face. “I…I have to go. Please call or text if you find out anything.”
“We will. And don’t worry, Syd. I’m sure she’s fine.”
She hung up without responding and immediately started scrolling through her contacts.
First, she called Teresa’s office—just in case—but she hadn’t seen or heard from Haley. After that, she called the few parents of Haley’s friends that she knew, but none of them knew anything either. Then, out of desperation, she called her parents to see if maybe Haley had called them.
She hadn’t.
That’s when full-blown despair hit.
“You have to call the police, Sydney,” her mother urged. “She could be anywhere by now!”
“I know that, Mom. But I’m calling all the people they’re going to tell me to call and…and…don’t you have to wait twenty-four hours first?”
“Does it matter? You need to call them right now! Your father and I are going to pack up and start driving.”
“Mom, you’re ten hours away. It would be better if you stayed put just in case…” She let out a long breath. “For all we know, she’s heading to you.”
“How would she even do that?”
“I don’t know! It was just a thought! Can you please just stay put?”
“Okay, okay. Just…keep in touch and let me know what’s going on. Please.”
“Of course, Mom. I need to go.”
Hanging up, she paced the kitchen and tried to think of who else she could possibly call. She thought about Violet because Haley had really made a connection with her, but she had a feeling anyone related to Kyle was going to be low on her niece’s list of people to reach out to. With no other choice, she called the police.
And then went back to Haley’s room to search again while she waited for someone to show up to talk to her.
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind—why didn’t I see her when she left? How much stuff did she take with her? Where on earth would she possibly go?
After a few minutes, she grew more and more frantic—dumping drawers, tearing clothes off of hangers, and taking down things from the shelves in Haley’s closet. At this point, she had no idea what she was even looking for and just prayed the answer would magically appear. When the room was thoroughly trashed, she stepped back into the kitchen and began searching through the app store on her phone for some sort of tracking thing. Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t focus and when the doorbell rang, she simply dropped the phone and ran to answer it.
“Ms. Albright?” the uniformed officer asked.
Nodding, she practically yanked him through the door. “Yes, yes. I’m Sydney Albright and my niece Haley is missing. She told me she was sleeping at a friend’s house when she left here yesterday afternoon, but she wasn’t. That was never the plan. No one knows where she is!”
“Yes, ma’am, I understand. I’m Officer Don Lehman. Do you have a picture of your niece?”
Running around, she pulled all the pictures of Haley she could find from the shelves and carried them into the kitchen, dumping them on the counter. “Will these work?”
He nodded and started looking through them. “Which is the most recent?” Sydney pointed to one and then spent the next thirty minutes answering more questions than she thought necessary. He excused himself and went back out to his cruiser to get his iPad and all she could do was pace.
More than anything, she wished someone was there with her. All of her friends had kids of their own; they would understand. Maybe while Officer Lehman was outside, she could send out a group text and hope someone would come over.
Phone in hand, she was about to start typing when he returned.
“Okay, I just issued a BOLO report and…”
“What’s a BOLO report?”
“A ‘Be on the Lookout’ report. Haley’s picture will be circulated within the department and we’ll start patrolling the area. Is there anyone you’d like to call and have them come stay with you?”
“Um…”
“Also, you should keep the phone free. We may need to call or Haley may try to call.”
Somehow she doubted that last one, but she simply nodded.
“What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”
“Unfortunately, all you can do is wait. With any luck, we’ll find someone who’s seen her and have her home soon.”
Swallowing hard, Sydney forced herself to ask the question she was terrified of. “And what if nobody’s seen her?”
His expression was grim. “Magnolia’s a small town, Ms. Albright. I’m sure somebody’s seen her.” With that, he handed