At Wits' End - Kenzie Reed Page 0,80

I just came from there a little while ago, in case she somehow forgot about today and went there to help out. She isn’t there either.

“She wouldn’t do this to me,” I say to Pamela.

I love Pamela, and I hate the pity shining from her eyes. She replies with a solemn nod. “Okay.”

When we get to my family’s table, none of them have seen or heard from her either. I describe what Mia’s father reported.

“Do you think something’s happened to her? She couldn’t possibly have forgotten. Should I call the police?” I ask Uncle Vito.

His mouth purses dismissively. “I’d wait.”

Pamela sighs. “Order me a ribeye steak, medium. I’ll go call my brother, although I’m pretty sure if he knew of her being in an accident, he’d have called me. Or you.” Pamela leaves the room.

When she comes back, she’s shaking her head. “He hasn’t heard anything. So she hasn’t been in an accident. That’s good news, right?”

I can see from the looks on all of my family’s faces that they think she’s done it again. They’re wrong, though. My mother has changed in every way possible. She’s stopped dressing like a twenty-year-old on her way to a nightclub, she’s shot down every guy who’s hit on her, and she’s probably spent more time with me this summer than she’s spent collectively throughout my entire life.

After we finish my birthday lunch and birthday cake, I insist on going to her apartment, which is only a few blocks from the restaurant. Rocco and Pamela walk with me. Everyone else heads back to the farm.

Her car’s not in its assigned spot.

“It was just a rental anyway,” Rocco says. “Maybe she returned it.”

“It was?” I turn to stare at him, startled. “I didn’t know that. How did she afford a rental car all summer?”

He just shrugs.

“You’re not worried about her?”

He shakes his head. Of course he isn’t. She’s not even really family, she’s just related to him by marriage.

I try calling her again. I get her voicemail again.

So I say goodbye to Pamela and my uncle, go back home, and reschedule a couple of appointments I had for later in the afternoon.

I start calling local hospitals. I call everyone I can think of in town to see if they’ve seen her anywhere. At the end of the day, Pamela accompanies me to the police station. I need the moral support, because my nerves are shot.

When we walk into Chief Shaughnessy’s office, he doesn’t bother trying to keep the skepticism from his face.

“I’m sorry, Sienna,” he says. “I already have her information. If she hasn’t turned up by tomorrow morning, you can fill out a missing person’s report.”

“No, you are not waiting until tomorrow. She’s missing, and you need to take this seriously,” I snap. “People need to be out looking for her! Can you please do your damn job?”

“Sienna.” Pamela shakes her head at me. “Be fair.”

“I am doing my job. And that’s my decision.” Chief Shaughnessy’s tone hardens, and he shifts impatiently in his chair.

“She could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere!” Tears fill my eyes.

“I hope that isn’t the case. As I already told you, nobody’s reported any accidents. I talked to Mia’s father, and from his description, there are no signs of a struggle in her apartment. Right now, she’s an adult woman who failed to show up for an appointment, which is something she’s known for doing. I’m sorry, Sienna.”

I leap to my feet and shove my chair back so fast that the feet scrape on the floor. “Don’t say things you don’t mean. And thanks for nothing.” I know I’m being ridiculous, but I’m too upset to care. I storm out of the office and head home for a miserable evening.

The hours drag on, and I wrestle with the idea of telling Donovan. He’s got another presentation with Constantine tomorrow, his last attempt to get him to commit, and I don’t want to ruin it for him. He’d get all upset, he’d insist on flying home, and there wouldn’t really be anything he could do here.

I desperately wish he was here with me. I didn’t realize how comfortable and safe he made me feel until he left. I wake up in bed and reach for him in the morning before I remember he’s gone. It scares me a little, honestly. But I try not to think about it.

I barely sleep that night. In the morning, I go to the police station and apologize for being a crabby bitch.