Chapter 6
Dane
I’m running my hands through my hair, feeling completely worried. I’ve already hopped in my truck and left Angelo in charge. It’s earlier than expected, but I have to get back to Brenda. I have a strange feeling something’s not right. I called her three times before she was supposed to be at work and she didn’t answer. I didn’t get a text or anything. She should have been at work two hours ago. I called the neighbor who said her car was still there, but no one answered when she knocked.
“Call Ben,” I tell the car system.
He picks up on the first ring, but I don’t give him time to say hi. I’m in too much of a panic for it. “I can’t get a hold of Brenda.”
“What? Fuck. She’s not at work either,” Ben adds.
“What the fuck do you mean she’s not there?” My fear just went up a notch.
“She was supposed to be here, but she didn’t come in or call.”
Fuck, a million fucked up thoughts are running through my head. I have to find her well. I hope she just overslept because she’s sick and that’s it. “What and you haven’t gone over there?”
“I was about to call you to see if you heard from her when you called me. I’m on my way to the condo right now.”
“I’m on my way too.” There’s no way I’m not going to look for my wife. “She was complaining that she was sick last night.”
“Yesterday, she was a little irritable, so I sent her home. Damn, I’m outside the condo now. I’m going to get your building manager to let me in.”
“Okay. I’m going to stay on the line.”
“Hello, Mr. Carrington. Mrs. Bates says Brenda isn’t answering. Is that why you’re here?”
“Yes, I need to check on her. Can you unlock it? Dane is on the phone with me.”
“Miller, can you let Ben in. Brenda was sick last night.”
“We’re on our way up, Dane.” I hear the keys in the background, and I get more anxious by the moment. I’m still an hour away, and I feel my heart dropping as I wait. Our condo isn’t highly secure because we don’t need it where we live, but hell if I’m not regretting it.
They knock twice, but I don’t hear anything else. “We’re going in,” Ben says. A surge of adrenaline kicks in.
“Brenda, Brenda,” each man calls out, but there’s no answer. I wait for the worst news of my life. I pray my wife isn’t dead. I can hear Benedict walking around.
“I’ll check the bedroom,” Ben tells Miller. Yeah, I don’t want anyone to see my wife undressed yet I trust Ben. He’s had years to fall for Brenda and never did. I don’t know Miller like that. All I want to know is my wife safe and well. I hear several doors open.
“She’s not here, Dane,” Ben says.
“Are her things there?”
“Everything is here. Her purse is on the counter.”
“I’m calling the cops.”
“Call me right back.” After I end the call, I try her cell again.
“Dane, the phone was under the bed.”
“Shit.”
“I’ve got the cops on the line.” Ben has both phones going.
“My assistant, Brenda Harris has gone missing. She was home last night, but now she’s not here. She didn’t show up to work, and all her things are in her condo—even her phone. She was sick last night, so she wasn’t going anywhere.”
“We’ll send someone to the condo. Do not touch anything. Please wait for the police outside the condo.”
“Okay.”
“Dane, you heard it all.”
“Yep.”
“Hold on. I’m going to switch phones. I’ll call you back. I want to check her phone before the cops get here.”
“Okay. Call me back. I’m about twenty minutes away now.”
He hangs up and calls me from his phone. “Fuck, I feel like a dick.”
Does he know where she is? “Why?”
“I feel like I should have told you sooner, but she left yesterday because she gave me her two weeks’ notice and was a little emotional.”
“She quit?” And she didn’t tell me. What the hell kind of bullshit is that? I can’t believe it. I hope she didn’t run away. I don’t understand. She was so happy when I told her I was coming home.
“Yeah. She asked me not to tell you, but I can’t hold back with her missing.” And she told him to hide it from me? Damn, I can’t believe it. She may have left me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think she would run. In fact, she didn’t seem like she had any reason to leave.”
“Is it fucking crazy that I would have rather she leave than someone take her away from me?” My heart is breaking as I try to fight the pain in my soul. Brenda’s my everything. I work hard and like crazy to make a name for myself. Ben knows that I have plans for more. I thought Brenda understood that too.
“Dane, I can’t argue on that. Let’s hope she went out for a walk and got sick and someone took her to a hospital.” I breathe hard, but I keep speeding down the road. “Holy fuck, she was in the middle of sending a text to you. It says ‘Jones.’”
Fuck no. I turn off on the next road. I know where to go.