Chapter 3 – Presley
PRESLEY
When we got home, I helped Ariel inside and got her settled on the couch. I was exhausted but knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I was in nurse mom mode, which meant I was going to hover, monitor, and overanalyze everything until I was sure she was okay.
“Do you want something to eat?” I asked. “Maybe some toast or a bagel?”
“Toast, please,” she said, followed by a yawn.
When I brought the toast to her, I sat down in the chair beside the couch and watched her nibble at the bread. After a few bites, she dropped the toast onto the plate and let out a frustrated groan.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I have this feeling that I’m forgetting something important, but I can’t remember anything.
I don’t remember leaving to go to the party, but I must have gone for a reason.
” She shook her head and squeezed her eyes closed.
When they popped open again, she looked as if she remembered something. “Where’s my phone?” she asked urgently.
“I don’t know,” I said. The whereabouts of her phone had not been on my list of concerns. “I’ll look in the bag with your clothes.” After a quick search, I came up empty. “Could it be in your car?”
“I doubt it. I don’t think I would have gone into the party without it.”
“I’ll check to be sure.” She kept her car very clean, so it didn’t take me long to confirm that her phone was not in her car.
“It’s not there,” I told her.
“Check the tracking app,” Ariel said.
“I’m obviously exhausted. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that,” I mumbled as I reached for my phone. “Huh. It seems to be moving.”
“It’s still on. Call it,” Ariel said.
So, I did.
A deep, somewhat familiar voice answered after a few rings.
“Yes, hi,” I stammered. “You have my daughter’s phone. Who am I speaking with?”
“Hey, Presley. It’s Ink,” he said. “I’m actually on my way to bring the phone to you.”
“What? How?”
“Flint found it in his truck. We assumed it was Ariel’s. Since I don’t have your phone number, I figured I’d just drop by and see if it was hers.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“No problem. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said and ended the call.
“Ink found your phone. He’s on his way here with it now,” I told Ariel.
“Where was it?”
“In the guy’s truck who brought you to the hospital,” I said and looked down at my scrubs. “I’m going to run upstairs and change before he gets here.”
She nodded and closed her eyes.
I hurried upstairs through my bathroom to my closet, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
I looked like the hell my night had been and didn’t have much time to do anything about it.
Before changing, I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and redid my messy bun to look less messy.
Then I changed into a hoodie and a pair of leggings.
I had just made it back downstairs when the doorbell rang.
“Hi,” I said when I opened the door. “Thanks for bringing her phone to us.”
“No problem,” he said and handed the phone to me. Then, he held up a large bag. “I also brought breakfast in case you were hungry.”
“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
He chuckled. “Actually, I did. My friend, Irene, owns a diner, and she insisted I bring you something to eat.”
“Please thank her for me,” I said and took the bag of food. I could tell from the weight of the bag that there was more food than Ariel and I could possibly eat in one sitting. “Would you like to join us for breakfast or a cup of coffee?”
Ink grinned. “I could eat.”
As he followed me into the kitchen, Ariel’s phone rang.
“She’s had several calls this morning, but I only answered the one from you,” Ink said.
“I wonder if she had plans today,” I said and took the phone to Ariel. “Ink brought breakfast. Do you think you can eat anything?”
“Not right now,” she said, looking at her phone. Her forehead wrinkled, but she didn’t say anything else.
“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”
When I returned to the kitchen, Ink was setting the containers of food on the table. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
I’d made his cup and started mine when Ariel screamed my name in a way that told me something was very wrong. “Mom!”
Running to the living room, my socked feet slid to a stop in front of her. “What’s wrong?”
“Elsie is missing!”
“Elsie? Your science project partner?”
Ariel nodded frantically.
“What makes you think that?”
She tapped the screen of her phone, and a message began to play.
“Hi, Ariel. This is Mrs. Nelson, Elsie’s mother. I’ve been trying to get in touch with her for hours, but her phone seems to be off. She said she was going over to your house to work on your project, but she should have been home by now. Can you please tell her to call me?”
“That was around midnight,” Ariel said. “This one is from a few hours later.”
“Hi, Ariel. It’s Elsie’s mom again. I still haven’t been able to get in touch with her, and I’m getting concerned. I’m hoping you girls fell asleep. Please have her call me. If I haven’t heard anything by mid-morning, I’m going to call the police.”
