Page 80 of My Heart to Find

Phia’s mum, Mrs. Byeon, is phoning me.

I stare at the screen for a moment, frowning. Mrs. Byeon has never phoned me before. I only have her number in case of an emergency as Phia’s allergic to beestings and asked me to have her mother’s contact just in case.

I click to accept the call. “Hello—”

“Is Sophia with you?” Mrs. Byeon asks, speaking over me.

“Uh, no. She’s not,” I say. “Why?”

Trevor’s giving me a questioning look, but I turn away from him.

“She’s not answering her phone,” Mrs. Byeon says. “And she should’ve been back from work hours ago. It’s her sister’s birthday, and Sophia said she wouldn’t be late.”

“Wait, she went towork?” I nearly choke. Phia promised she wasn’t going to go into work. Not after Mr. Richards touched her inappropriately. My head pounds.

“I was not happy about it,” Mrs. Byeon says. “But she said her boss called her and said he was short-staffed. She told me she was being paid double and it would just be an hour this morning, that’s what she said, that she would definitely be back in time for Taryn’s party.”

The whole world seems to stop. I go to take a breath, but the air’s stopped too, and nothing fills my lungs. They’re just empty.

For a second, I can’t speak. Then feeling fills me like water breaking through a flimsy dam.

“Call the police.” My voice wobbles. My breaths come in short, sharp bursts. Hell, what if I’m over-reacting? But what if I’m not?

“The police? She’s only a few hours late,” her mother says. Then her tone changes.

“Just...” I blink rapidly. Am I over-reacting? Then I look at Trevor. Marnie’s missing, and she worked for Mr. Richards too. My stomach twists.

“Jana, what do you know?” Mrs. Byeon asks.

Ice fills my veins. “Did she tell you what our boss is like?”

Judging by the long pause, I guess not. But I can’t go into it all now. I just can’t. Something tells me I’ll need my energy.

“I’ll call the cops,” I say before hanging up. I’m breathing too fast, and I feel all jittery.

“What’s going on?” Trevor asks, but I’m already typing in the emergency number.

“Phia’s missing,” I pant, suddenly out of breath. The world seems to spin. “And Mr. Richards... He touched her chest the other day, and she was upset, and—"

“He didwhat?” Trevor looks at me, his face frozen in panic.

“I think it washim—look, Marnie worked for him too, right?” I feel sick. “And now Mrs. Byeon said Phia was working today—even though she told me she wouldn’t go back there—but she’s not come home, and Phia would never miss her sister’s party. And with Marnie working for him before and... Ithasto be him, right?”

Trevor’s eyes widen. “Have you tried phoning Phia?”

I touch my forehead. My fingers are cool against my sweaty skin. “No... I’ll do that now then.”

I feel sick as I delete the emergency number and instead select Phia’s contact. I hold my breath, begging her to answer as the line rings and rings.

“Nothing,” I say to Trevor. “It’s him, right?”

But what if her phone’s just out of battery? What if I waste police time?

But what if Phia’s in trouble? What if he took Marnie too?

Trevor’s voice is dark when he speaks. “We can’t take risks.” He nods, and his eyes narrow a bit. “Let’s go.”

“The café?” I stare at him. “I’ve got my key still.”

---