41. Connor
41
CONNOR
I pace the office, brow pinched and body coiled tight.
“Have you seen Daisy?” I ask Stephanie as she walks in later than usual. I told all staff to start later today because of the event last night, so even though I’ve been awake for a little while, no one else has been around. Except Daisy. Or she’s meant to be. I left her in bed when I went for a run earlier. When I got back, she was gone, but I assumed she was doing yoga in our new garden, so I hit the shower and made us breakfast. Only, it still sits cold on my kitchen counter, because she never came back.
I looked around the lawns and went to our new garden, but she wasn’t there. After that, I came to the office, looking for her here, thinking she may have started work early since it would be quiet. But I have walked around the offices three times and can’t find her.
“Ahhh, no. Haven’t seen her since last night,” she says, and I just give her a nod, an uncomfortable feeling seeping into my veins.
I think about where else she could be, and my mind immediately goes to the springs. She’s gone there twice since we got back from New York without telling me. I caught her the first time sneaking off and followed her, watching her from a distance with pride as she worked hard at accomplishing a new skill of swimming. I know she’s smart and competent, and getting into trouble when she’s in the water is an almost unthinkable issue now. But it’s still not impossible. What if she drowned? What if she slipped on a rock and hit her head? I would never forgive myself if that happened.
Feeling a fresh rush of panic, I run out the door and down the path toward the springs, looking around on my journey, and there’s no sign of her. I speed up my steps, frazzled, having no idea where else she might be if she isn’t by the water.
I reach the springs, and the water is calm. The gravel’s a little messy in the area where I know she normally steps, so she may have been here, but there’s no other sign of her. No towel, shoes. Nothing.
“Daisy!” I yell out her name, the feeling of something being off building. I hear nothing, I see nothing, and with nowhere else to search, I run back up the path, my mind spinning.
We had a great night. We laid out our cards. I told her how I feel about her, and she feels the same. It was so good to have her in my arms, dancing in our garden of daisies, and while I know we still have a few things to iron out, we’re both committed to merging our futures.
There’s a pit in my stomach, and I rub my chest as my heart pounds hard and fast. Something feels really wrong, like the connection we have is in jeopardy. I shake my head. I’m sounding woo-woo, but… I feel it in my gut.
“What’s going on?” Dad asks, having just pulled up to the distillery and seeing me come through the gate. “What’s wrong?” he asks again, striding over to me, my panic written all over my face, no doubt.
“I can’t find her,” I tell him, my breathing rapid.
“Who?”
“Daisy. I went for a run. I thought she was going to do yoga, but I can’t find her on the lawn. Then I checked the office, and she hasn’t been in yet. I just went down to the springs, and she isn’t there either, although I think she might have been,” I rush out, and a frown creases his face immediately.
“Do you think… Do you think she left?” I ask him, swallowing as self-doubt creeps in. I know it’s not possible. We feel tethered together, Daisy and me. Our feelings are too real and too big to even consider that she would run from me, but I need to look at all angles.
“Left you?” he asks, already shaking his head.
“Maybe last night was too much for her?” I mention, and he inhales a sharp breath.
“Call her parents,” he says, and I nod, grabbing my cell. Finding their details, I immediately call them.
“It’s Connor Whiteman,” I say as soon as someone answers.
“Connor. Good morning,” her father says.
“Sorry for the early call, but I can’t find Daisy. She normally does morning yoga while I run, but when I got back, she wasn’t there, and I’ve looked everywhere. I can’t find her. I’m calling to see if you have heard from her…” I ask, knowing that this is an odd phone call, and I have taken him by surprise. I hold my breath. On the one hand, I want him to tell me that he has heard from her and she’s on her way home to them. I would be devastated, but at least I’d know she’s okay. On the other hand, if he hasn’t heard from her, then I know my gut feeling is right.
“We haven’t heard from her. Are you sure you’ve looked everywhere? Called her cell?” he asks, and Dad looks at me. It’s a silent question, asking if she’s with her parents. I shake my head, and he’s quick to pull out his phone.
“I’ve called her cell, but her phone, along with her purse, are still sitting on the table at my place. She doesn’t have anything with her,” I tell him, thinking about seeing her handbag, her crystals, yoga gear. Everything is still as it was last night. Safely in my house.
“Connor, you’re starting to worry me,” he says, his voice taking on an edge of panic. The kind I’ve felt all morning.
“I am worried, sir,” I admit. My palms start to sweat, my shoulders tense as I wait for his response.
“Did the two of you have a fight or anything?” he asks, and I look up to the sky.
“No, the opposite. I told her last night that I loved her and I want her to build a life with me,” I tell him honestly.
