Emily, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean what I said.
No. I wadded that up and tossed it over my shoulder. I pulled out another sheet.
Emily, I’ve been a dick and I’m sorry. I just
Nope. Too blasé.
Half an hour passed and there was enough wadded-up paper on the floor to carpet half the Amazonian jungle. Nothing seemed good enough.
I checked the time. Noon now, and still no contact from Emily. She was probably too angry to call. I ran a hand across my mouth, feeling like an idiot for not thinking about that. I should be the bigger person and go over again. It wasn’t like it was a long way. Maybe my brain would come up with a good apology while I walked. Like Emily, sometimes I had the best inspiration when I moved around.
I strode to her house. Her car was still gone, the note still on the door. Where was she? She couldn’t have been out shopping this long, could she? Kingstree wasn’t big enough for that.
Unease settling around me like a fog, I walked around and looked inside again. Nobody was home.
For once, I resented that the cul-de-sac didn’t have any other houses. Otherwise some nosy neighbors might’ve noticed something.
When she still hadn’t come back after three, my unease started turning into alarm. Had Emily’s car broken down? No… If so, she would’ve called for help, and she should’ve been home by now. An accident? I quickly searched for news about car accidents in the area. Nothing came up.
Had she been kidnapped? Held for ransom? Kingstree was safe, but no place was completely crime-free. News sites didn’t say anything about crime, but of course it would take a while for something like this to get reported.
Shit.
I stared at the phone, then remembered Emily and Mir had hung out together. Maybe they’d exchanged their numbers. A slim chance, but I called Mir.
“Hey, Killian,” she said, her tone brisk. “Can’t talk for long. Only got ten before my next meeting.”
“That’s okay. It won’t take long. Do you know Emily’s number?”
“Huh? Why are you asking me? Don’t you have it?”
“No. She’s not home and I’m worried about her.”
A short pause. “What’s going on?” she asked, no longer distracted.
“She’s been gone since this morning.”
“She didn’t tell you where she was going or when she’d be back?” I could practically hear my sister’s eyebrows arch.
“If she had, I wouldn’t be calling you, now would I?”
Mir sighed. “What did you do?”
“What do you mean?” I said, not wanting to admit to my sister how much I’d screwed up. Damn it, I wanted to talk to Emily now. And time was of the essence. She could be lying in a ditch even as we were speaking.
“You and Emily were like…this. And she left without saying a word. You don’t even know her number. So what did you do?”
“We had an argument yesterday,” I said with a sigh.
“Jesus, Killian. Women don’t just leave for hours over an argument. Did you do something stupid?”
“It’s fixable.”
“Fixable? Remember what I said about not taking my favorite author away?” Mir said, growing agitated. “I knew it. I knew it!”
“I’m trying to talk to her, okay? Are you going to help or not?” If she wasn’t, I’d have to find some other way.
“Depends on what you did.”