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Maddox

Fea’s basket could fill up a football field with all the stuff shoved in here. I can barely see over it. With the balloons and flowers attached to it, my line of sight ends two inches in front of my feet. There’s no way I could open a door if I wanted to without dropping the cooler full of food Ace packed. This is a bad idea. I should have just bought her diamonds and flowers.

It works for Matthew.

Mindy’s softer… sweeter than Louisella. Maybe pearls would be better or something pink and delicate, like her cheeks.

All this stuff is stupid. Mindy is going to hate it.

Balloons don’t fix anything.

Why did I listen to Fea?

Just reach out, knock, and get it over with. If you turn back, they’ll all make your life miserable.

What if she’s too sick to answer?

With my hands full, I can’t break into her apartment.

Idiot, you set the stuff down and pick the lock.

Worry has addled my brain.

If she is that sick, I probably should have brought a doctor with me. Barb or a doctor from The Street can be here in a matter of minutes. Or I’ll just drag Mindy to the hospital.

Quit procrastinating and knock.

That’s almost impossible, too, it seems. But I semi-bang semi-lean on the door.

She’s too sick.

I knew it. She’s probably passed out on the bed, dying without me.

Wow, my imagination really needs to simmer down.

She’s sick, not dying.

The door opens. See, she’s just fine.

“What do we have here? A delivery for Mindy.”

The pretty boy!!!

You need to be calm and rational. “I’m here to see Mindy.”

“Well, Mindy doesn’t want to see you.” He snatches the basket and food from my hands. “Go away!”

I’ll—

The door slams in my face.

I don’t know which hurts more, the fact that she doesn’t want to see me, or that she’s letting him take care of her.

***

Pit walks into my office. “She called in again.”

It’s been three days, and there’s been no sign of her except the two-second call where she tells Pit she’s not coming in, then hangs up.

“This is ridiculous. What should I do?” I stand up and pace the room.

“Have you tried diamonds?” Jacko asks.

“Fea said that won’t work.” Though I have looked at some pearls just in case.

“Fea says a lot of things. They aren’t always right.” Pit walks over to the bar and pulls out a soda.

“Is she even sick?” Jacko lifts Honey out of her cage. “Maybe she’s just avoiding you.”

Would she do that? Mindy doesn’t seem like the type to play games. She came right to me when she was mad. I pick up the phone and dial, “Enzo, can you come up here for a minute?”

“Sure, on my way.” He clicks off.

“What are you thinking?” Jacko asks.

“That something’s off. I don’t know what. But something feels wrong.” Is Mindy lying about being sick? Did something happen to her?

The only person who would know is someone who definitely won’t help.

“Women are weird. Brie got mad at me this morning because I cut the toast wrong. She cried about it for twenty minutes.”

Hormones. “Did you remake the toast for her?”

“Of course. Then she cried because I felt bad and did it. I don’t know if I’m going to make it through this. What if something happens with the baby? What if something happens to her?”

“Is something wrong? We could get a neonatal specialist here?” Maybe we should hire a full-time gynecologist for The Street. I need to research some and find one of the best.

“No. No, they’re both fine. Perfect even. The last appointment was just a couple of days ago. Here, wanna see the baby?” He pulls a picture out of his pocket.

The blob in the other blob doesn’t really look like a baby. If you look hard enough, you can sort of see a head. “Cute.” Because even though I seem to be saying the wrong things lately, I know better than to tell a man his baby looks like a blob.

Jacko raises an eyebrow at me as Pit turns to walk away.

Like you said anything different.

Enzo walks in. “What’s up?”

“I need you to find out where Mindy’s phone is.” Something in my gut says to find her.

He stops. “You want me to stalk your girlfriend.”

“Just find out if she’s home sick.”

“You’re nuts. You know that, right?” Enzo walks over to the security system. “You want me to hack into a phone system to check on your girlfriend who’s mad at you, because you don’t believe she’s sick.”

“There’s no way that woman isn’t sick. You should hear her talk. It’s like she was half strangled and wheezing through a paper bag.” Pit searches through the snacks. “No way.”

“Just do it!” I almost want to be wrong about this.

“Fine.” Enzo gets to work.

“What are you going to do if you find out she’s lying?” Jacko strokes Honey.

That’s a good question. After the fist in my chest goes away, what am I going to do? “Ask her why she ran away from me?” Then maybe get on my knees and beg her to forgive me. Possibly scoop her up into my arms and never let her go.

I pace as Enzo works.

“Got it.” He pulls up an image on the main screen. “Her phone is in the apartment. It hasn’t moved since Sunday night.”

She isn’t lying. “I need to see her. Is the pretty boy there?”

“You know how to make my life harder. But I figured you’d ask that. So, I already checked. He left for work a few hours ago.”

That’s it. I’m going to see her now.

***

This time, I just grabbed a bouquet of flowers. Everything else would have taken too long to get.

I knock on the door and wait.

Is she asleep?

I knock again.

She could be in the bathroom. It might scare her if you break in.

Just be patient.

You make logical, reasonable decisions. You don’t do anything irrational.

I pull the lock pick set out of my pocket, but hesitate. Mindy is sick. She told Pit just this afternoon that she’s too sick to come to work.

This is completely irrational. I don’t care. I need to see with my own eyes that she’s alive.

At this point, even hearing her voice wouldn’t be enough. I need to know she’s safe.

It doesn’t take long to pop the lock. We need to fix that.

Does she have a deadbolt on the door?

It opens easily. I step inside and close it behind me. There’s definitely a dead bolt. Why didn’t she engage it when Adonis left? Was she too sick to get up?

“Mindy, it’s me. Maddox.” Why did I feel the need to shout my name? She knows who I am? There’s no response.

I rush to her bedroom.

It’s untouched. The boxes are where we left them, and the bed hasn’t been slept in.

Where is she? I check the bathroom and every drawer. It doesn’t look like she’s been living here. But all her stuff is still here.

Did she move into the pretty boy’s room?

Mindy said they weren’t dating. I believe her, but my feet move towards the other bedroom. The door is open.

Nothing. It’s empty, and there’s no sign of her.

Anywhere.

Her phone. Surely, she wouldn’t leave without her phone. I dial it. The ringer goes off, but it’s muted and in another room. I follow the sound to the living room.

Someone stuck it in a drawer.

Why?

The phone is so old it doesn’t even have the lock engaged. Why lock something no one would want to steal?

There are half a dozen missed calls and unseen messages. Mindy hasn’t checked her phone since Sunday.

Where is she?