Page 169 of The Illicit Play

Because her phone’s off, dumbass.

Dammit!

Where the fuck is she?

“I’m sure she’s fine, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson.” Zander is trying to bring a little calm into this clusterfuck, but I don’t think it’s going to work. Something is wrong. I can feel it in my gut. “She’s probably driving down to Denver as we speak. That’s why we’re calling, just to make sure she got there safely.” He shares a worried frown with Wily, who looks about ready to break the phone in his hand.

His fear is palpable, and it’s hard not to feed off it.

Blake has obviously never done this kind of thing before, and after everything that’s gone down in the last few days…

Shit, please be okay, baby. Please!

“But she’s not here!” Mrs. Wilson wails. “Where is she, David?”

“I don’t know.” He sounds pretty cut up. “We should have tried harder to talk to her today. We shouldn’t have given her space. We should have driven up there and seen her. Dammit! I’m coming up.”

“No, Dad. We need you to stay in case she shows up.” Wily clenches his jaw. “Please, just stay put, okay?”

After an awkward beat, his father finally huffs in consent. “Fine. We’ll wait. But you keep us posted, okay? After everything she told us yesterday, who knows what she might get up to.” He sounds rattled and pissed off, and I can’t help glaring at the phone as Wily says goodbye and hangs up.

As soon as he drops the device on the couch, he spins to bark at me. “Why’d she take off? What the fuck did you do? She was at the hospital, and then she just disappears? What the hell happened!”

“I don’t know!” I raise my hands to shut him up and stop him stalking toward me. He’s limping, and Satch is trying to pass him his crutch, but we seriously don’t have time for this shit!

“What happened at the hospital?” He glares at me.

“I. Don’t. Know,” I repeat emphatically. “I was dealing with Teah’s parents and her boyfriend, who security had to drag out of the hospital, and when I turned to check on Blake, she wasn’t there. I assumed she’d gone to the bathroom. Teah’s mom wanted me to go sit with Teah for a minute, and I did. We talked, and then I left. I was expecting Blake to be waiting for me, but she wasn’t. I don’t know why, okay?” My voice starts to pitch. “All I do know is that we have to find her, and I don’t have time to stand here arguing with you!” Pulling the keys out of my pocket, I turn for the front door. “I’m going out to look for her. You can beat on me later.”

Zander steps in front of Wily before he can reach me. “He’s right, man. Just calm down. None of this is helping Blake.”

I glance over my shoulder in time to see Wily’s shoulders slump.

Shit, he looks destroyed right now.

“We need to split up and start searching around any places we think she might go. Any guesses?” Zander asks.

“The library,” Wily mutters at the same time I grumble, “A party.”

His eyes snap to mine, and shit, the gutted confusion on his face says it all. Yet again, it’s occurring to him how much his sister has changed. How much he doesn’t know her. And it’s brutal.

“I’m sorry, man,” I mumble, feeling his pain. “But you need to put whatever hurt you’re feeling aside, because we have to find her.” My voice cracks and I blink, wrestling with this onslaught of emotion I was not expecting.

If something’s happened to her…

If she’s wasted at a party or someone’s doing something to her…

My imagination tortures me, blurring my vision for a second.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I look back at her brother and rasp, “I need to find her.”

His eyebrows rise for a brief second, like he’s surprised by the intense emotion I’m battling, but doesn’t he get it?

I care about Blake.

She’s my… cosmic match.

My chest spasms and I rush out the front door. I can’t go losing her now. Not when I’ve just figured it out.