Chapter 41
Riley
“Riley.” Steph’s panicked voice comes through the phone, and I’m instantly awake, rocketing up to a seated position in bed.
“What happened?” I demand. “What’s wrong?” But all that comes through the line are muffled sobs. My stomach lurches at the pained sounds. Pulling the phone briefly from my ear, I glance at the time. A little after six in the morning.
“Jesus, Steph, tell me what’s happened,” I repeat, already throwing the covers off.
Connor leaps from the foot of my bed, where he’d been sleeping, hot on my heels as I move toward my dresser.
I yank the top drawer open and pull out some boxers before heading for the closet, my heart in my throat.
I may not know what’s happening yet, but I do know Steph needs me. My family needs me.
“Okay, okay, babe, breathe,” I tell her, between her sniffles. Switching the phone over to speaker, I set it on a shelf and quickly dress myself. Her breaths are coming in short pants. She’s hyperventilating. “I need you to breathe for me, Steph. Please. Take a deep breath.”
She coughs, then does as I ask, inhaling sharply.
“Good, now let it out slowly,” I command, and she does. “Okay, another one … slowly … good.”
She takes another breath, and then another, but the next one is cut off by more panicked wailing.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. One more.”
She sniffles, then does as I ask, letting out a shaky exhale.
“Good. That’s good. Now, tell me what happened.
” I’ve moved into the bathroom now and quickly splash some water on my face, before I’m out in the hall and headed for the front door.
Connor starts barking as I step into my boots, thinking he’s about to get an early morning walk, but I shake my head, shushing him as I tie my laces.
“I fell asleep on the couch last night after the girls left …” she starts, then pauses, swallowing audibly before continuing.
“I finally told them about … about us—our story. It was hard, you know? A-and I had a few glasses of wine. More than a few,” she chokes. “And … Oh God, I’m a horrible mother!”
“No, you’re not, baby. Far from it.”
“I slept there all night,” she wails. “I didn’t even realize he hadn’t come home.”
“Matt?” I ask, but I already know the answer.
“Yes,” she breathes, then sniffles. “He’s not answering his phone.”
“Have you called anyone else? His friends? The police?”
My mom appears before me in her robe, likely having been woken by Con’s barking. Her face is lit with concern as she listens to our conversation, my phone still on speaker mode as I reach for my jacket and don it quickly.
“N-no, not yet. I just woke up and went to the bathroom. I saw his door was open … and his bed was still made,” she whines. “Then I checked and saw that his car wasn’t in the drive.” She chokes out that last word, sniffling again. “The first thing I thought was to call you …”
My heart squeezes at her confession, at the acknowledgement that she’s heard me all the times I told her to lean on me, that I’d bear the load with her—for her … but I don’t have time to celebrate this development right now.
“What about his girlfriend?” I ask. “Priya?”
She nods.
“Call her. Maybe he stayed there. He could have fallen asleep just like you did.”
“Yeah,” she breathes, her voice rising hopefully when she repeats, “Yeah.”
“I’m on my way,” I tell her, palming my keys from the entry table and meeting my mother’s gaze. “He’s probably with her, Steph, okay? I’ll be there soon, though. We’ll sort it out. We’ll find him.”
“Please hurry,” she says before disconnecting.
“I will,” I murmur, but she’s already gone. To my mother, I ask, “You heard all that?” She nods, wide-eyed. “Call Aidan. Fill him in and ask him to meet me at Steph’s.”
“On it. I’ll take care of Connor, then meet you over there, too.”
“Thanks,” I call over my shoulder as I fly down the porch steps and rush towards my truck.
I make the drive in less time than it took me to dress, my own panic rising as I try Matt’s number, a number I’d only just eagerly saved in my phone the week before when he’d texted to invite me to the first exhibition game of the new football season. I’d been ecstatic.
I hit redial when it rings through to a voicemail that hasn’t even been set up. Teenagers. I slam my fist on the wheel in frustration and nearly miss the turnoff for their street, taking the corner so sharply my tires squeal on the asphalt.
Steph meets me in the driveway, hair disheveled, eyes red-rimmed, and still wearing the clothes she’d no doubt had on last night.
“He’s not with Priya,” she cries, clutching her phone to her chest as I quickly exit the truck. “He’s not with her! She’s sick and had to cancel their date last night. She hasn’t seen or heard from him since yesterday afternoon.”
