Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 62430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 312(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
“I don’t know,” I moaned. “It’s a Mazda.”
“Red? Green?”
“Blue,” I said.
“Do you have the plate number?”
“No, I don’t have the plate number!” I snapped before I could stop myself.
The girls looked over, trying to give us our privacy and feed the children at the same time.
“Easy,” Dillon cautioned. “We can get through this calmly.”
“What’s her name?” Jason tried again.
I nodded. “Gina Matthews.”
I saw Mike’s eyebrows lift in surprise. I would have to do a lot of explaining once she was safe.
“And the name of the brother?” he persisted.
I stormed through my memories, trying to pull that vital piece of information to the forefront. “George… I think.”
“Okay,” Jason said. “Let’s go down to the station and fill out a report.”
“There’s no time for that,” I complained. Didn’t they understand that she was in danger? We should be beating the bushes, combing the forests, swimming through the lake, whatever we had to do. I didn’t want to sit still. I wanted to be in the thick of things.
“Where are you going to look?” Jason brought me down a notch. “What if she has gone home and she doesn’t want to speak to you?”
“Then why didn’t she check out?” I shot back, giving voice to my worst fears.
“The sooner we get the report filled out, the sooner I can have troopers looking for her, her car, and her brother,” Jason responded.
“Come on,” Mike said, opening my driver’s-side door. “I’ll come with you.”
I exhaled, feeling defeated. It didn’t seem like there was any way around it. I would have to follow the legal procedure, sit in an office, and fill out paperwork while my lover was at the mercy of who knew what. If I was lucky, it was just her brother, not the mafia or whatever goons he was running with. No shortage of horrible scenarios ran through my head as we stood deliberating in the driveway.
Mike went to tell his wife and the other adults where we were going, before climbing into the passenger seat of my truck. I retreated from their perfect family gathering, my personal catastrophe having spoiled their evening. Jason followed in his pickup, ready to shuffle me into the system with an ineffective missing person’s complaint. I felt my future sliding further and further from my reach. It seemed like I had just fallen in love, and now I was going to lose her. Fate couldn’t be that cruel, I told myself. I just had to hang on, have faith, and I would be reunited with my soul mate. Until then, I knew it was going to be a bumpy ride.
24
GINA
When Porter left for work, I was faced with two choices: I could continue to live out of a single suitcase, or I could make the drive up to Nashville to grab some clean clothes. The evening had gone so well, I felt like we were really in sync. That weird interaction before he left for the day, where he had asked me to stay in his apartment all day notwithstanding, we were on the same wavelength.
I wasn’t nervous about George. Yes, it was unsettling that he had found my number somehow, and yes, what he was asking me for was despicable. I couldn’t imagine any situation that would evolve beyond a shouting match, though. If he did track me down, I would just have to be firm in refusing him. He would see that my hands were tied and that I didn’t want to participate in his shady dealings, and he would go away.
I had been upset, but only because the telephone call had brought back a bunch of painful memories. I wasn’t afraid of my brother; there wasn’t any reason to be. Porter was just overreacting with anxiety because of his own experience with drug dealers. That didn’t mean that every user was a menace. George had brought destruction to my heart and my soul, but he wasn’t a physical threat.
Since I had the whole day ahead of me, with no agenda other than meeting Porter for dinner, why not make the drive back to my apartment? I was tired of the same pair of jeans and not brave enough to wiggle into my clubbing outfit. A comfortable dress would hit the spot, and I knew exactly which one I wanted. I could take in my mail, make a call to check up on Evil. Maybe I could even detach my television and bring that with me. That way Porter and I could curl up in his bed and watch Netflix instead of using the amenities at the hotel.
I had a plan. On the way out of town, I stopped by the diner for some coffee. This time, I recognized the waitress at the counter.
“Gina Matthews, is that you?” an older woman named Maude asked.
I nodded. “It’s me. How are you Maude?”