Chapter 21 #2
Tucking her chin toward her chest, Monroe bit her lip and shrugged. “Tessa might have recently met a boy.”
“What?” he clipped. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him looking so serious.
“They’ve only spent time together on a handful of occasions.”
His eyes rounded as Luke lowered himself onto a chair and said, “It’s happening. It’s happening, and I don’t like this one bit.”
My dad looked at my mom and asked, “What about Savanna?”
Before she could answer, Zane asked Emme, “Are my girls dating yet? They aren’t, right? I would know.”
Nikki sighed. “You’re all being so dramatic. Tessa only just met the guy.”
“But they’re all so young,” Stone reasoned. “It’s too early for them to date.”
My mom set the record straight. “Some of them are actually older than we were when we got involved with each of you.”
Reality set in for them, and it seemed none of the men were able to talk. As much as I would’ve preferred to be with Olivia right now, at least this was entertaining. And a huge distraction.
Monroe moved toward me and gave me a hug. “So, tell us about Olivia, Taj. We’ve only heard bits and pieces about her.”
I smiled, feeling my chest expand at the thought of my girl. “She’s incredible. I love her more than I thought possible.”
“Oh, I love this,” Emme declared. “I can’t wait to meet her. Your mom said she was so sweet.”
“She is. Olivia’s the happiest person I’ve ever met. And she’s so adventurous. She’s willing to give anything a try.”
“I’m so happy for you, kiddo,” my mom said. “She really is lovely.”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw my sister’s name on the display. She was probably calling to tease me about spending time with Olivia without me.
“Hey, Savanna.”
“Hi, Taj. Did Olivia leave yet?”
My body tensed. “She left a long time ago. I’m already at Mom and Dad’s. Are you telling me she’s not there?”
“Well, I was running late getting here. I texted her to let her know, and she told me she’d gotten caught up with you but was leaving just then, so there was no need to worry. I got here about five minutes ago, and she hasn’t arrived. I tried to call her, but she didn’t answer.”
I didn’t want to panic or believe the worst, but everything I was hearing was making it impossible to think anything else. “That doesn’t make any sense. She should’ve been there at least fifteen minutes ago. Let me try to call her. I’ll call you right back.”
I disconnected the call, and my dad seemed to have cottoned on to my mood. “Everything okay?”
Shaking my head as I scrolled to Olivia’s number, I said, “Savanna said Olivia didn’t show up. She should’ve gotten there around the same time I got here.”
Holding the phone up to my ear, I listened as it rang. Over and over and over until it went to voicemail.
“No answer?” my mom asked.
“No.” I felt sick to my stomach. “I have to go. I have to find her.”
Without another word, I turned on my heel and moved to the door.
My mom called out to me. “Taj, honey, let us know that she’s okay.”
I gave her a quick glance and was vaguely aware of my dad putting on his shoes, but I didn’t stick around. I was out the door in a flash.
Then, I was tearing out of the driveway and driving through the streets the way I believed Olivia would’ve gone from her place to where she was having lunch with Savanna. There were four possible explanations for this, and I got the feeling it wasn’t the one I was hoping for.
First, she was still new in town. Maybe she’d gotten lost. But if that was the case, she’d have answered the calls or reached out to us.
When I realized that wasn’t a likely explanation, I moved on to the next one. She could’ve decided to leave town. But that was crazy. We were in love, and she wouldn’t have given us up like that. Especially not without an explanation.
And because I was confident that neither of those things would be the reality, it only left two other options. Either Olivia was involved in a car accident—as sad and terrifying as it was, I hoped that was it—or her ex had followed through on his threat to find her.
“Fuck!” I shouted.
I should’ve dropped her off at lunch myself. How stupid could I have been?
Panic bubbled inside me, and I gripped the steering wheel harder.
Then it happened.
I was driving along the stretch of road when I saw Olivia’s new car in a ditch. Another car was stopped on the shoulder, and the woman there looked utterly terrified.
“Oh, God,” I croaked.
Had that woman witnessed the accident? The look on her face told me that what I saw inside wasn’t going to be good.
No.
No. Not my Olivia.
I brought my car to a stop, flew out of it, and raced down the embankment toward Olivia’s car.
“Please, please, please,” I chanted as I closed the distance between my girl and me.
I made it there, saw the door was already open, but when I looked inside, she was gone. Olivia was nowhere to be found. The windshield was cracked, but it was still in place. She couldn’t have been ejected from the car. Even still, I spun around and called for her. “Olivia!”
She was nowhere.
I didn’t have a clue what to do.
“Olivia!”
The woman who’d been standing on the shoulder of the road was making her way in my direction, and off to the left, my dad and Zane were running toward me.
I could’ve moved toward any of them, but my feet wouldn’t leave from beside Olivia’s car. Like they were waiting for her to appear out of thin air.
There was an awful sinking feeling creating a pit in my stomach.
My dad, Zane, and the woman all made it to me at the same time. “Taj, where is she?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
The woman said, “You have to call the police. My phone is dead. That man took her.”
“What man?”
“I don’t know. He was driving crazy beside her, and he hit her car on purpose. It crashed over there, and when he carried her out of it, she wasn’t awake.”
My head snapped in my dad’s direction. “That’s got to be her ex. He threatened her weeks ago, but he didn’t know she was here. He must’ve hired someone to find her.”
“I’m calling Levi,” Zane said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “He can give us some direction.”
I raked my fingers through my hair and squeezed the back of my neck. If something happened to her, I’d never forgive myself.
My dad put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “We’re going to find her.”
“Dad, I’m not going to survive without her.”
“She’s going to be okay. I promise we’ll find her.”
I could feel myself getting emotional. “What if we’re too late? What if it’s already too late?”
He didn’t answer. And I got the feeling it was because he knew it was possible that was the case.
My emotions were threatening to get the best of me, but I tamped it down. This wasn’t the time to think about myself. I owed this woman everything. I had a responsibility to her. And until I had her safe in my arms again, I had to keep it together.