Page 9 of Four Times Saved

"What he means is, our type of relationship isn't typical, well at least not publicly..." Ethan continued as I rolled my eyes. Less talking, more doing something, please. But I bit my tongue because what else was I going to do all the way over here without any clue as to where Lily might be. I had an idea who took her, but I doubted he'd be stupid enough to take her back to his woman's house.

"But we all love Lily, okay? And she loves us. We share a romantic relationship with each other. A um..." Ethan searched for the word.

"Polyamorous. You've heard of that one, haven't you?" Ryan bit out, impatience lacing his tone. He swore away from the speaker, but I still caught it.

We were all teetering on the edge here, convincing this braindead cop of the legitimacy of our relationship. I knew that if Lily and I opened our relationship up, it would come with problems, but this? I couldn't have dreamed of this.

"Yes, so please. We're sorry for speeding and running the lights. Aren't we, Matt?" Ethan kicked him behind the desk. I knew because the thump wasn't subtle and Matt winced.

Matt scowled at him and back at the cop before clearing his throat. "Yeah, sure."

"As you can see, it was an emergency. Who knows what could've happened to Lily's mother if we hadn't arrived? Who knows what could be happening to Lily now?" He choked. My heart beat against my chest like a gorilla beating his pecs in warning. "So, if there's any way we can..."

"Ethan..." I cleared my throat, noticing the cop's quietness and softening expression. I shook my head at Ethan when he looked at the phone.

Narrowly, we avoided adding bribery to the already growing list of crimes as the cop unfolded his hands and leaned forward. "I tell you what. I'll make a note of it."

My brain started knocking, like a time bomb ticking, letting me know my head was about to explode. Make a note of it? Like it was something trivial, a shopping list or some shit? My breath was strangled within me. I wanted to break something, scream, shake the earth until she fell into my arms again.

"It hasn't been twenty-four hours yet, so technically, I can't call it in. Does she have a history with sleepwalking?" The cop asked. Seriously, where the hell did the force find this guy?

"No. She doesn't have a problem with sleepwalking." Ethan bit out. Matt stared at the cop incredulously.

I put the phone down, unable to look at his unhelpful face any longer, weakening at the thought of Lily being somewhere, hurt and suffering, needing help while we were engaging with this idiot. The chaos deep in my chest and beneath my skin forced me away from the phone on my bed and toward the window for some fresh air.

"So, she wouldn't have wandered out?" He asked.

Ryan swore.

"No," Matt said low and deep, his jaw set sharp.

"Okay. Well, I'll follow up with you in twenty-four hours. If she isn't back by then, we'll start our investigations." The cop resolved.

"Twenty-four hours?!" Matt gasped.

"She might be dead in twenty-four hours!" Ryan shouted.

My knees buckled. My lungs swelled. I held onto the window sill.

"There isn't any way you can speed this up? This is unlike Lily. We know her. She wouldn't have just wandered off and left her mother alone in the house. There's nothing we can do to help you speed this up?" Ethan pleaded.

"What are you proposing?" The cop asked.

Ethan had the good sense not to bring up bribing the cop again. We didn't have time to risk it backfiring.

"Just keep your eyes out for her and call if she returns." The cop grumbled, dismissing us.

What? He couldn't dismiss us yet. There must be some way we could convince him to hurry this case up. Finding my legs again, I hurried toward my phone just as Ethan was thanking the officer.

"Wait, no! Don't leave yet. Tell him that her father's the one who kidnapped her!" I yelled, but Ethan cut the call off before I could finish. "Damn it!" I threw the phone against the wall, falling to my knees in regret as I watched it break apart, since if I'd damaged the phone, I didn't know how they were going to contact me. My body was shaken by a knock on the door and I jumped to my feet.

I forgot where I was for a moment and the knock had me muttering swear words while I forced myself together, my body buzzing with sensitivity as I pulled myself to the door.

Taking a deep shaky breath, I opened the door to my dad's anguished face.

"Hi, dad." I controlled my voice, but I couldn't force a smile right now.

"Who's been kidnapped?" His eyes were bloodshot.

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