Chapter Twelve
Lance
I stop the car in the driveway, and see that the front door is wide open, but the screen door is shut. “That’s weird,” I say, putting the car in park and getting out. “She doesn’t leave the door open like that.”
“She didn’t answer when I called to ask about picking up dinner, so maybe Todd left it open,” Dean suggests.
“He wouldn’t leave her here alone if she hadn’t woken up yet,” I disagree. I have an awful feeling twisting in my gut when I step into the house and find it is silent.
“Sadie?” Mason calls out. I go to what used to be her room. She still naps here, and some of her stuff is still here, so logically she’d be here if she were still napping. The dishwasher is running, so I know she was awake at some point today.
I open the door and flip the light on to find an empty room. When I see her phone sitting on the nightstand, panic fills me. “Dean. Mason.”
“She here?” Mason asks with the same worry in his tone.
“No. Her phone is though,” I say as I pull my phone from my pocket.
“Have you looked everywhere?” Dean asks as he comes in. His eyes find the phone, and he tenses instantly.
“She’s not here,” Mason says, more as a question. He is struggling to connect the dots as fast, or he’s in denial. Todd wouldn’t have left her here alone unless he knew she was okay.
“Hey,” Todd says when he answers my call.
“Is Sadie with you?” I ask.
“No. Why? Leo stopped by, and she said her headache was gone, so I went and got Stacy. Is Leo not there?”
“No. No one is here, but her phone is,” I say flatly. Nothing about this gives me a good or hopeful feeling.
“I’m on my way. We should be there in less than five minutes,” he says.
“I’m calling Leo,” I say before ending the call. This isn’t the time to abide by formalities. I find Leo’s contact and call him next. Just as I think the call is about to go to voicemail, he answers.
“Hello?” he says, slightly out of breath.
“Hey. Is Sadie with you by chance?” I ask.
“No. Everything okay?”
“No. We can’t find her. The door was left open, and her phone is still here,” I say.
“When I left, Todd was pulling in the driveway. Have you talked to him?”
“What? He said he left before you did?”
“He did. When I was leaving, he was pulling back in. He must have forgotten something,” he says. “Let me finish what I’m doing, and I’ll come by and help you guys look for her.”
“Alright,” I sigh. “Thanks, man.”
“What did he say?” Dean asks as we walk back into the living room.
“He said Todd was coming back into the driveway as he was leaving,” I say. “Why would he lie?”
“Ask him when he gets here,” Dean says, pointing outside to where Todd just flew into the driveway, “Everyone is coming over.”
“Do you think she…” Mason starts to ask.
“Let’s not go there just yet,” Dean says with a snappy tone. Mason just nods and stays quiet.
“Hey. You find her yet?” Todd says as he comes in with Stacy in tow.
“No. Why didn’t you say you came back to the house?” I ask with more hostility than intended.
“What are you talking about?” Todd asks. “I went to Billy’s to get Stacy because her car has to stay there.”
“Why would he say that then?” Dean asks.
“Fuck if I know. Maybe it wasn’t me, and he thought it was,” Todd says defensively.
“Maybe?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“That’s not what I meant, and you fucking know it, Lance. Why the fuck would I lie about coming back here or not?”
“He’s been at the shop with me for hours. Ask Billy,” Stacy says.
“Respectfully. That doesn’t mean much coming from his girlfriend,” I say.
“What the fuck does that have to do with it? What are you accusing him of?” Stacy snaps.
“Relax, please,” Todd says to her.
“What I know is we trusted you with her, and now she’s gone after you were seen coming back but deny it,” I say.
“What the fuck do you want me to say?” Todd asks, raising his voice.
“The fucking truth,” I shout.
“Whoa. What’s going on?” Jake asks as he walks into the house.
“He’s implying I had something to do with Sadie going missing,” Todd says, glaring at me.
“Leo says he saw him come back to the house when he was leaving earlier,” Dean says.
“I left here at like three, Lance,” he says. “What the fuck could I possibly have done for three and a half hours?”
“Billy,” I say as soon as he steps into the house. “When did Todd get to your shop?”
“Uhhh. Three maybe. Why?” he asks.
“See? Ever cross your mind that maybe Leo was mistaken? It could have been anyone he saw pull in,” Todd says.
“She was taken,” Mason says quietly.
“Mason,” Dean sighs. “We can’t go there.”
“He’s right,” Stacy says.
“She wouldn’t have left this house without her phone or her shoes,” Mason says, pointing to the black flats by the door. Those are basically the only shoes she wears unless we are at the park or work. “She wouldn’t leave barefoot unless she didn’t have a choice.”
“Fuck,” Dean says.
“Who would…” I start to ask, but stop.
“Call her parents,” Stacy says. “Just start there, and we can go to the police if they don’t know where she is.”
“We can’t file a missing persons report for twenty-four hours. She’s an adult,” Todd says.
I get my phone out of my pocket again and find Sadie’s father’s cellphone number. Surely he will care that his daughter is missing.
“Hello?” he answers.
“Mr. Graves,” I say. “It’s Lance.”
“Yeah. I have a caller ID,” he says. “What can I do for you, Lance?”
“Do you know where Sadie is? She had a migraine and stayed home from work. We got home, and she’s gone. Her phone and shoes are still here, so we are worried about her.”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do,” he says. “She got smart and took Paul up on his offer of marriage.”
“There’s no way,” I say.
“Sorry that she didn’t say anything, but he picked her up today,” he says. “It’s best you just accept this and let her move on. She’ll be happy with him.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. She never would have gone with him,” I say in disbelief. “She wouldn’t do that.”
“We never thought she would be so low as to let you three do what you did to our daughter. She can be surprising,” he says coldly.
“When we find her… If she is hurt… It’s you I’m visiting first,” I promise. “You’d better pray that she’s okay.” I end the call before he can say anything.
“What? Where is she?” Dean asks.
“Fuck!” I shout as I turn away and run my hand down my face.
“Talk to me. Where is she?” Dean asks again. Poor Mason looks beside himself.
“Paul,” I say. “He said she took him up on his offer for marriage, and he picked her up today.”
“With none of her belongings?” Dean says. “Bullshit!”
“I know,” I say.
“Why would he take her?” Mason asks.
“Why do you think? You saw the way he was looking at her in that parking lot,” I say.
“I bet you anything… If I have a buddy from the police department look up his car… I’d be willing to bet it’s that red car that kept driving by,” Todd says.
“You think?” Stacy asks him.
“I’ve dealt with his kind,” Todd says. “He thinks he is invincible because no one has ever been able to stop him before. He’s never received consequences for the things he’s done. Especially with Sadie. Her parents basically gave him a free fucking pass to hurt her.”
“Wait,” Mason says. “He called her Bunny, right?”
“Yeah,” I say. “So?”
“He was reminding her of that time they spent in the cabin,” he says. “What if he took her there?”
“They shut that place down a few weeks ago, didn’t they?” Jake asks.
“It can’t be that easy,” I say. “Why would he take her just to go to the one place he knows we would end up looking for her first, when we connected it was him? Her dad didn’t even hesitate to tell me that.”
“Maybe he thinks we wouldn’t go because it’s too obvious?” Stacy says.
“Well… Let’s go find out,” I say.
“What if…” Mason starts to ask, but stops himself. “She has to be okay.”
“She’s okay. She has to be okay,” Dean says, squeezing his shoulder.