Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
School drop-off goes off without a hitch as she waves at me and walks in with Saige, followed by Wyatt, who is with his own friends. I pull up to the barn a little later than normal since I took my time coming to work.
Getting out of the truck and heading into the barn, I’m almost inside when I see Charlie charging my way. “Where the fuck is Lilah?” he snaps, his voice high, and I see Bobby and Sammy both look our way.
“What do you mean, where the fuck is Lilah?” I put my hands on my hips.
“She’s not at her desk, and she isn’t answering my phone calls either,” he replies, and my fingers move with a twitch.
“How should I know where she is?”
“She’s never been late a day in her life since she started,” he states, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He calls her again, and I hear her voice come through the phone.
“You’ve reached Lilah’s phone. I’m unable to answer your call right now.” He hangs up.
“Maybe she had an appointment and forgot to tell you.” I try to calm him down, but something doesn’t sit right. The last thing I need is to go crazy and then she shows up, seeing me going crazy. “Bobby, what time did you get here today?” I ask.
“A little after seven,” he answers, and I look at Sammy, who is holding a saddle in his hand.
“A little after Bobby,” he says.
I turn to the side, looking in the kitchen and seeing her mug is pushed on the counter. “That’s her mug,” I say, walking to the kitchen, my feet moving so fast it’s like I’m jogging. “This is her mug.” I look inside of it, seeing it’s empty. “Someone probably took it out of the dishwasher.” I put it back down on the counter.
“Check and see if her horse is in its stall.” I look at Charlie. “She might be off riding and doesn’t realize the time.”
“She would answer my fucking call,” Charlie snaps, “unless she fucking can’t.”
“Why don’t you pull up the feeds,” I urge him, hoping to get him off my case. He turns and storms back into his office. I’m right on his tail as he sits down and boots up his computer. I’m standing behind his chair, with my hands over my chest, trying not to freak out.
He pulls up the feed, and it’s all black. Every single square is black. “What the fuck is this?” he mumbles as he presses more keys. “What the fuck?”
“Call Pops,” I finally snap. “Call fucking Pops now.” I run back to the barn. “Bobby, I need you to go over to the barn at my house and see if Lilah’s truck is there.” I look over at Sammy, who looks like he’s going to be sick. “I need you to go and check on Juliet and see if she’s been there.”
I run back to my truck. “Where the fuck are you going?” Charlie asks me.
“Her house!” I shout, jumping into the truck. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I yell, hitting the steering wheel as Charlie gets into the cab. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“Focus,” Charlie advises. “Relax.”
“You fucking relax,” I retort, racing over to her house. “How would you fucking feel if Autumn was missing?”
“We don’t know she’s missing.” His voice is trying to calm me down when the phone rings, and he picks it up. “Hello.”
“Someone tampered with the feed.” Pops’s voice fills the cab, and if I wasn’t holding the steering wheel with all of my strength, I think I would drive off the fucking side of the road.
“How the fuck is that possible?” I feel like my skin is about to come off my bones. “How the fuck”—my whole body shakes with rage, my voice ravaged—“is that possible?” I look at Charlie, repeating the same fucking question, waiting for one of them to answer me.
“I’m on my way down,” Pops says, disconnecting at the same time we pull up to her apartment. I stop and get out, leaving the truck on the side and still running before I run up the stairs two at a time. Getting to her door, I see the green light is still on, which means it’s recording.
“Her truck isn’t in the parking lot,” Charlie reports, moving me aside so he can open the door with his key.
I step in and smell her right away, the pain just so much it’s like someone kicked me in the stomach. “Fuck,” I hiss out, putting my hands on my knees. “Fucking hell.”
“Don’t do this right now,” Charlie says, looking around while he pulls up the camera feed. “She left this morning at four oh four.”
“Why the fuck is she up so fucking early?” I try to control my breathing and the rage, not sure which one is going to win over the other. For ten days, all I’ve thought about is her, yet for ten days, I’ve fought with myself about doing something about it.