to call you so late.” The woman on the other end of the line rattled on, “But, I, well, I need to—”
“Whoa. Slow down. You said your name is Suki?” Kate questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, you know, Whitney’s roommate.”
“Oh, yes, sorry. I didn’t recognize your name. Now, slow down and tell me – what’s wrong, Suki?”
“Whitney’s gone missing.”
“What? When?” Panic began to set in. Kate’s thoughts began flying in a thousand different directions, like a flock of sparrows spooked by the threat of danger. Gathering her thoughts, she tried to focus. Ordinarily, she connected with Whitney every day or two, but she had been so busy with work lately that Kate was ashamed to admit she did not notice when she hadn’t heard from her sister recently.
“She’s been missing since last night. Well, no, today. I mean, well, I didn’t realize until this morning that she hadn’t come home last night.”
“Maybe she just stayed overnight at a friend’s house. She is twenty-four years old. She can stay out all night if she wants.” Kate hoped that was all it was. The thought her sister could really be missing made her feel sick in the pit of her stomach.
“No, no, I don’t think so, really. I think she would have told me so. We try to keep each other safe that way, you know. I have such a bad feeling about this, Kate. I think you should come to Seattle right away.”
“You mean, like right now?” This news was all so unexpected. Frantic thoughts swirling in Kate’s mind made it hard to process.
“Well, yeah. I mean, as soon as you can, of course.”
“So, what do the police say?” Kate asked, searching for a voice of reason.
“Police?”
“Yes, Suki. You did call them, didn’t you?” Incredulous that her sister might be in danger and the police had not yet been informed, Kate’s eyes widened as she stared blankly at the phone. Are you kidding me? Her heart began beating hard against her chest, sending pulsing blood painfully racing to her head.
“I’m sorry, Kate, don’t get mad. I think you have to wait twenty-four hours before you can report someone missing, don’t you?”
“How should I know, Suki? I would have called them to find out, not just assumed.” A muscle twitched in Kate’s jaw.
“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry.”
“I will call them as soon as we get off the phone. I want to talk to the police myself before I come running up there.” Suki had all day to call me, why did she wait until now? Was she hoping Whitney would eventually show up? Something doesn’t feel right.
Perhaps Whitney was just staying over with a new boyfriend that Suki didn’t know about. Or maybe she went with some girlfriends for a long weekend. Suki is probably just overreacting. Kate clung to that thought to give her a sense of security.
On the other hand, if her sister really were missing, of course she’d drop everything and hop on the first flight to Seattle. She felt uneasy just cancelling work and reorganizing her life on the whim of this woman she barely knew. Kate had photo shoots in the Los Angeles area lined up all week, people depending on her, so she wanted to be sure it was warranted.
“Kate. Your sister is missing! You really need to come as soon as possible,” Suki pressed. “Surely, you don’t have anything to do that’s more important than this, do you?”
Kate recognized the guilt card being played. Her late mother had been a master at it.
“No, of course not. Nothing’s more important than finding my sister, if she really is missing. However, I am going to call the police first and see what they say, even though you may be right about the twenty-four hour thing.”
“Then you’ll come?”
As much as Kate hated the thought of upending her whole world overnight, she had to consider seriously the possibility that Suki might be right. If Whitney needed her, she had no choice but to go to Seattle on the first flight she could get.
“Yes, yes, I’ll come. After I talk to the police, I’ll check for flights out of L.A. tomorrow.” She would have to wait until the morning to change her work schedule. “I appreciate you letting me know, Suki. I’ll be in touch.”
* * *
Suki hung up from her conversation with Kate and immediately made another call.
“Hullo,” a young man answered.
“It’s done.”
CHAPTER 2
“Hey, lady! You’re up,” a young male’s voice came from behind her.