“Was she okay with that?” he asks hesitantly, and I swallow.
“She reciprocated her love for me. She smiled, laughed, we danced under the stars for a bit, before we had to come back inside for the remainder of the party, and then we went home. She was happy last night and still asleep in bed this morning when I left for my run.”
“What time did you last see her?”
I look at my watch. “About three hours ago.”
“She isn’t a runner, Connor. She has never run away from anything in her life. Rainbow and I will pack a bag and come to Whispers right away. Something doesn’t feel right,” he says, and I nod, even though he can’t see me.
“I’ll arrange a car to be at your place in half an hour. I can fly you both here to Whispers this morning.”
I hear my dad on his phone, calling the staff in. Starting a search party, the gardener, the restaurant team, he’s asking everyone if they’ve seen her and to come in to start looking around the area.
“Okay. We’ll see you soon, Connor,” he says, ending the call, and I send a quick text to my team to arrange the flight before pocketing my cell.
“Would she be at Marie’s Place?” I ask my dad as it pops into my head.
“Nope. Victoria’s there already, and there’s no sign of her.”
My heart feels like it’s about to blow up as I pace around the parking lot, pulling at my hair. Some staff are already arriving, and I walk from the gate of the springs toward the distillery door, feeling like I need to retrace her steps or something.
Not wasting any precious moments, I look around, seeing the garden unbothered, and as I’m about to turn, I see a small sparkle hit my eye and pause. Walking closer, I bend down and pick it up.
Dread chills me down to my bones, anxiety crawling through my body like black tar.
“Dad!” I yell.
“What is it?” he shouts back as he runs over, and I hold up the silver daisy chain necklace that I found on the ground.
“This is Daisy's. Her mom gave it to her for her birthday. She never takes it off. Never,” I state, and we both look at it closely. “Is that…”
“Blood. I’ll call the sheriff,” Dad says quickly, and I think I lose the ability to breathe before I look up, spotting our security cameras on the side of the building.
“I need to see the cameras.” Placing the necklace into a clean tissue, I run up the stairs to my office, my dad right behind me, already talking to the local sheriff.
I race to my computer, bringing up the security feed. I rewind it until I spot some movement.
“There!” Dad yells in my ear, and I pause it, playing it back slowly. We see a van in the parking lot, not sure what time it arrived. With the party yesterday, we had so many cars coming and going all night, it would have been easy for it to come on-site. Our security when we travel or when we are in the city is tight. We have our own team that we use when we need to. But out here, in such a small town, where everyone knows everyone, we haven’t needed full guards or locked gates before.
“That’s her.” I spot her coming up through the gate from the springs, her hair wet, towel in her hand. So she did go to the springs for a swim this morning. Then she looks up sharply at a man I recognize stepping toward her.
“Who is that?” Dad asks.
“He’s been here before. I think it’s a supplier. Soren,” I say, because it definitely looks like him. But then the man turns, shoving something into her waist, and I freeze.
“Was that a gun?” I ask my dad, who’s looking over my shoulder. He leans closer because I can’t move my hands from where they’re gripping my desk, white-knuckled as fear takes over my body and we replay that part of the footage. The two of us watch intently, holding our breaths.
“Fuck,” Dad spits, and my anger now rises to join my fear and anxiety. I can’t see the man’s face, but as he moves, I notice his hair is a little different from the man I met in her office all those weeks ago. He’s also bigger and broader than I remember Soren being.
Pure terror takes over Daisy’s body language, and I watch her stumble into the van before he hits her. My teeth grind, my jaw tight as he throws her limp body into the van, slamming the door shut and driving off.
“Download the footage and send it to the team,” Dad says, and I move on autopilot.
“Who would want anything from Daisy?” he asks me, and I shake my head.
“I have no idea. She doesn’t know anyone here.” Downloading the footage, I send it out immediately to our team for facial recognition and any other trace elements we can find.
“What about her parents?” Dad asks. And I pause.
“The commune…” I say, thinking out loud. The kidnapper was wearing flowing cream linen clothing, nothing like the denim and button-down shirts most people around here wear. Long hair, earthy, nature-loving type profile.
“The what?” Dad asks, looking at me like I’m crazy.
“Daisy’s mom was raised in a commune not far away from here,” I tell him.
“Where?” he barks.
“I have no idea, but her parents will know.” Running my hand through my hair, I pull at the ends, wishing I knew more about it. But I know exactly who does, and they’re on my plane and going to be here within a few hours. So I send them the footage, hoping they have the answers we all need, before I call them to work out a location. At the moment, we don’t have much.
And I need my Daisy girl back.