Chapter Twenty-Nine

SIMON

Even being a half day, the last day of school is shockingly exhausting. The kids are riled up and ready for break, and getting them to listen is about like herding cats. So, needless to say, I’m ready to see my girl and spend a bit of time lost in her.

I pull my truck to a stop in front of Dream Beans and hop out. I check for traffic, and my eyes are immediately drawn to a takeout bag lying in the middle of the damn street, its contents scattered about. “I swear, some people just don’t care,” I mutter as I bend to pick up the mess.

I stalk into the salon, agitated that some assclown left their trash in the middle of the road. As the door closes behind me, I catch the tail end of Seraphine’s phone call. “Yes, ma’am, I have you down for the sixth of June with Azalea. Yes, we do take credit cards. All right, thank you.” I snicker at her exasperated tone.

She hangs up the phone and turns her icy glare on me. “You hush up, Simon McAllister.”

Ignoring her reprimand, I toss the garbage I’m holding into the can under the desk and ask, “Where’s Magnolia?”

“Oh, she…” Her words trail off and she glances down at the time on the computer screen before looking out the window.

“Seraphine, where is Magnolia?”

“She ran to Dream Beans to pick up lunch for y’all. She…she, um…hasn’t made it back.”

Dread slithers down my spine. “How long ago?” I grit out.

“Um, like ten or so minutes ago? I think…”

“Alone? She went alone?”

“She said she would be fine. I was keeping an on eye her through the window, but then the world’s most difficult client called.”

I don’t wait for her to say anything else. I haul ass out of the salon, plowing across the street and into Dream Beans. Bypassing the two people waiting to order, I ask the girl behind the counter if she’s seen Magnolia.

“Yup, she was here a bit ago grabbing a to-go order.”

“How long ago?” I bark out, my worry making me sound like an angry asshole.

“Um, maybe fifteen minutes?”

Without another word, I turn and leave, grabbing my phone and dialing Magnolia as I go. It rings and rings and rings before her voicemail finally picks up. I hang up and try again, only to get the same result.

I barge back into the salon, and right away Seraphine can sense something’s not right. “Where is she, Simon?”

“I don’t know. I…wait!” I move back behind the desk and retrieve the bag I threw away. “Do you know what she ordered?”

“Chicken salad,” she whispers, seeing exactly what I’m seeing: the destroyed remnants of two chicken salad sandwiches.

I order Seraphine to call the cops while I keep trying Magnolia’s phone. Eventually it quits ringing, going directly to voicemail instead.

Pacing and panicked, I rake my fingers through my hair. “How in the hell does someone just disappear in broad daylight?” I mutter to myself.

Within minutes of calling, a squad car pulls up to the front of the salon. I rush to meet them, relieved to see it’s Byrnes and Benson.

“What’s goin’ on?” Officer Byrnes asks. “We got a call that Ms. Ellington is missing?”

“Yes, sir.” I relay to them everything I know, and Officer Byrnes informs me there would usually be a twenty-four hour wait period, but given her history, they’re going to green-light listing her as missing and endangered.

I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing they’re going to take this seriously. I know soul-deep exactly who has her, I just don’t know where. I swear, though, if—no, not if—when I find this motherfucker, there will be hell to pay.

After filling out a few forms, I stand by as they question Seraphine, clenching my jaw and trying hard not to blame her for this. Deep down, the logical side of me knows she isn’t at fault, but at the same time, a little voice in the back of my mind niggles: If she’d gone with her, Magnolia would be safe.

I steel my resolve and tell that voice to shut the hell up, because truth is, if Seraphine had been with Magnolia, it’s more than likely she’d have been hurt or taken too.

When Byrnes and Benson dismiss us, Seraphine calls and cancels Magnolia’s appointments. She doesn’t go into detail, and luckily her clients are more than understanding.

After we close up the salon, Seraphine heads home to talk to her dad while I make my way back to the house. Even though I’d love nothing more than to go door to door asking people if they saw anything, I know I’d just be in the way of the police performing their actual investigation.

At the house, I’m restless.

Anxious.

Nauseous.

Enraged.

Worried.

And then some.

With shaking hands, I call Drake, knowing he’ll rally the crew.

He answers on the first ring. “What’s up, brother?”

I decide to cut right to the chase. “Magnolia’s missing.”

A prolonged silence and then he says, “Come again?”

“You heard me.”

Drake growls out a few unintelligible curses. “I’m on my way over.”

I disconnect the call and throw my phone down on the coffee table, but then snatch it right back up, just in case Magnolia finds a way to call.

Fifteen minutes later, my front door busts open, Drake and Azalea rushing toward me. The minute they wrap their arms around me, I break, not caring one bit how it makes me look.

“I promised her she’d be safe with me—”

Azalea speaks over me, halting my dark thoughts in their tracks. “You hush up right now, Simon McAllister. Everything is gonna be fine.” Then quietly she adds, “It has to be.”

Sometime later, Cash and Myla Rose arrive. Drake texted Cash immediately after hanging up with me, but they had to drop Brody off with Sandy, Cash’s mom.

Together, we all huddle around the coffee table, waiting for some news…any news.