Jessalyn #2
Justin shrugged and strode toward the building. I hurried to keep up. First, he tried the intercom, and when nobody answered, he caught the door as another resident exited and headed inside. Nobody answered his knock either, and when I pressed my ear against the wood, all I heard was silence.
“I don’t think she’s in there, or if she is…”
“…she’s in trouble,” Justin finished. “Let’s go to the Waffle Factory.”
After a pit stop at the convenience store where I grabbed what I needed, we drove a couple of miles to everybody’s favourite restaurant, or at least, that was how they branded themselves.
Was it true? I had no idea—I’d never eaten a waffle I hadn’t made myself from scratch.
The parking lot was almost empty. A neon sign blinked above a hot-pink door that led into an acid-green vestibule, and the fledgling headache I’d woken with ratcheted up a notch.
Justin spoke quietly with the hostess, explaining that we needed to speak with Sophy if she was working today.
The hostess pointed to the back. “She’s right over there. Y’all want a table?”
“I’m not sure we’ll be staying that long.”
Her face fell, but she held out two menu cards anyway. “Well, maybe you will, and it would be our pleasure to serve you the best waffles in town at everybody’s favourite restaurant.”
Justin must have met Sophy before because he waved her down before we reached a table.
“I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Justin Norquist. I work with Amie.”
“Oh, sure. We met last year at Amie’s birthday dinner?”
“That’s right. Do you know where Amie is?”
“Well, isn’t she at work?”
“She didn’t show up today.”
“That’s weird. She said she was taking yesterday off, but she didn’t say anything about today.”
“Was she at home when you left this morning?”
“I stayed with my boyfriend the last three nights, but then we had a fight, and— Uh, never mind. I haven’t seen Amie since, uh, Tuesday. Tuesday evening.”
Justin and I glanced at each other, and my gut tightened the way it had every time Ridge made eye contact, but for a very different reason. Then, I’d been the one in trouble. Now, I feared another woman was.
Seemed that the possibility was dawning on Sophy too.
“You think there’s a problem?” she asked.
“All I know is that she’s worked for me for the past seven years, and she’s never taken a sick day without calling in.”
“No, she’s real reliable, and she texts me if she’s staying out late.”
“What’s happening with Brett these days?”
Sophy’s face clouded over. “They’re definitely off again. Did you try the apartment?”
“We just came from there. Could you go check inside?”
“I mean, my boss…” She swallowed hard. “I’ll speak with him.”
“You want me to speak with him?”
Sophy nodded quickly. “It might be better coming from you.”
The manager insisted that they were short-staffed. After some negotiation, I agreed to submit a résumé, and Justin agreed to order waffles for the entire office if he could borrow Sophy for the rest of the shift. As the cook got to work, we headed back to the building we’d just left.
The apartment was empty. Saylor swore vibes were a thing, and honestly, it felt as if nobody had been there for days.
“Amie’s purse isn’t here,” Sophy said. “What was she wearing at work on Wednesday?”
Justin froze like a deer in headlights. “Uh… Jeans? She normally wore jeans.”
“What colour sweater?”
He screwed his eyes shut. “Green? Or burgundy? Maybe the burgundy was Tuesday.”
Sophy began rummaging through the laundry hamper, and then she checked the closet.
“Okay, there’s a burgundy sweater in here, and she only has one of those. Nothing green.” She straightened suddenly. “Hold on a second.”
We followed her to the kitchen area, where she pulled open the refrigerator.
“Oh, shit. She didn’t come home on Wednesday evening.”
“How do you know?” Justin asked.
“We ordered pizza on Tuesday, and she got a large so she could eat the leftovers on Wednesday. There’s still half a pizza in here.”
“Was she planning to go anywhere after work?”
“I’m not sure; she didn’t tell me. We’ve been roommates forever—we’ve lived in four different apartments together—and we’re friends, but we don’t do everything together, you know? We just look out for each other.”
“So you don’t know how she planned to spend her day off yesterday?”
“No? Like, not for sure. But I overheard her on the phone, and she said something about a doctor’s appointment.”
“Amie was sick?”
“I mean, she didn’t look sick. She just seemed more stressed than usual these past couple of weeks. Honestly, I thought that maybe she was having problems at work, which was weird because she always enjoyed going to the office.”
You know who else looked stressed? Sophy. Like, on the verge of tears. But honestly, if Saylor were missing and I had no idea where she was, I’d be upset too.
“Everything was fine at work,” Justin said. “She was doing a great job, as usual.”
“Did she have any money worries?” I asked.
“I don’t think so, not anymore. She always paid her rent on time.” Sophy bit her lip. “When we first moved in together, she, uh… She had some, uh, problems.”
“If you mean the credit card debt, I know about that,” Justin said. “She told me.”
“Really?” Sophy seemed surprised.
“She wasn’t eating properly. So I started ‘accidentally’ ordering extra lunch, and then she realised…
” Justin grimaced. “Let’s just say there were tears.
But she confessed about the difficulties with her sister and the identity theft, and I invented a ‘hardship fund’ and gave her a thousand bucks, plus we started pizza Fridays.
She promised to tell me if she was struggling with her budget again.
You know if she’s had any more trouble with Saige? ”
“When has she ever not had trouble with Saige?” Sophy shrugged. “You should try speaking with Brett. He’s a real douche, and she’d be crazy to get back with him, but it already happened, like, three times before, so…”
“Do you have a number for him?”
“No, but he works at the fish place near the Spend ’n’ Save. You know it?”
“The seafood restaurant?”
“No, no, the fish place. Ponds and fountains and koi.”
“We’ll find it.” Justin sighed. “Can you call me if you hear from Amie?”
“Sure, give me your number.”
Justin and Sophy swapped contact details, and I took a last look around the apartment.
There was laundry drying on a radiator, a shopping list on the refrigerator, and a half-read book on the coffee table.
No hint that a woman had left without intending to return, but when I ran, I hadn’t exactly planned for it.
“Good luck with Brett,” Sophy said.
Justin gave her a lopsided smile. “Got to pick up all those waffles first.”