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“Kat? Who …” Emma pauses for a moment, then snaps her fingers. “Oh! The bitch that was here? Oh yeah, she ran off. Scared little one. She didn’t even care about the food she was cooking. She could have burned the place down.” Emma waves her hand in the air dismissively. “Anyway, I don’t have a clue. She up and left. I mean,really,Bryce? Her? She’s so not your type. She got the hint and left. I mean, she didn’t even put up a fight! You’re apparently not that important to her. At least I’m fighting for you, babes. I love you. Look, I brought you a box of your stuff. I mean, your parents seemed excited when I told them. They told me where I could find you! They want us to get back together.”
“Get the fuck out!” I scream at the top of my lungs, no longer able to hide my anger. My entire body is ready to rupture in rage. “Get your shit and get the fuck out! I don’t love you, I don’t want you, and you are nothing to me, Emma! So, get the fuck out of my apartment!” I point to the door. “Get out or I’ll have you arrested. Your fucking choice.”
The look in her eyes says it all; she realizes she miscalculated. She thought I would be happy she came running to me. It’s the complete opposite. I’m seeing red and even more raging mad that she intimidated Kat into running. Knowing what I know about Kat, she’s likely thinking the absolute worse right now. Nothing else is more important than finding Kat.
Once Emma leaves, I lock the door and head to Kat’s apartment. I walk in. All her clothes are still there. Her laptop and phone charger too. I look up the times for OneShot Coffee and find they’re already closed. So, she can’t be there. Picking up my phone, I call Austin.
He answers on the first ring, “Hey, Bryce.”
“I need Vicki’s number. It’s an emergency.” I say forcefully.
“What’s going on?” From the sound of his voice, I can tell I have his attention.
“It’s Kat. She’s gone, and I can’t get a hold of her. My ex showed up. Freaked Kat out. Told her we were getting back together. I need to see if she’s with Vicki.” Words fly out of my mouth as fast as they can to explain the situation.
“Fuck. Okay, sending it now. Keep me up to date.”
Hanging up on Austin, I call Vicki. Every fiber of my being is praying Kat is with Vicki right now. If she isn’t—if she’s out there alone, it is going to fucking kill me. My heart can’t take knowing that.
“Hey, Vicki. It’s Bryce.” I blurt out once she picks up. There is a fire in my body that I don’t know if I can keep under control.
“Hey, shouldn’t you be doing the dance with no pants with your woman right now?” That’s not what I want to hear. Not at all.
“She’s not with you?” I panic.
Immediately, Vicki gasps and grows worried. “What do you mean? Why would she be with me?”
“Fuck! I can’t explain. But if you hear from her, call me immediately.” I don’t have time to go into detail with her. I don’t want to call her parents and worry them, so I hop in my truck to do a drive-by. If her car is there, I’ll at least know she’s okay.
I keep trying her phone as I haul ass to her parent’s house. When I get there, I drive down the street slowly. My heart sinks. No car. Both of her parents’ cars are there, but Kat’s car isn’t on the street like it usually is.
Defeated, I drive back to the apartment. Her car still isn’t there. With my heart breaking, I head inside her place and sit down on the couch. I need to try one more time to get her to answer me. As I text her, I’m mentally willing her to answer me.
Me: Kat, please call me. We need to talk.
Me: Please answer. Please.
I pick up and call again, but it’s still going to voicemail. I squeeze my phone, then realize that I need to stop. If she calls and I break my phone, she’ll once again think the worst.
What I really need to do is file a missing persons report. The cop in me knows there’s no foul play and all that’ll happen is some missing persons BOLO will get put out there. In reality, she’ll show up in the next day or two. My heart feels like it’s breaking into a million pieces. It physically hurts me. Clenching my chest with my hand, I hang my head. I have no idea what to do. This is a first.
My phone rings and I immediately look at it. It’s Austin.
“Hey, did you find her?” Austin asks; he knows how my ex can be. When I first came out here and partnered up with him, he saw first-hand the effect of what Emma did to me. He knows she’s a piece of work. I know he can only imagine what Emma did to Kat.
“No. No, I don’t know where else to look. I drove past her parents’ house and her car wasn’t there. She’s not with Vicki either.” I run a hand through my hair.
“Yeah, Vicki called me freaking out. I didn’t tell her anything. I told her you were out looking for Kat and left it at that. Do you want to put out a BOLO?”
“She left of her own accord. No foul play. It wouldn’t do much. Chances of her showing up tomorrow or the next day are more likely. Fuck! I don’t even know. Hardwick, my mind is a mess right now.” I press a palm against my eye, trying to relieve some tension. It’s not working. My head hurts like crazy.
“Okay, let’s wait it out then. I’ll have Vicki keep texting her and calling. Kat will come home. Your ex ran her out. Kat just needs a little time to get her thoughts together. I’m sure she’s fine, wherever she is.” Austin lets out a sigh, like he’s trying to believe the bullshit he just spewed.
“Yeah,” There’s nothing else I can say. I’m officially out of my mind to the point that I have no words.
“Look, how about we go drive around?” Austin suggests.
“No. I’m going to wait here. Wherever she is right now, she wants to be alone. Best thing to do is to let her calm down. She’ll come back. All her stuff is here,” Looking at all her things, my heart twists in pain. Now, I’m just saying words to convince myself this is all going to be okay. But I’m far from okay. This is all far from okay.