Chapter Thirty-Five
Blake
I pulled into the station parking lot just before Tony came roaring down the road. He screeched to a halt and then slowly pulled into the space next to me with a huge grin on his face. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before grabbing my bag and exiting the truck.
“Good morning, old man!” Tony said, as he slapped me on the back.
“What’s gotten into you?” I said, shooting him a warning look. “Your wife let you back in the house or something?”
“Better than that, she agreed that we need to have more sex,” he grinned. “Last night was the first of what I hope are many more nights of hot and spicy horizontal mambo sessions!”
“What are you — in high school or something?” I said disgustedly.
“Who pissed in your cornflakes, G?” Tony asked, dropping his voice.
“Fuck you,” I muttered, as I marched into the station and went to store my gear. I knew it wasn’t fair of me to be pissed at Tony, but I also knew that as my best friend, he’d take it better than some of the other guys.
Tony followed me into the locker room and waited silently as I stored my stuff. He sat on the bench across from my locker, playing with a yo-yo. I turned and watched him toss the spinning orb and yank it back on its string a couple of times before I spoke.
“Nina’s missing,” I said flatly.
“Holy shit, G! Why didn’t you call me?” Tony said, as he tucked the yo-yo in his pocket and stood up. “How long she’s been gone?”
“Since last night,” I said. “I went to the Celtics game with Emily, and when I got home, Nina was gone.”
“You sure she’s not at a friend’s house?” he asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
“Yeah, I called every girl she’s friends with,” I said. “None of them know anything about where she is.”
“That’s bullshit,” Tony protested. “Girls always know what other girls are doing!”
“Not this time, my friend,” I shrugged.
“Called the police?” he asked.
“Yeah, they know,” I said. “Put out an Amber Alert this morning on the off chance that she was actually abducted, but there’s not much else they can do.”
“Why did you come in?” Tony asked. “I mean, Chief would have given you the day off.”
“If your daughter was missing, would you want to sit around useless while other people searched?” I asked.
“Good point,” Tony said. “Gonna tell the other guys?”
“I don’t know,” I sighed, as I reached up and rubbed the stubble on my cheek with one hand. “I don’t want anyone thinking I can’t do my job.”
“They won’t think that, man,” Tony said, draping an arm around my shoulder. “They know you better than that.”
“I don’t know where my daughter is, Tony,” I choked out the words. Tony nodded and squeezed my shoulder, but thankfully remained silent as I did my best to swallow my fear.
“They’ll find her, G,” he said quietly. “You just have to trust that they’ll find her.”
“Find who?” Cal asked, as he entered the locker room.
“Shut the hell up, Rookie!” Tony yelled. “No one invited you into the conversation.”
“Jeez, just trying to be friendly,” Cal said, as he pushed his bag into his locker and slammed it shut with a bang that reverberated through the tiled room.
“My daughter is missing,” I said plainly.
“Oh man, I’m sorry, Blake,” Cal said.
“What the fuck? I thought you weren’t going to tell anyone!” Tony said, as he dropped his arm and backed away.
“Yeah, well, the more people who know, the better chance we have of finding her, right?” I shrugged. “I don’t fucking know, Tony. I’ve never lost a daughter before!”
“Fine, do whatever you want,” Tony grumbled, as he turned and walked out of the room.
“How long she’s been missing, Blake?” Cal asked.
“Since last night,” I said. “No idea where she went. None of her friends have seen her, and I didn’t find anything when I went to check out the hangouts in town.”
“My brother goes to Waltham College,” Cal offered. “I could text him and ask him to keep an eye out, if you want. I mean, if you think it might help. Text me her picture, and I’ll forward it to him.”
“The more eyes we have, the better it is,” I agreed. I pulled my phone out and texted Cal a photo of Nina I’d taken the weekend before. She was bent over a large stack of pancakes holding a fork in each fist as she prepared to dive in and eat. She was smiling and looked genuinely happy. Or had she been covering something up?
“Got it,” Cal said. “I’ll see if my brother recognizes her.”
“Thanks, Rookie,” I said with a small smile.
I joined the rest of the crew in the dining area where they were passing around platters of bacon, eggs, and toast. I poured myself a cup of coffee and took a seat at the end of the table. All around me, the guys were talking and laughing.
I’d never felt so alone in my life.
There were no calls all morning, so we spent our time cleaning and inventorying the gear. Tony managed to keep questions from the other guys to a minimum by crowing about his renewed commitment to monogamy. This stirred the pot and gave the guys a chance to blow off steam as they told jokes about their own lack of a sex life.
Late in the afternoon, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out and found a message from Emily telling me that one of Nina’s classmates had come forward and confessed that she knew Nina had a crush on a college boy, but that she didn’t know the boy’s name. Emily said she’d try to find out more, and that she’d call me later to let me know what she’d learned.
I was tempted to call and grill her about what the girl had said, but a call came in, and I stashed my phone and ran to the truck to pull on my gear before we headed to a warehouse fire that occupied the rest of the evening. It was well after 10 when we pulled back into the station, and we were all worn out, dirty, and starving.
I checked my phone, but there was no message from Emily, so I showered and changed before I went to help with dinner preparations.