to bring it up. What about your truck?”
I searched for the valet. “Call a tow truck and have them bring it to this address.” I took a business card for the ranch out of my wallet that was still in the front seat. I handed it to the young kid and then pulled out a couple hundred dollars. “This is for you to get it taken care of as soon as possible.”
He nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll call right now.”
When I turned back to the passenger seat, I reached down for the old sonogram photo and gently picked it up before running over to Truitt’s truck. “What about Saryn?”
“I’ll call her and tell her what’s going on. She’ll be fine.”
All I could do was nod as I glanced back down at the old photo in my hand. I hadn’t looked at it in at least a year. I folded it gently back up, pulled out my ID, and then put it back in its usual place.
“Why do you think she took out your ID?” Truitt asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Nolan, it’s going to be okay.”
Looking at him, I opened my mouth to say something, but no words would come. All I could do was drop my head back against the seat, close my eyes, and pray.
Please be at the house, Linz. Please.
Steve and Amy were already in the driveway of their house when Truitt and I pulled up out front. I pushed the door open to the truck and made a mad dash to the house.
“Her shoes are out here! Why are her shoes out here?” Amy cried out.
“She kicked them off,” I said as I ran by her and up the steps into the house. “Linnzi! Linnzi!”
“Linnzi, sweetheart?” Amy called out as she frantically searched through the rooms.
Steve went up the steps. “Check her room,” he said to me as he walked by. I wanted to follow him, but instead I ran to her room as I called out her name.
“Linnzi!” Amy cried out as she appeared in the bedroom door.
“She’s not here, but she was. She changed, and it looks like she grabbed clothes,” I said, surveying the mess of clothes and the open drawers of her dresser.
“Where’s Steve?” Amy asked.
“I…I don’t know. He told me to check here, and he kept walking down the hall.”
Amy’s eyes went wide. “The attic! The trunk!”
She spun around so fast she was gone before I had a chance to let her words register. We had put everything of Amanda’s into an old trunk, including anything that would remind Linnzi of me. I had begged Steve and Amy to let me keep the trunk at my house, but they insisted it stay with them.
I rushed out of the bedroom, down the hall, and then took the attic steps three at a time. Steve was sitting on the floor next to the trunk. Amy stood there, silently crying.
The trunk was open; the latch had clearly been broken.
“The picture of the three of you is gone, the baby blanket, and…” Steve’s voice trailed off.
“And what? What else is gone, Steve?” I yelled out.
He turned to look at me. “Her engagement ring and wedding band.”
I stumbled back and hit a large box. I stood there frozen as I let it all sink in.
Amy faced me. “Where is she, Nolan? Where would she go?”
“I—I…I’m not sure. I don’t know,” I stammered.
“We have to find her. Steve! My God, get up! Both of you snap the hell out of it. We have to find her!” Amy cried out.
I nodded and rubbed the instant ache at the back of my neck. My mind spun with where Linnzi could have gone. Did she remember everything? Did she even remember Amanda? She had to have. The expression on her face when she turned back and looked at me was one of utter devastation. The fact that she broke into the trunk, took the picture, took her wedding set—what did it all mean?
Steve slowly stood and asked, “Does she have her passport?”
“Oh, dear Lord,” Amy said as she rushed past me and back down the steps.
“You think she went back to Paris?” I asked Steve.
He shook his head. “No, but we need to know that it’s not an option for her.”
I swallowed hard as I placed my hands on my thighs and took in a few deep breaths. I felt sick to my stomach, and each breath seemed harder than the last. Steve walked up to me and placed his hand on my back.
“Tonight.