Page 140 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

She waited a few seconds before trying again, only for more of the same.

It was an unfortunate coincidence. Jane was likely already home and making up with Logan, but something in her gut didn’t sit right.

Jane knew she was rushing to the hospital. She’d even said, very clearly, to call her as soon as she had any news. There was no way her friend would not answer her phone at a moment like this.

Something did not feel right at all.

Without any way of locating Ken’s hospital, she drove back to the park, hoping that maybe her friend was still there and just hadn’t heard her phone ring. She parked in almost the same spot — the park wasn’t busy, tonight being colder than normal.

There was something on the ground by the bench, lying in a pool of dark liquid.

The sight of it sent chills down her back.

It was the coffee she had given Jane. She could see the name “Jane” written on the side of the Starbucks cup.

Right next to the bench sat a trashcan.

If she knew anything about Jane, it was that the woman wouldn’t leave her trash on the ground like that. She approached the cup slowly, unsure what to do.

A whimper sounded close by, so timidly that if there was any other noise in the park, she might not have heard it.

“Hello?”

She called out into the night, senses on full alert. The sound that came this time wasn’t so much a whimper as a whine. Ducking down, she met Loki’s fearful blue eyes from where he had been hiding beneath the bench.

“Loki! What’re you doing here all alone? Where’s Jane?”

She untangled his leash from the bench, encouraged him out. The puppy trembled from fear and cold. She hugged up to her chest, warming him up even as fear took hold of her.

“Let’s try calling her again.”

She didn’t know if she was talking to calm the dog or herself. She found Jane’s number and hit ‘call’. The phone started ringing almost immediately…

As did another, very close by.

The rings echoed hers so closely that they could have been synchronized.

Her heart plummeted to her stomach.

Holding onto Loki, she approached the sound of the ringing phone and found it coming from the trashcan. Peering over the top, she saw a handbag lying on top of the trash — Jane’s brown slouch bag. The lights from her phone screen could be seen through the material of the bag.

She fished out the bag and the phone, fingers trembling to see “CLARE CALLING” on the screen.

“Jane? JANE?!!!” She shouted suddenly, eyes darting every which way in the hope of seeing her friend. “WHERE ARE YOU?”

But of course, there was no answer.

Only the ringing of the two phones.

Holding tightly to Loki, she ran for her car, carrying Jane’s bag and phone. Once inside, she locked the doors and took off, not wanting to stay in the dark park a moment longer.

Her heart was threatening to burst out of her chest. Something terrible had happened to Jane, she knew it for sure. Although she was still concerned about Ken, he was being taken care of. But Jane… she was on her own.

Clare had to get help, she had to speak to Logan.

Keeping one eye on the street ahead, she tried to activate Jane’s phone but it asked for a passcode or fingerprint to unlock it. Flinching at a pain in the middle of her head, she suddenly came up with the solution.

“Hey Siri?” She asked the phone, hoping desperately that the automated service had been activated and would consider her voice a close enough match to Jane’s.

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