Page 88 of Diluted Truths

Standing on the other side of the door was Griffin Whitley. He smiled at me in a way where it didn’t reach his eyes and stalked forward.

“You didn’t answer my calls,” he stated as he backed me up against the wall.

“I-I wasn’t home,” I stammered.

“Oh, I know. Malachi had to go through his trial. But it’s now over, which means it’s your turn.”

I felt his hand cover my mouth before I registered what was happening around me. He was holding something against it. A cloth? Was I being drugged?

Slowly, I fell unconscious. My last thought was that in just a few hours Will would be here. He would see I was gone and he would find me.

Will would find me.

He had to.

Chapter 26Slip Away (feat. Ruelle) by. UNSECRET

Will

“Jackie, are you in here?” I yelled into what seemed like an empty apartment.

I looked around at the dark and empty room. We were supposed to meet for dinner tonight. We agreed on 7:00, but the door was unlocked when I arrived and Jackie was nowhere to be found. I checked the clock… oddly, it was stuck at 4:44 pm. I continued to look around, hoping to find her.

Odd,maybe she was still asleep.

Her nightmares were becoming more consistent and I could tell she was utterly exhausted.

Her bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room were all empty. Maybe she had run out to grab something for dinner and was running late.

Yes, that must have been it. Just as I had that thought, the sound of a car driving into the parking lot took my attention. I looked out her window expecting to see her black Jeep drive in, except her Jeep was already parked in her designated spot and there was no sign of her.

Where could she be?

“Jackie! Where are you?”

I could feel myself panicking. The case had taken so many odd turns up until this point and it seemed as though she had garnered Griffin’swhole focus. He couldn’t have done anything, he was locked away on the other side of the country.

Right?

I continued searching, checking closets, cabinets, and even under her bed.

“Jedi?”

There her cat was, hiding under her bed with the widest eyes I had ever seen. “Jedi, are you okay?”

Okay, wow, I was talking to a cat.

I was really falling off the deep end.

I slowly coaxed the creature out from under the bed. He seemed skittish.

Were cats skittish? What happened that had caused this type of behavior?

I didn’t have time to contemplate the cat's mood. I needed to find Jackie. She has to be around here somewhere. That’s when I noticed her keys on the keyring by the front door. Her shoes were kicked off by the couch. Her purse was on her kitchen counter. Everything was positioned as if she should just be on her couch lounging or in her bed napping.

“Jackie!” I yelled again, hoping that would make her appear.

There was still no response.