Chapter 9
Fiona
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I took a step back, my heart racing as I stared in disbelief, then another until I was away from the scene.
I pushed the door open with my shoulder and let it slam behind me.
The suitcase was in the corner where I left it, half unzipped. I crossed the room, grabbed it, and dragged it onto the bed. The zipper caught for a second, but I forced it down and yanked the lid open.
I went straight for the dresser and started pulling out Lena’s things that I had barely just set up there.
Her pajamas, socks, her stack of shirts with the faded animals on them.
I didn’t fold anything. I stuffed them in, grabbed her toothbrush, hairbrush, the tiny bottle of bubble bath she insisted on packing. Her stuffed rabbit wasn’t on the bed. I’d find it later.
I moved to my own drawer. I didn’t care what I grabbed. I shoved two pairs of jeans, a sweater, whatever was clean and closest. My hands were moving fast, my heart wasn’t slowing down.
I threw my charger in, then stepped back and looked around. I ran both hands through my hair and cursed under my breath.
I should’ve never said yes to this. I should’ve stayed gone. I should’ve let Marissa have him and this house and this life. It wasn’t worth it, none of it.
He wasn’t the same man.
He could’ve warned me, he could’ve told me there was another woman here while he was trying to fuck me last night because of some husband duty.
I turned back to the dresser and slammed the drawer shut.
“Why did I even think this would work?” I said out loud. “Why did I ever think he’d be the same?”
I sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the zipper halfway closed. My fingers paused on the handle. I shook my head and stood back up.
“Lena,” I called out but there was no answer.
I walked to the hallway and looked left, then right. The corridor was empty and so was the kitchen where l had left her earlier.
“Lena?” I called again, louder.
Nothing
I crossed back to the room. The bed was still empty, her markers were on the rug where she left them. The coloring book was open to the page with the castle she was working on this morning.
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8:41 pm ED.
Chapter 9
55 vouchers
“Lena, come on, we have to go,” I said, stepping inside, starting to completely forget how bothered I had been because of Rick, my chest hurting in anxiety, “where are you, baby?”
I checked the closet, under the bed, behind the curtain.
I turned around and walked back into the hallway.
“Lena?” My voice cracked a little.
I walked faster. I checked the bathroom. The guest room. I opened the linen closet, even though I knew she wouldn’t fit there. My shoes hit the tile faster with every step. I threw open the pantry door in the
kitchen.
I leaned out the back door, scanning the patio. The garden looked quiet. Too quiet.
I called again.
“Lena!”
I stepped outside and looked around the hedge line. I jogged toward the fountain, circled it, looked behind the benches.
Nothing.
I walked faster now, breathing harder. I checked the pool. The gate was locked. I rattled it anyway.
My throat felt tight. My fingers shook as I held onto the railing.
I turned and ran back inside.
“Lena!” I shouted, louder this time.
I checked the study, the library, even Rick’s empty office. The lights were all on but the rooms were hollow. My hands hit the door frames as I pushed through each space.
I went back upstairs and opened every closet. I looked under every bed.
She was gone. Lena never left unless I told her to.
I stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at the wall. My pulse thudded in my ears.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Rick, it rang three times but he didn’t answer,
I hung up and called again, voicemail.
I gripped the phone tighter.
“You better not be ignoring this,” I muttered, pacing toward the front door.
I grabbed my coat and yanked the zipper up. My keys were still on the hook. I grabbed them and looked back over my shoulder.
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8:41 pm 3
Chapter 9
“Lena!” I shouted again. “Where are you?”
Still nothing.
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I stood there for a second and tried to think. She wouldn’t leave on her own. She was careful. She didn’t wander. She stayed close, always. She hated unfamiliar rooms.
I walked back to our room one more time and scanned the corners again. Her coat was still there. Her shoes were under the bench. The rabbit was gone.
I leaned over and looked under the bed again. Nothing.
I turned to the closet and opened both doors wide.
Her bag wasn’t there.
My hands went to my head. I sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the suitcase I had just packed.
This wasn’t right.
She never left without telling me.
I stood up fast and ran back to the kitchen, just in case. The door to the garage was shut. I opened it. His car was gone. Mine was still there. I opened the pantry again, the fridge, the laundry room.
She wasn’t anywhere.
I grabbed my phone and texted Rick.
Where is Lena?
No answer.
I sent another.
If you took her somewhere, you tell me now.
I waited, holding my breath.
Still nothing.
I ran back upstairs and checked behind the curtains again. I called out one more time.
“Lena!”
My voice broke. The sound echoed and bounced down the hall.
I turned to the nearest staff, “have you seen my daughter?”
When he shook my head, the realisation dawned on me that my daughter was gone.
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