I open my arms, and she flies into them, her breath whooshing out as she collides with my chest. Over her shoulder, I see Alex, standing on the porch. He’s still in his PJs and frowning as he watches us.
I squeeze Steph to me tightly, holding her against my body as I let out a long, slow exhale. We both need the comfort of this embrace right now. “Did you have her try calling him?”
“Yes. She said he sent her to voicemail.”
“Is that exactly what she said? He ‘sent her to voicemail’?”
Steph nods against my chest.
“Then that’s good news.”
She squirms in my arms, and I release her, noting how sharply her chest rises and falls as she pulls back to look at me. I slide my hands up to her shoulders, holding her at arm’s length but unwilling to completely break our physical connection.
“It—it is?”
I give her a quick squeeze. “Think about it … when I called, it rang through a bunch of times before I got the automated message about his mailbox not being set up. How about you?”
She bites her lip and then nods.
“Okay, so if he purposely sent her to voicemail, meaning he didn’t let it just ring, it at least indicates he has his phone with him and was capable of doing so. He’s screening his calls, which means he’s likely unharmed.”
Steph’s eyes flare with hope, but it fades in another instant. “But then why won’t he answer?”
“I don’t know, Sunshine.” Alex has joined us on the driveway now, and I ask him to try calling his brother, too. It rings once, then voicemail again.
“But it could be turned off,” Steph murmurs. “Or the battery’s dead.”
“No, Mom,” Alex says. “It wouldn’t even ring if that were the case. Riley’s right. He has his phone, and he’s ignoring us on purpose.”
The sound of car doors slamming has us turning to the street to find Aidan and Piper jogging up the walk. My mom’s car is pulling to the curb behind them.
“I called Jack, too,” she says as we gather in front of the porch. “He’s on his way.”
“Thank you,” Steph murmurs.
“How about we go inside?” Mom suggests, and Piper nods, coming over to Steph’s side and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She leads her up the steps, and the rest of us fall in line behind them.
Inside, my mom gets to work making coffee and boiling water for tea while Steph and I fill everyone in on what happened and what we’ve just deduced.
Jack soon arrives, followed by Noah and Lucy, the latter of whom takes Steph immediately into her arms.
“You didn’t have to come, too,” Steph murmurs, and Lucy shushes her. “Don’t be silly. I’m here for you—we’re all here for you.”
“But Cece—”
“Owen has her. He said to tell you he’s thinking of you and sending all kinds of good energy.”
“And Mark’s headed into the station to manage the search from there,” Jack supplies. “I’ll go relieve him once we’ve figured out a plan of action. I need you to tell me everything, from the start.”
Steph nods and recounts the events once more while pacing in her kitchen.
“It sounds like he might have run away,” Aidan notes once she’s done.
“But why?” Steph sniffles. “I just don’t understand what could have happened.”
“Did you have an argument?” Jack asks, getting into chief mode.
“No, nothing like that,” she says, shaking her head.
He turns to Alex, who’s since dressed and is standing in the doorway to the living room with his arms crossed. His brow is furrowed, and he’s been staring down at the floor as if searching his memory for any trigger that might have upset his brother.
“What about you? You guys have a fight?”
Alex jerks his eyes to the chief, shaking his head. “No. I dunno what his problem is,” he mutters.
“And the girlfriend?” Jack asks, turning back to Steph. “She say anything about a fight?”
“No,” Steph shakes her head. “I told you everything she said. She was surprised he didn’t take her call.”
Piper sits up straighter in her seat, then, a gasp falling from her lips as a thought seemingly occurs to her. Her eyebrows pull together, and we all watch as she tilts her head, thinking through something. Slowly, she meets Steph’s eyes.
“What about …” but she trails off.
“What?” Lucy asks.
“Last night,” she continues, holding Steph’s gaze. “When I thought I heard something in the hall.”
Steph stares at her for a long moment before her eyes widen in understanding. “If his date canceled and he came home …” A look of horror washes over her face, and she turns to me. “If he heard—” she sucks in a breath, panic filling her eyes. “If he heard—”
I move in quickly, pulling her back into my arms. Glancing over her shoulder, I meet first my mother’s eyes, then my brother’s.
Piper and Lucy are watching us, Lucy’s hand over her mouth in distress.
