Page 83 of The Boss I Can't Stand

“Hey,” I answered. “Everything okay?”

“Didn’t mean to wake you,” he said, sounding on the verge of panic.

“You didn’t. What’s wrong?” Was it Connor? Had something happened to Grace?

“You haven’t talked to Mom recently, have you?” he said. “Like in the last twenty-four hours?”

“What?” I frowned at his question. Why the hell would I have talked to Mom? We hadn’t spoken for a few weeks now, and he damn well knew that. I’d told him and Connor about how Mom had ruined a major scene in the movie. I almost hadn’t been able to get the words out. “No, I haven’t spoken to her at all.” And I didn’t intend to right now. “What’s the problem?”

“She’s been a little down for the past couple of weeks or so,” he said. “Low mood, lack of energy. But she didn’t squirrel herself away in her room completely, so I figured she was handling everything as well as could be expected.”

Why was he telling me this?

“But then this morning she didn’t come down for breakfast. She’s always the first one up, so Mia went to check on her?—”

“And she’s just gone!” Mia’s voice rang out. Liam was clearly on speakerphone. “I’ve checked the whole house. Twice!”

“Well, you’ve got a lot of rooms,” I said. “You’re sure you actually looked everywhere, and she’s not chilling on your pool deck with her?—”

“Finn,” Liam said, cutting me off. “I swear to God, she’s not here.”

I knew my brother, knew the cadence of his voice. To anyone else, he might sound steady, but I could hear the slight waver. This was the most worried I’d heard him in a long time.

I rubbed my eyes, not in the mood to play detective. “Have you tried calling her? Maybe she went out for breakfast.”

“Of course I have,” he snapped. “There’s been no answer. And she didn’t leave a note or anything, but all of her things have disappeared, and her car is gone.”

So she ran away?Was that why he was calling? Mom was an adult. If she wanted to go somewhere, how exactly were we meant to stop her?

“I already called Connor,” Liam continued, “but he hasn’t heard anything about Mom coming back to San Fran, either.”

“Okay, well, I’m sure she’s fine,” I muttered. “I’ll shoot her a text, but if she hasn’t replied to you or Connor, I doubt she’ll reply to me. But I’ll let you know if I get a reply.”

Liam hesitated on the other end of the phone.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing, it’s just…A text? That’s it?” He sounded surprised. “I sort of figured you’d have more of a plan.”

“Well, you’re Mister Swoop-in-and-Fix-It,” I said.

“Yeah, but you’re the guy who usually has contingencies for everything. You know how we’re going to react before we even do.”

I was too exhausted for contingencies. “Let me know if Mom surfaces,” I said, cutting him off. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I hung up on Liam and turned the ringer off, not in the mood to stage a rescue mission. What the hell did Mom have to be rescued from anyway? She was an adult capable of making her own decisions.

I set off for the office, but despite getting an earlier start to the day, I struggled to focus. Around mid-morning, Connor texted to say he still hadn’t heard anything and then repeatedly tried to call me. I wasn’t in the mood for a lecture from him either, so I let it go to voicemail.

But when the phone rang through with a different number. An unknown number. I couldn’t deny my curiosity, and I answered it.

Two-and-a-half hours later, I pulled up outside of Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield and headed straight inside to the emergency department.

“Finn Lockhart,” I said to the nurse behind the glass. “I’m looking for my mother—Cathleen Lockhart.”

She inclined her head in the direction of a door. “I’ll buzz you in. A nurse will meet you and take you back.”

Once I’d passed through the doors, I was met by a middle-aged nurse carrying a chart and a small medicine cup. “You’re Cathleen Lockhart’s son?”