Chapter 33
“D–D–Dad?” Gage’s ears perked up at the sound of Jonathan’s stuttering voice over the phone. He’d just reached for his phone to call Carly and explain the picture before she had a chance to see it when Jonathan’s name popped up on his screen.
“Whats wrong?” he asked as his son breathed heavily into the phone.
“I can’t find Carly,” Jonathan answered, and Gage jumped up from the chair in his hotel room.
His stomach pitched as a wave of nausea rolled through his gut as he realized she’d already seen the picture and had probably jumped to conclusions. Surely, she wouldn’t have taken off and left Jonathan alone, Gage thought as a huge sense of foreboding swept over him.
“What do you mean, you can’t find her?” he croaked over the line as he grabbed his duffel bag from the closet.
“Carly asked me to order some pizza then said she needed to get some air and went outside to wait for it. That was over an hour ago. I was playing my game and lost track of time, or I would have noticed sooner. I went outside to check on her, but she isn’t there. Dad, I’m scared. Her car is still in the garage, and I found two pizza boxes on the ground. I’ve tried to call her several times, but she isn’t answering,” his son’s voice wobbled over the phone.
Now, he was getting worried. “Did anything happen before Carly went outside?”
“I don’t think so. She was looking at her phone before she asked me to order the pizza and got up.” Gage could hear his son suck in a deep breath.
She’d probably seen the picture and went outside so Jonathan wouldn’t see her reaction. But where was she? Had something happened to her, or had she just gone for a walk? If she had just gone for a walk, why hadn’t she returned and why would she leave the boxes of pizza on the ground? Had her ex-husband finally decided to make a move? Gage was starting to have a very bad feeling as those troubling thoughts swirled in his head, and he knew they needed to act fast.
“Okay, here’s what I want you to do. Call your grandparents to come over and stay with you. I’m going to call her friends, Rachel and Sophie, to see if they’ve heard from her, and if they haven’t, I’ll call the police. I’m also going to call Mr. Griffin. Don’t let anyone in until either the police or your grandparents are there,”
“Do you think she’s all right?” Jonathan whispered, and Gage knew by his shaky voice he was having a hard time holding it together. Jonathan had come to care for Carly and was more than likely feeling responsible.
Pushing away the notes of fear in his voice, Gage carefully chose his words as he tried to reassure his son. “I’m sure she’s fine. Someone posted a picture of me with the wife of one of the Rattlers’ players that she probably took the wrong way. The picture is not what it looks like, but she’s probably upset. She probably went for a walk and doesn’t realize how long she’s been gone.”
“I hope you’re right, Dad.”
Me, too, Gage thought as he hung up and tried to call Carly’s phone. He let it ring, but like Jonathan said she didn’t answer and it went to voicemail where he left her a message. After confirming with Rachel and Sophie that neither of them knew where she was, Gage immediately called the Oaktown Police Department and asked for Detective Scott. He and Gage had been good friends all through elementary, junior high, and high school and had run across each other a few times since he’d been back, so he knew Travis would take him seriously. He had a feeling just calling 911 would do no good since there wasn’t any evidence that anything had happened to Carly.
“Detective Scott speaking. How may I help you?”
“Travis, it’s Gage Wilson. Sorry to bother you, but I think something has happened to my girlfriend,” Gage replied, grateful to hear Travis on the line.
“You mean that pretty teacher I’ve seen you around town with?” Travis asked as Gage shoved his shaving gear into the open zipper of the duffel bag.
“Yeah, that’s her,” he answered, transferring his phone on the other ear while he grabbed the shampoo and body wash from the shower.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Travis stated as Gage headed back into the main area of the hotel room.
“She was staying with my son while I’m in Dallas. Jonathan just called to tell me he can’t find her and that there are two pizza boxes on the ground by her car. They ordered pizza over two hours ago. She’s been threatened by her ex-husband before and moved here to get away from him. Travis, I’m really worried he might be involved.” Gage sunk down on the edge of the bed he’d hoped to share with Carly, the enormity of the danger she might be in hitting him square in the chest.
“Wait. I remember a woman coming in a few months ago. I couldn’t help her at the time since she didn’t want to pursue getting a restraining order after she found out her ex-husband would have to be served and told where she lived and worked so he could be ordered to stay away. What’s her name? I may have a kept a file with her information,” Travis queried, and Gage calmed a little.
“Carly Owens,” Gage answered.
“Hang on a second while I look,” Travis replied, and Gage anxiously waited as the sound of drawers opening and closing came through the line.
“Here it is. Yeah, looks like Ms. Owens came in back in August. I’ve dispatched a unit over to your house, and I’ll head over there as soon as I get off the phone with you,” Travis said, his tone of his voice reassuring Gage he was taking the situation seriously.
“One more thing. I’ve hired a private investigator to check up on her ex-husband. Do you want his info?” Gage asked, hoping Griffin might have more information.
“Yes, I would,” Travis answered then paused. “Gage, we’ll find her. I’ve seen how happy you two are together. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure she’s okay.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it,” Gage replied as he hung up the phone, hoping he could keep it together long enough to call Mr. Griffin.
