Page 53 of Husband to Go

Her eyes go wide.

“Holy shit,thatTanner? Oh my god, I wasn’t sure I’d ever meet you.”

I grimace. Clearly, Kylie’s shared some of our secrets.

“And you are?” I ask with raised eyebrows.

She crosses her arms across her chest with a smug smile.

“I’m Andrea, one of Kylie’s friends. I’m here because I’ve been calling and calling, and she hasn’t answered. The last text I got was over a week ago. And it sounds like the last timeanyonesaw her was that night you two spent together.” That has me a little bit worried. Initially, I thought that Kylie was simply ignoring me, but now, it sounds like no one knows where she is.

“So she’s missing?”

Andrea shrugs.

“I don’t know. I’ve been calling her, but she hasn’t been answering her phone. I talked to all of our friends, and no one has any updates. Now her cell’s going straight to voicemail so I think it’s dead. I don’t have any way to find her. Do you?”

I take a deep breath.

“I have some resources. Just give me a minute.” I pull out my phone and call an employee of mine. He’s someone who’s good at this kind of detective work. I give him a rundown of the situation and get Kylie’s number from Andrea.

“Okay, sir. I’ll let you know if anything pops up,” my employee chirps. Good. I hang up and lower myself into the closest chair. I can’t believe this is happening. Now, my sweet girl is missing and this feels ominous.

“Who did you call?” Andrea eyes me suspiciously.

“An associate of mine who finds people and things for me. He’s good at it, so I’m sure he’ll come back with results.”

“An associate, eh? Sounds shady,” she harrumphs, crossing her arms across her chest. I shake my head with sudden fatigue.

“His name is Corey. It’s not that weird, and everything is above board. I promise you.”

“Okay, Vito Corleone,” she smirks.

I have a feeling that Andrea might not have the most favorable opinion of me, which is understandable. It’s nice to know that someone like her is supporting Kylie.

Andrea begins to pace. Clearly, she’s antsy. I know she wants results, but they typically take time.

“So, we just wait until this Corey person calls you or texts you? What then?

I hold up a hand. “One step at a time. Yeah, he’ll text me in an hour letting me know Kylie’s whereabouts. And then we’ll go from there, okay? First things first.”

Andrea shoots me another suspicious glance but at least she nods.

“Okay.”

We fall into a silence. I’m sure Andrea’s mind is racing becausemymind is racing. I want to stay positive, and until I get that bad news, I won’t let myself get dragged down. Meanwhile, Andrea decides to make conversation.

“So Tanner, what finally convinced you that Veronica is a she-devil?”

Talk about hitting things on the head with no preparation.

“I’m sorry?”

She harrumphs.

“I’m guessing you finally realized that you’re in love with Kylie, and that Veronica is a she-devil.” Andrea looks at me, waiting for an answer.

“I guess you’re right, in a way. I broke off my engagement to my fiancée because there were little things that Veronica would do that got on my nerves. I can’t say it was any one thing that broke the camel’s back but when I found myself frantically looking for Kylie on my wedding day, I came to my senses.”