear to the phone line.
“It is. Where’s Piper? Why did you answer her phone?”
“She left it here at Silver Linings. It was on silent, but I heard the buzzing.”
I gripped the bridge of my nose. “She’s late to pick up Ollie from school. Have you seen her?”
“She was here a little while ago. It’s really strange, actually. She went back to her office with Zach Kirby, Dillon’s brother, and then I knocked on her door to ask a question, and nobody was there. She’d just left.”
My breath had stopped. The whole world had fucking stopped. “She was with Zach Kirby? Why?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye to me, and no way without her phone. And I didn’t see Zach leave either. I think maybe they both went out the back door. But you see what I mean? It’s weird.”
The phone slipped from my ear.
Grace came over to me, dropping her voice. “Grayden, what is going on?” she murmured. “Please tell me you know where Piper is.”
I shook my head. “We have to find her. I have no idea what’s really happening, but I think she’s in danger.”