After speaking with Mr. Griffin, and then calling Carly’s parents, Gage threw the rest of his things in his duffel bag and headed downstairs to check out. The rest of the board members would have to do without him at the meeting tomorrow morning.
Driving back to Oaktown, Gage thought about what Carly meant to him. He’d never entertained the idea of getting married. Not until he’d met Carly. He’d only ever had time to focus on his career and helping raise his son. But from the moment he’d run into her that day in the hall things had changed. A whole new world full of possibilities had opened, and he was regretting taking things so slowly.
He hadn’t told Carly he loved her yet, wanting to be sure she trusted him completely and could return his love without hesitation. He should’ve told her exactly how he felt before he left, maybe then she wouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about the picture he knew she had to have seen. Gage swallowed the bile rising in the back of his throat at the thought he might not get to say it to her after all.
Between focusing on staying under the speed limit to avoid being pulled over and frantically trying to call Carly every few minutes, the trip home seemed to take forever. Finally, as Gage reached the outskirts of town, his display lit up with a call from Mr. Griffin. Hitting the Bluetooth button to answer the call, he braced himself for whatever news he had.
“Gage here.”
“I have some unexpected news about Ms. Owens’ ex-husband,” Mr. Griffin’s apologetic voice said through the speaker.
“I’m listening,” Gage said as he took the main road through town, continuing to watch his speed.
“I had one of the investigators go by Mr. Moore’s house, and what he found isn’t good. The tracking device placed on his car indicated he was following his usual routine, so I didn’t have reason to suspect anything was wrong.”
Gage’s heart sank hearing the P.I.’s words and knew Carly’s ex-husband had to be behind her disappearance.
“Go on,” he growled barely able to contain his frustration at not being here when she’d needed him most.
“Mr. Moore hired a coworker to house sit and let her use his car while he went on vacation. The co-worker said he hadn’t been home for the last two weeks, which was right after the last time my guy checked on him. I’m so sorry. I should never have suggested we step back on the surveillance,” Mr. Griffin’s voice cracked a little, and Gage knew he regretted suggesting scaling back as much as Gage did.
“Any news from the authorities?” Gage asked, hoping the police had found something to go on. There was no way to know where the bastard had taken her.
“Not yet. I’m headed over to your house. Detective Scott asked me to come over to help them with the investigation,” Mr. Griffin replied as the light he was stopped at turned green, and Gage pulled forward.
“Good. I’m almost there. Talk to you in a few minutes.” Gage hung up the phone and concentrated on driving the last few blocks. As he pulled up to the security gate, he could see Floyd through the window of the building looking wrecked. Gage rolled down his window as he leaned out of the guard station.
“I can’t believe I let this happen. If I had known, I never would have let the man through. I should have checked closer, but Jonathan had called a few minutes earlier to tell me he was expecting a delivery. I’m so sorry, Mr. Wilson,” Floyd said as he swiped a uniformed arm across his eyes.
“It’s not your fault. We’ll find her,” Gage said as much to himself as he was to the gray-haired guard behind the window.
“Let me know if there is anything I can do to help,” Floyd responded as he punched the button to open the gate.
“Thanks, Floyd. I will,” Gage answered, rolling up his window and speeding through the gate.
Pulling into his driveway, Gage felt a small measure of relief while he took in the two police cruisers, as well as an unmarked car that probably belonged to Travis, parked next to the house. As he pulled around to the garage, he saw his parents’ car as well as Rachel’s.
Good, at least Jonathan wasn’t here alone with the police, Gage thought, knowing his son was worried sick and blaming himself, even though none of it was his fault.
He walked into the kitchen to see Travis and two officers gathered around the breakfast bar while Jonathan, his parents, Rachel, and Sophie were huddled together on the sectional. He saw Jonathan start to get up, but he waved him back down wanting to talk to Travis first.
“Anything to go on yet?” Gage said as Travis looked up from his laptop.
“We just got a lock on her cellphone. Thanks to your son, we were able to use the “find my phone” feature and locate a signal. Looks like their traveling down county road 482. We’ve sent two units out, and I’ll be leaving in a few to meet them there. We’ll find her,” Travis said as he stood and gathered up his laptop.
Relieved he’d recently thought to get Carly a new phone and put her on his plan gave him hope they would get to her before Daniel did who knows what to her, Gage went over to the group on the sectional. Jonathan got up and ran over to him, throwing his gangly body at him. Gage gathered him up in a big bear hug as he began to cry. “I’m so sorry, Dad. I should have paid better attention.”
“Don’t worry. Carly’s going to be all right. Besides, if you’d been out there with her, you might have been taken too.” Gage hugged Jonathan one more time before guiding him to sit back down with him next to his parents. Gage had to fight with every fiber of his being not to get up and demand to go after the son of a bitch himself, but he knew he’d be in the way. He had no choice but to trust Travis would get her back safe and sat, placing his arm around his mom, prepared for an agonizing wait.