“Mr. Wells?” I croak out. I start fighting again in earnest, knowing this isn’t going to end well for me. His eyes look even colder than they did in the hospital. Not something I thought possible.
“It’s Detective Wells, honey, though I wouldn’t worry about remembering it, you won’t need to where you’re going.” The other officer recovers, moving to pin me to the ground.
Wells disappears for a moment, I heart car doors opening and closing, I vaguely register blinking yellow lights, before he comes back, and my nightmare begins.
“You should have kept your mouth shut, fucking bitch.” The officer spits in my face. “No worries, once Bob is done and we finish you off, it’ll be like none of this happened in the first place.”
My side explodes in pain, something sharp digs into me. Again, and again. My chest burns, my stomach cramps, my legs shake. A shadow falls over my face and I look up to see the devil standing above me. Right before a boot slams into my face.
Ephraim 20.
I wake up on my couch, confused. How long have I been asleep? I find my cell on the coffee table, 4:53 a.m. What the fuck? I jump off the couch and search the other two rooms, no Priscilla. I open the door and run down to the lobby. Anthony, our night desk clerk, looks up from his phone and smiles.
“Good early morning, Eph.”
“Priscilla. Has she been here?”
He shakes his head before answering. “No, sir. Haven’t seen her.”
“Fuck.” I race back up to my rooms, slip on my boots and call her cell phone. It goes to voicemail. I call again, same thing. I have no missed calls from her and no text messages.
I call Judah next. “Dude, do you know what time it is?”
“Priscilla never showed up last night. She hasn’t called and didn’t text. Her phone is going straight to voicemail.”
“Ok.” He says slowly. “Maybe she went home and crashed.”
“She was supposed to come over after work, she never showed, and I fell asleep on the couch waiting for her.”
“Head over to her place, I’m sure she’s there, just forgot to call.”
I hang up without saying goodbye. His answer pisses me off; it’s logical, but it doesn’t feel right.
Racing over to her apartment, I attempt letting the feel of the bike and the road beneath me calm me down. It doesn’t work. I’m sure she is fine, but I just want to see it with my own eyes. Hopefully, she won’t be too pissed when I wake her up.
35 minutes later, I pull up to her apartment complex, but I don’t see her car. I pound on her door, no answer. I try her cell again, no answer. Now, I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“NICU, this is Taylor.”
“Taylor. This is Garrett Havlin.”
“Oh, hi, Garrett. Elead is doing great, eating like a little piggy and sleeping well.”
My happiness at that report is short lived. “That’s great. I was actually calling to see if Priscilla had come in last night to see El?”
“No, I’ve been on duty since 7 last night, haven’t seen her. Though, she was working in the PICU, you could try there.”
“Thank you.” I hang up and immediately dial the hospital again, this time asking for the PICU.
“PICU, this is Ellen.” A tired woman answers, and I recognize the name as Priscilla’s charge nurse.
“Hello, my name is Garrett Havlin, I’m sorry to bother you. I’m looking for my girlfriend, Priscilla, she never came home last night after shift.”
“Oh, no.” Ellen gasps and sniffles. “She left here about 8:30 last night. She should be here soon for her next shift.”
I pull the phone away to see that is just past 6 a.m. “She isn’t at her apartment and her car is not in the parking lot.” This can’t be happening. “Uh, when she comes in, could you have her call me? I just want to make sure she is alright.”
“Of course, I’ll pass along the message.” We hang up and I sit on my bike for a few minutes before I drive back to the clubhouse. I take a quick shower when I arrive. Then, I head to the main kitchen to grab some breakfast, seeing Reuben and Asher already eating.
“Hey man, what’s up, you look rough.”
“I, uh, I can’t find Priscilla.”
“Can’t you just lay out some food on the table and wait for her to sniff it out?” Reu jokes but I don’t react. “Sorry, man.”
“Where have you looked already?” Asher asks, in full SAA mode.
“Her phone goes straight to voicemail, she is not at her apartment, her car isn’t in the lot, she hasn’t been here, and her boss said that she left the hospital around 8:30 last night.” I take off my baseball hat to run my hand through my hair. “I just…it feels like something is off. She was supposed to be here last night, but I fell asleep.”
“It’s not your fault—” Reu starts, but my phone rings, interrupting him.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Garrett. This is…This is Ellen from the PICU. Priscilla hasn’t shown up yet, and you know she is never late. I had hospital security check the employee parking garage, she left at 8:37.” Her sobs become muffled for a moment before she gets back on the line. Meanwhile, I slam my fist into the table. “I’m so sorry. Please let me know when you find her and tell her I’m sorry, I should have listened to her.”
“What does that mean? Listen to her about what?” I ask desperate for more information.
“I can’t tell you, I’m sorry.” She hangs up. I throw my phone, watching it bounce against the wall and fall to the floor.
“It’s a good thing Sim talked us into these cases.” Reu places my undamaged phone on the table in front of me.
“That wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I’d hoped.” I
