Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Courtney had just shut her eyes when she heard a car come up the drive. Dana! Without turning on the light, she rose to her feet and hurried to the window.
Antonio’s sleek black car idled in front of the garage door, right below her. She hadn’t seen him at dinner, but that wasn’t unusual. If Dana wasn’t around, he never associated with the family. Courtney didn’t blame him. They weren’t a friendly bunch. At mealtimes, he’d usually get a plate from Martha and eat in the kitchen or his room. But she hadn’t seen him in the kitchen either.
When the door began to creak upward, she made her way down the inside steps that led to the garage’s interior and waited at the bottom. It was a five-car garage, and when everyone was home, each bay was full. Watching Antonio pull into his space, she felt a surge of disappointment upon seeing that Dana wasn’t with him.
He came out of the car and braced himself against it with one hand, slamming the door shut with the other. His awkward movements were that of a man who’d had one too many drinks.
“Any word from Dana?” she called out, clearly startling him.
“Oh!” he said. “Courtney, I did not see you there.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “No. No word.”
“Where were you?”
“Out with some friends.”
Courtney wasn’t usually confrontational, but his lack of loyalty was galling. “Don’t you think that’s a little inappropriate given that your fiancée is missing?”
He cleared his throat. “We both know she is not my fiancée.”
“Then what are you, Antonio? If not her fiancé?”
“Couldn’t say. She wanted me here, so I’m here. Now, she doesn’t want to spend time with me.”
“Why do you think that is?”
He sighed loudly. “You tell me, Courtney. What is the deal with her? I do what she wants, but she’s never happy.”
It was too late to counter with a litany of Dana’s good qualities. He was living there rent-free, for one thing. At the very least, he could acknowledge her generosity. Instead, she asked the one important question. “Do you know where Dana is?”
“I told you already. I haven’t heard from her.”
“Did you have anything to do with her taking off this afternoon?”
He motioned dismissively. “Courtney, I’m a little drunk and tired. Dana will come home in good time. Try to sleep.”
As she watched him walk unsteadily out of the garage, she realized that he hadn’t actually answered the last question. That was curious, but not entirely out of character. Antonio seemed to pride himself on being inscrutable.
Courtney went back upstairs and returned to the couch. There her mind spun with troubling thoughts, making it impossible to shut down for the night. Finally, she turned on the light, got out the laptop, and went to her docs to open her secret project. Every evening for months she’d been working on a story she hadn’t told anyone about. This writing project was so much fun that she found herself looking forward to the end of the day when she could get back to it. Sequentially, it would be the next Rebecca Cavanaugh novel after the one they’d just finished. This book was nearly completed, and she’d done every word herself.
With the other books, she’d type while Dana paced the floor, spitting out ideas and spouting out sentence fragments. A team effort. After each dictation session, Courtney would go off on her own and piece everything together so it made sense, then later polish it to a high sheen. But this time around, she’d had her own good idea and decided to just go with it. Oddly enough, writing on her own was faster and easier than doing it as a duo.
Definitely more fun too.
By three o’clock in the morning, she’d finished the final chapter. Bleary-eyed from exhaustion, she shut down her laptop and went back to the couch. She fell asleep right away, but it wasn’t restful. Instead, she had horrible nightmares. Dana was trapped, calling for help, unable to make her way home.
* * *
When Courtney woke up in the morning, it was to a room full of sunlight and the sound of the landscaping crew working in the yard. A quick look at the time revealed it was 9:07 a.m. A flash of guilt came over her. How could she have slept so late when Dana was unaccounted for?
In a panic, she quickly checked her texts and emails, but there was nothing new. She fired off a group text to everyone in the household asking if they’d heard from Dana, then took a five-minute shower, dried her hair, and pulled on fresh clothing. Once done, she checked her phone for updates. The only one who’d responded was Brayden, who’d said: Sorry no.
Perhaps the rest of them were together in a meeting, discussing what to do next? Courtney mentally kicked herself for having overslept.
Once she was outside, she noticed the landscaper’s truck parked near the front door. Off in the distance, at least one leaf blower was going full force. Both things would have aggravated Dana, who believed that service vehicles should park in back and leaf blowers should only be used in autumn, not in summer, like right now.
Hurrying into the mansion, Courtney nearly collided with Antonio in the hallway. He was on his way out, with a gym bag in one hand. Off to meet a client somewhere, no doubt. She stopped him. “Have you heard from Dana?”
He switched the bag to the opposite hand. “No. But no worry, Courtney. I’m sure she is fine.” He moved past her and out the front door.
In the kitchen, she found Martha stirring a bowl of batter. “Morning, Courtney.”
“Did you hear from Dana?”
Martha shook her head and added some chocolate chips to the bowl. “Can’t say that I have.”