“What is she talking about?” I asked. “I thought you finished your science project a few weeks ago.”
“We did. I looked at my text messages, and I was texting with Elsie last night. She asked me to pick her up from a party. She said she wanted to leave but didn’t say why.
The last text message is her telling me to come inside and get her,” Ariel said and looked at me with horror-filled eyes.
“I must have gone to the party to pick her up, but that obviously didn’t happen. What am I supposed to do now?”
“I think we need to call her mother and let her know what we know,” I said. “Do you want me to do it?”
Ariel was quick to nod. “Yes.”
I took her phone and called Elsie’s mother. “Ariel, please tell me Elsie is with you,” she answered.
“Hi, Mrs. Nelson, this is Presley Calloway, Ariel’s mom,” I said and told her what we knew, as well as what happened to Ariel.
“So, they weren’t at your house working on their project together?” Mrs. Nelson asked.
“No. They finished that project weeks ago.”
“I see. Well, do you know if Ariel saw Elsie at the party?” she asked.
“If she did, she doesn’t remember. Like I said, she has no recollection of anything that happened last night.”
“Okay, what about an address? Does she know where the party was?”
“If you can hold on for one second, I can look for the address in her text messages.” I put the phone on mute and looked at Ink for help. “Should I give her the address?”
He nodded and handed me a piece of paper with the address already written on it.
“Ah, here it is,” I said and took the phone off mute to read the address to her.
“Thank you,” she said, sounding somewhat relieved to have new information. “I notified the police, and I gave them Ariel’s name. I’m not sure if they’ll contact you.”
“It’s fine if they do,” I said. “And please let us know when you’ve located Elsie.”
“I will. Thank you,” she said and ended the call.
I handed the phone back to Ariel. “There’s a chance the police may come by to talk to you.”
“What?” she gasped. “Why?”
“To get your story. Just tell them the same thing you told me,” I said and glanced over my shoulder at Ink. “But don’t mention anything about Blaze, Raven, or Ink.”
“What if they ask me how I got to the hospital?”
“Answer honestly and tell them you don’t remember how you got there,” I said. “They should be focused on Elsie, not you. And I can handle any other questions they might have. It’ll be fine, sweetie. I promise.”
“Okay,” she said quietly.
“Close your eyes and get some rest. I’ll wake you if there’s any news.”
“Thanks, Mom,” she said and closed her eyes.
I exhaled heavily and returned to the kitchen, gesturing for Ink to follow me. “Is this going to be a problem?” I asked and busied myself with my coffee.
“What? The police?” Ink asked.
“Yeah,” I said and joined him at the table. “I don’t want there to be any trouble for you or your friends.”
“I appreciate the concern, but there’s no need for it. If the police ask, you can tell them what happened. In fact, you should tell them what happened. Leaving out parts of the story might make it seem like you were hiding something, if there was indeed something to hide,” he said.
“Are you sure? Pissing off a motorcycle club doesn’t seem like a great way to thank them for saving my child.”
Instead of answering me, he pulled out his phone, tapped his screen a few times, and placed his phone on the table.
“What in the fresh hell is it now?” a man said instead of the usual greeting.
“Hey, Prez. I’m here with Presley, and there’s been some new developments,” Ink said.
“Ariel had several messages on her phone from her friend’s mother.
Apparently, her friend went to the party and called Ariel to pick her up, but no one has heard from her since.
Presley spoke with the friend’s mother a few minutes ago, and she told us the police might stop by to speak with Ariel.
Presley has some concerns about this regarding our involvement with the events of last night. ”
“What kind of concerns?”
“She said she didn’t want to piss off a motorcycle club.”
Phoenix chuckled. “Can she hear me?”
“She can.”
“Presley,” Phoenix said. “If the police come to your house, tell them what you know. Not what you think happened, or what you might suspect happened, only what you know to be true. Same for Ariel. If they need to speak with any of us, send them our way. We can answer whatever questions they might have.”
“I will. Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome. I hope everything is okay with your daughter’s friend. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”
“Thank you,” I repeated.
“Thanks, Prez,” Ink said and ended the call. “Feel better?”
“Not as much as I’d like,” I admitted.