Page 23 of Now You're Mine

A woman’s voice comes over the line. “I’m looking for a…” I hear paper rustling in the background. “...Mr. Roman Rush.”

“Yes,” I say, bile rising in my throat. “I’m Roman.”

“I have you listed as the emergency contact for Mr. James Chandler.”

“Yeah, he’s my brother. Is he okay?”

“My name is Tracy, and I’m with Lockly Recovery Center. Your brother, James, was transferred to our facility a few days ago.”

My heart is pounding against my ribs. So, far, it’s sounding like a routine call, but it’s two o’clock in the fucking morning, so this can’t be good. “Is he okay?” I ask again more forcefully.

“Um, I’m not sure.” There’s a hesitation in her voice that alarms me. “He’s…not here.”

The fuck?

“What do you mean he’snot there?”

“The night nurse checks on our residents every two hours, and just after midnight, she discovered him missing. We’ve searched the grounds, but we think he may have left the facility.”

Fuuuck.

“We haven’t called the police yet. It’s possible he left and intends to return, but we thought we should let you know.”

I’m already putting my shoes on, and grabbing my keys and wallet. “I’ll be right there,” I say, hanging up.

I head over to Rush House, and this time, it’s Jackson in the living room, alone and playing video games. “Hey,” he says, glancing at me. “Christian and Lucas said you were sleeping at the office again tonight.”

“I just got a call. My brother is missing from Lockly. I’m heading over there now to see if I can find him.”

“Oh, shit,” Jackson says, dropping his controller, and standing up. “I’ll come with you. Should we text Lucas and Christian? They went to check out a party across town.”

“We don’t have time to hunt them down,” I say, practically flying out the door.

Panic courses through me. If my brother is missing, I know why. His priority will be getting to Lux. Thank God, he doesn’t know she’s attending ExU. I never told him where she was, orthat I even knew her. But her location wouldn’t be hard to find. A quick internet search would reveal her name in the University’s online directory unless she had the foresight to make her information private.

Climbing into my car, Jackson and I peel out of the driveway, and onto the main coastal road.

“Where do you think he went?” Jackson asks, concern in his voice. And Jackson isneverfucking concerned. Not like this.

I push out a breath, going as fast as I can “No idea. It’s two in the morning, so he couldn’t have gotten far.”

There’s a minute of silence before Jackson vocalizes the one prevailing thought in my mind. “Do you think he’s going after Lux?”

I swallow. “I don’t know. It wouldn’t be hard to find out where she is.”

My mom is the one who toured the facility, so I’m not sure how much internet access James was given. If he had any at all, then it was probably restricted, buthowrestricted, is the question?

We drive to Lockly in fifteen minutes, pulling right up to the front doors. I shove the car into park and pop out. Jackson is right behind me. We walk up to the doors, but they’re locked, so I pound on them. After a solid two minutes, someone behind the reception desk finally comes around to let us in.

“Someone just called me,” I say, already out of breath. “They said my brother was discovered missing from his room.”

The young girl’s eyes light up with realization. “Oh, right. Tracy said you were on your way. Let me call her down to reception.”

A few minutes later, Tracy shows up with two security guards. She looks polished, black hair pulled into a low bun. She reaches out to shake my hand. “Mr. Rush. Thank you for coming so quickly.”

I introduce her to Jackson, and she talks me through all the places they’ve looked as she takes us upstairs to James’s room.

“He doesn’t have a cell phone,” she says. “Your mother was setting that up, but it isn’t due to be delivered until tomorrow. And as far as we know, he doesn’t have any cash.”

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