“No.” He drew out the word. “She stopped by to put a gift on your desk and then said she was going to the grocery store. I made a joke, she laughed, and then she left.” Leave it to him to remember word for word what had actually happened. “Why?”
“She’s not answering her phone, and she didn’t pick up Ben. He’s been waiting over an hour and obviously upset.”
Banks was quiet, and then, “That’s not like her.”
“I know,” I finally said. “Maybe she had car trouble?”
“She would have called.” His voice sounded hollow. “Do you have the find-your-friend app on your phone?”
“Yeah.”
“Is she on it?”
“No,” I said, feeling dumb.
“Why the hell not?” he yelled. “She’s not just your friend, Rip. For shit’s sake, you know the only reason I showed interest was so you could pull your head out of your ass and see what was right in front of you the entire time, at the very least put her on your app so you can find her.”
“I know.” My voice cracked. “I know. And she’s not answering. And we just started…” I sighed. “And she’s not fucking answering!”
“Calm down.” Banks cursed. “Look, I’ll make some calls. She’s probably fine.”
Probably.
That’s what I had thought about Monica and Brooks.
That’s what all of us had thought.
And I’d seen that damn butterfly, and now I was freaking the fuck out that something was wrong.
The doorbell rang. “Someone’s at the door. I’ll call you back. Or you call me if you hear from her.”
I hung up the phone and ran to the door, jerking it open to a sobbing Ben and an apologetic Mrs. Sue.
Her bouncy blond hair made her look even more cheerful as she ushered him into the house and said, “He’s worried.”
That made two of us.
“Buddy, don’t worry, OK?” I knelt down on the floor and pulled him in for a hug. “Aunt Colby probably forgot her phone somewhere, OK?”
I hated that I was lying.
I couldn’t feel my legs, and I had to be strong for him, for both of the kids, when I couldn’t even be strong for myself. It was my worst nightmare.
Was that why I’d seen the butterfly?
Fresh waves of panic washed over me until I felt like I was going to puke.
He sniffled. “O-OK. But she promised to pick me up and we were supposed to get ice cream, remember? And she promised, she promised this morning. Something’s wrong.” He continued to sob against my chest. “Did she die? Did she die like my mom and dad?”
I was going to kill her, then kiss her senseless once I found out where she was, because I would.
There was no way the universe would do this to us again. Right?
Right?
“I’ll just go,” Mrs. Sue mouthed, and she quickly left.
I nodded and pulled Ben close. “Hey, why don’t you go grab a snack from the pantry while I try calling Aunt Colby again?”