“It's all good here, Carl. How are you?”
“I'm fine, I'm fine. Work is a bit crazy right now at the firm, but it's challenging in a good way. Look, let me cut straight to the chase.”
“Alright, go on.”
“It's about Simon,” he started.
My heart instantly started to pound inside my chest, and I could feel cold fear moving through my veins.
“No no no,” I murmured.
“He's gone,” Carl stated.
My head tilted.
“What do you mean he's gone?” I asked, my tone saturated with anxiety and worry. “Like dead? Or like he skipped the country?” I was trying my best not to appear as freaked out as I felt and as much as I hated to admit it, part of me was kind of hoping for the dead part.
“He's left San Francisco. I got my police buddies to check up on him earlier today, as I do a couple of times a month, and they can't find him. His house is empty; seems like he moved out. The landlord said he had only told her about moving out a few days ago, and she had warned him that he would lose his deposit because of the short notice and his lease not being up, but she said he didn't seem to care. My cop buddies questioned a few of his friends, and none of them seem to know anything about his whereabouts. In fact, they said it had been a while since they'd seen him. One friend of his mentioned that Simon had been making a lot of long out-of-town trips. He'd disappear for days without saying where he was going.”
“And nobody knows where he went, Carl?”
“Nobody seems to know, no.”
“Do you think he's... He can't have found out where I am, right?” my voice was laced with panic.
“With the changing of your name, the erasing of your former social media accounts, and all the other precautions we took? I think it's very unlikely he's found out where you are. I mean, we set things up so you'd be practically impossible to find, short of a court order demanding knowledge of your whereabouts. So, look, I don't want you to worry, but I did feel that it was my duty to tell you about Simon's disappearance. Like I said, it's very, very unlikely that he's found you, but just be vigilant, alright?” Carl encouraged.
I breathed in deeply, trying to do my best to stay calm. “Alright, Carl. Thank you for keeping me informed.”
“As soon as my guys find any information on his current whereabouts, I'll let you know,” he assured me.
“Thanks, Carl. I appreciate that. Can I speak to Kerry again before you guys hang up?”
“Sure. Have a good night, Viv.”
“You too, Carl.”
He handed the headset back to Kerry, and she sat back down.
“I'm so sorry you had to get such bad news late at night,” she said. “But you see why we had to tell you. I mean, like Carl said, I don't think there's any chance that psycho creep will find you, but yeah, just be careful, okay?”
“I will. Believe me, girl, I do not want that psychotic maniac within a hundred miles of me.”
“Well... that makes two of us. I hate to drop this on you and run, Viv, but 5 a.m. comes much too early. Have a good night, and try not to worry too much okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll try. You too.”
I cut off the call and shut down my computer – and as I did it, I noticed that my hands were trembling.
“Calm down, calm down; he can't find you, he can't find you,” I muttered to myself, doing my best to stay calm.
I sat down on the floor, intending to do the meditation and breathing exercises that would quiet me down, and as I got into it, it started working – I did being to feel calmer.
And that was when a loud, sudden banging on my front door blasted icy fear right back into my heart.
Chapter Four
Everett