“Where’s everyone else?”
“Kristy is out. Shopping, I think. Ronald is overseeing the yardwork. I would guess that Ian is in his office and Brayden in his room. Did you need something?”
She felt her jaw drop open. “Do I need something? Yes, I need something! I need to know where Dana is. Why is no one taking her absence seriously? We should be talking to the police!”
“No need to fuss,” Martha said, her tone soothing. “It’s only been a day, and you know how Dana wanders off.”
“Yes, but she’s never been gone this long without contacting me.”
When Martha shrugged and began humming, Courtney left the room and went outside to find Ronald. If his wife hadn’t heard anything, it was doubtful he had, but she still needed to check before talking to Ian. To reach the crew in the back of the property, she had to walk through the statuary garden—not a direct route, since it was intentionally designed to be mazelike. The designer had said, “It creates a relaxing environment,” but she hadn’t found it to be relaxing at all.
Dana loved it, though. She’d clapped her hands when it was finished and said, “Bravo! Even better than I imagined! It has such Zen energy.” When she’d first brought up the idea of a statuary garden, Courtney had envisioned garden gnomes and wind spinners, but what Dana had in mind was a collection of classical European sculptures. The centerpiece of the whole collection was a nude man in the style of David , one hand on his hip, the other hand raised with one finger pointing skyward. He stood in the precise middle of the garden, pathways consisting of concentric circles radiating outward around him. The artist had named the piece Perfection , but the only thing visitors ever noticed was that the figure was so large his private parts were at eye level.
Brayden’s friend Charlie had seen it and quipped, “Looks like that guy’s the low man on the scrotum pole.” Dana had not appreciated the remark, but secretly, Courtney had found it hilarious.
She circled around the naked statue and made her way to Ronald, who was talking to one of the workers about weeding the flower gardens. Seeing her, he paused. “Yes?”
“Just checking,” she said. “Have you heard from Dana?”
“Nope.” Not even a tinge of regret or concern. He turned back to his discussion. Getting the hint, she went back to the house.
As Courtney approached Ian’s office, she heard angry voices coming from behind the closed door. Pausing, she caught snatches of the conversation.
Brayden said, “I can’t believe you!”
And his father responded, “It’s not up to you. Case closed.”
She knocked and they suddenly became silent. “It’s me, Courtney. We need to talk about Dana.”
After a moment’s pause, Ian called out, “Come in.”
Since they occupied the only two chairs in the room, she was forced to stand in front of Ian’s desk like a kid summoned to the principal’s office. “Any news about Dana?” She looked at each of them in turn. Brayden took out his phone and answered first. “Still nothing,” he said, glancing up at her. She was glad to hear that his tone today was more worried than the day before.
Ian shook his head. “It seems my sister does not want to be found.” He chuckled.
Courtney rested her palms on his desk and leaned in. “Yesterday you said that if we didn’t hear from Dana by today, we’d move on this. I think it’s time to call the police.”
“Absolutely not. This is the worst kind of publicity. I won’t let it happen.”
Brayden said, “Aunt Dana once told me that any publicity is good publicity.”
The kid was now officially on her good side. “He’s right. And if she’s in trouble, the sooner the better. The police can track her phone and help get the word out. Someone has to have seen her. Making it public will get us results. It’s the right thing to do. If you don’t want to file a report, I will.”
“No one is filing a report.” Ian pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I won’t allow it.”
“You won’t allow it?” she repeated, astounded. Ian rarely paid attention to her, and while she had a reputation for doing as she was told, her loyalty was to Dana, not him.
“You can’t do that,” Brayden said. “She’s an adult. And she works for Aunt Dana, not you.”
“That’s enough, Brayden,” Ian said, his arm extending toward the door. “Go to your room.”
Brayden slowly got up from the chair and turned to leave, but not before mumbling, “You know I’m right.” He slammed the door shut behind him.
Ian addressed her. “Now listen. My son is wrong. You’re actually an employee of Dana’s company, and guess what? I’m the head of that company. If anyone is going to file a police report, it’s going to be me, and I won’t even consider it for another day or so. You need to mind your own business and get to work on that manuscript. That’s your job. My sister’s welfare is my job. Don’t overstep, Courtney. I will handle this.”
There was a moment of silence, and then she summoned up some inner strength she didn’t even know she had and shook her head. “Dana’s well-being is my business. I can feel something is wrong. I’m going to the police station right now and filing a report. I’ll tell them we don’t want it made public, if that’s what you want, but I’m doing it. You can’t stop me.”
“And how were you planning on getting there?” Ian folded his arms, a smug look crossing his face.
He made it sound like a trick question. Courtney said, “I’m taking the Audi, of course.”
Ian shook his head. “Absolutely not. I forbid it. The car stays here.”