Everyone appears to have picked up on Piper’s trail of thought, including Jack, whom I know my mom confides in.
He’s also a smart and observant motherfucker who probably had an inkling of Matty’s paternity all along anyway.
Everyone but Alex, that is. “Heard what?” he asks.
Steph glances over at him, her cheeks wet with the tears that had been threatening since I arrived, the idea that Matt might have overheard such life-altering news enough to cause them to finally spill over.
She sniffles, then opens her mouth, but doesn’t respond.
Clearly, she doesn’t know how to respond, and she certainly doesn’t have the bandwidth to get into it with him at this moment.
“It’s nothing,” I answer for her, moving my hand down her back in slow soothing strokes.
Alex snorts his disbelief. “Right, sure. Sounds like nothing,” he sneers.
“Just— we’ll talk about it later. For now, we need to focus on finding your brother. Can you think of anywhere he might have gone?”
He shakes his head sullenly.
“Alright,” Jack interrupts, thankfully diverting the conversation and getting down to business.
“I need a list of all his friends. Anyone he might go to—reach out to. If you don’t have numbers, we’ll start with names.
Noah and Aidan,” he turns to my brother and his partner, standing side-by-side, alert and ready for their orders.
“Start running them down. Luke should be at the station by now, too. Have him pull addresses for you, and you go check them out one by one.”
“We’ll text you,” I say. Noah gives a curt nod before turning away to get to work. Aidan sends me a reassuring look and follows quickly after him.
“I’m gonna head in and help Mark with coordinating a search.” Jack continues, meeting my mother’s eyes, and then mine. “We’ll send guys out to the high school, the burger barn, the arcade, the beaches, and the marina. Does he have access to any boats?”
I look to Steph, who shakes her head, swiping at her tears with the back of her hand. “I don’t think so.”
“Okay. I’ll get some other guys to run up the West side of Gryff by the resorts.
I doubt there are many empty cottages this time of year, but you never know.
We’ve had grifters crash in deserted cabins and teens partying and camping on vacant lots up that way before.
I’ll also get Mark checking out his social media. He’s good with computers.”
“What should we do?” Steph asks.
“Stay here for now and keep your phone line open.”
“But—”
He raises a hand, cutting her off. “I know it’s hard, but you should be here in case he comes home.”
Steph’s shoulders drop, but she nods once more.
The chief says his goodbyes, promising to keep us updated, then strides from the room.
My mom follows, walking him out and returning a few moments later.
She takes a seat at the table with Piper and Lucy.
I walk Steph over and gently push her down into a chair, moving to stand behind her with my arms on her shoulders.
Lucy passes her a notebook from the counter, and a pen, and she gets to work making the list while I massage her shoulders, at a loss for how else to help her, what else to do.
My mind is racing with the implications of Matt knowing the truth, as I’m sure Steph’s is.
I just pray we find him and that he’s okay … that he’ll give us a chance to explain.
She finishes the list and I take a photo, shooting it off to my brother. Steph still grips the pen, trembling. Mom reaches over, gently taking it from her, then grasps her hand, smiling comfortingly.
“It’ll be alright,” she murmurs. “If he knows, then he’s probably in shock. He just needs some space to work through his feelings, and then I’m sure he’ll come home so you can talk about it.”
“Nora’s right,” Piper agrees. “That kind of revelation would be difficult for anyone to hear. Not that it’s the same, but I ran away a few times as a teen. It was after my parents died, and I went to stay with my aunt. I had a lot of big feelings I didn’t know how to deal with.”
“Where would you go?” I ask, a glimmer of an idea taking root at the edge of my mind.
“I always went to the same place.” She smiles.
“This one library branch where my mom had once worked. It was in an old building, and because she’d worked there, I knew about this secret space located off the boiler room where nobody would think to look.
I’d hide in there at closing and then would have the library to myself all night.
” She shrugs. “It made me feel closer to her, and it gave me space to sort through things.”
Steph’s shoulders go rigid beneath my hands, and I know her mind is headed in the same direction as mine as I recall our conversation the first night I came over here. The one where we both spoke about our special place … the place we used to go when we needed to be alone.
The place that’s helped us both deal with our troubles over the years.
Her head drops back, and our eyes lock, the realization hitting us at once as we say in unison, “The ridge.”