Page 63 of Forbidden Love

I shake my head. “He has a charger in his office and car. He plugs it in the minute he gets near either one. It won’t be that, especially now Kally is communicating with him. I know everyone wants to think he’s going to walk through that door at any moment, but something is wrong. I can feel it. Call it a brother’s intuition.”

Clay and Caleb share a look. They know exactly what I mean. Clark would never shut himself off from the outside world. He has either taken himself off and done something stupid or trouble has come looking for him.

“He was preoccupied this morning. I warned him not to do anything stupid.” Nancy bangs her hands down on the breakfast bar and Jared comforts her. “This has got to stop,” she cries into Jared’s chest.

I know exactly what Nancy is saying. Enough is enough. We have security guys walking around our house, police trying to track down a psycho, a woman in a mental health facility, and now a missing person. It gets crazier by the day. No, it gets crazier by the fucking hour.

“Okay. Map.” Chris jumps up from the seat at the breakfast bar and rolls out the map on Clark’s dining table. “Clark’s cell last pinged off the towers here, here, and here.” He marks the map with a red pen. “So, he could be somewhere in this area.”

I walk over to the map and look at the area carefully. “Our parents’ house is there.”

Clay and Caleb jump up, pull on their bulletproof vests, and throw one over at me.

“Chris, stay here. Try to track down the last contact Clark had. Any text, phone call, email… anything.”

“Be careful,” Nancy calls after us.

“We’ll take my SUV. I know where I’m going.” I jump into the driver’s seat and the guys hop in too. “Hold on. Why are you here? Didn’t you guys leave?”

“Long story short, Kally wanted me here to stop Clark doing something stupid.” Caleb holds up his hands in defeat. “That didn’t work. I didn’t get back fast enough.”

“Hey, we need to remain positive until we have facts.”

None of what Clay is saying is true. I know Clark too well, and that’s why my heart is racing so fast that I can feel the pounding between my ears.

I reach into my pocket and take out my cell. I connect it to the hands-free dash and dial my mother’s number.

“Damien, son. Hi. I thought you had forgotten about your father being in hospital.”

“I can hardly forget, Mother. That’s not why I’m calling. When was the last time you heard from Clark?”

“This morning. He stopped by to see if I had heard from Colton. I haven’t. He left. Why?”

I take in a deep breath. “Because he’s missing. You’re sure he never mentioned where he was going?”

Silence descends over the car as we wait for something, anything, to work with.

“No. He never said anything. Have you tried the office? The house?”

“We’ve tried it all. I have to go.”

“Keep me updated…” I cut off the line.

“She isn’t telling us everything.” Clay leans in between Caleb and me.

I was just about to make the same comment, but Clay beat me to it. What the hell is she hiding?

Clay takes my cell. “I’m going to send this number to Chris, get him to hack into the cell, and see what we can uncover once he’s finished with Clark’s cell.”

“If Clark isn’t at your parents’ house, is there anywhere else in that area he might be?” asks Caleb.

I blow out a deep breath. “Clark doesn’t come to our parents’ house unless he has a reason. He hates the whole area. It reminds him too much of the things that happened to Kally. I can count on one hand how many times he’s been here in the last five years.”

“We’ll find him,” Caleb says confidently and pats my shoulder.

Right now, I wish I had his confidence. Instead, I’m drowning in negative thoughts. And the more time ticks by, the more fear consumes me about Clark’s wellbeing.

I come to a speeding stop outside my parents’ house. I jump out of the SUV and notice quickly that Clark’s car is nowhere to be seen.

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