“Shit,” Chase said under his breath, running both hands up through his hair. “Where the hell is she?”
Colin looked down at his phone for a second before he hit a few buttons again.
“Hey, Danielle. It’s Colin. Is Andie working tonight?” A pause. “Oh. Well did she stop by the restaurant at all?” Another pause as Chase listened to the sound of his own heartbeat thrumming in his ears. “Alright. If she comes by the restaurant, can you ask her to give me a call? Thanks.”
As Colin ended the call, Chase began pacing in front of the door with both hands fisted in his hair. There was nowhere else she could be that made sense. With her car still at his place. And her keys on the floor.
He heard a strange rasping sound and realized it was his own breathing.
Chase forced himself to stop walking as he bent at the waist, bringing is hands to his knees as he tried to calm himself down, and he noticed Colin staring at him with the oddest expression on his face. There was something else behind the anger in his eyes. Disbelief? Scrutiny? Shock?
Whatever it was, he didn’t have time to analyze it. He grabbed his phone and started dialing.
“What are you doing?” Colin asked.
“Calling the cops.”
“Chase, they’re not gonna do anything. She’d have to be gone for twenty-four hours.”
“I don’t care!” he yelled. “I’m not just gonna sit here!”
Colin stood, running his hand through his hair as Chase explained the situation to the dispatcher. Fifteen minutes later, there were two officers at Colin’s door: a middle-aged woman, and a man who looked to be in his twenties.
Chase explained everything to them, about Andie leaving his apartment, about her car and her keys on the street, and how no one knew where she was.
As the young man jotted a few things down on a notepad, the middle-aged woman quirked her brow at Chase. “What happened to your eye?”
Chase licked his lips and glanced at Colin before he said, “It’s a long story.”
“Mm-hm,” she said, turning toward the other officer and motioning with her head.
“At this point there really isn’t anything we can do for you guys,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be anything suspicious going on. People lose their keys all the time.” He glanced up as he closed the pad. “Give us a call if she doesn’t turn up within twenty-four hours.”
Chase shook his head in disbelief. “So I’m just supposed to sit here?”
“Can I ask what your relation is to the girl in question?” the middle-aged woman asked.
He glanced back at Colin before he said, “I’m her boyfriend.”
The woman nodded before she said, “And you?”
Colin stared at her for a moment before he said coolly, “I’m her ex.”
The corner of the woman’s mouth twisted up before she looked back at her partner. “And if you still want to report her missing in twenty-four hours, I would suggest you call someone who is of blood-relation to her and have them file the report.”
Chase looked back and forth between them in shock, and the young guy said, “Unless you’re married, live together, or have a child together, we can’t accept the report from you. Besides,” he said, smirking at his partner, “this whole thing seems a bit off to me. Like maybe a couple of ex-boyfriends are trying to find a girl that doesn’t want to be found.”
Chase opened his mouth to protest, but the woman held her hand up. “Have her family give us a call if she doesn’t turn up. Have a good night gentlemen,” she said, and the two officers turned and walked out the door, closing it firmly behind them.
Chase stood there staring at the door with panic and helplessness battling for control in his chest. After a stunned minute he reached forward and yanked the door open.
“Where are you going?” he heard Colin ask.
“I’m gonna drive around until I find her,” he said, but before he could finish the sentence, he heard Colin’s phone ring behind him.
He whirled around in the doorway, watching as Colin answered the phone.
“Yeah,” he said. “What’s going on?” Colin glanced up before he said, “She’s there?”
“Jesus,” Chase breathed, collapsing against the doorframe and closing his eyes.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Chase whipped his head up. “What happened?”
Colin held his hand up before he said, “Alright, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He ended the call before he said. “That was Tyler. He stopped by Ripley’s to pay his tab from this