Page 4 of Elsie's Strong Shelter

Groggy, she reached for her phone and stared wide-eyed at the time.

4:32 am.

The wine bottle and snacks still sat on the table, untouched except the single glass she’d poured before she must have dozed off.

Weird. Mila always woke her and encouraged her to go to her room if she fell asleep on the couch. Her meticulous roommate most definitely would put away the food so it wouldn’t spoil or attract rodents.

A rush of alarm mingled with fatigue and pushed her to her feet. Mila’s name sat on the tip of her tongue, but she held it in. She didn’t want to wake Jimmy. Jogging down the hall with her phone clutched in her hand, she swung into Mila’s room and flipped on the light.

A neatly made bed greeted her.

Anxiety squeezed her chest. Mila should have been home hours ago. She checked her phone. Maybe she’d missed a call or text, explaining her delay.

Nothing.

Her hands trembled, and a lump formed in her throat.

Calm down. It’s probably a big misunderstanding. Just call Mila, she’ll laugh and explain everything.

Blowing out a shaking breath, she dialed Mila’s number and pressed the phone to ear. Her heartbeat pounded harder with each ring.

“You’ve reached Mila. Leave a message and I’ll call you back as soon?—”

Elsie disconnected before the voice message ended and quickly shot off a text.

Mila, call me asap. Wondering where you are.

She hit the send button then stared at the screen. “Come on, Mila. Write me back. Call me. Anything to let me know you’re all right.”

Seconds turned into minutes, each one causing increasingly horrifying scenarios of what was keeping Mila from her phone—from her home—to spiral in her mind. Maybe she’d gotten into a car accident and was hurt or scared. Maybe she’d been taken to the county hospital, and no one had thought to call her roommate.

Unable to wait for a response to her text, she called again.

“You’ve reached Mila. Leave?—”

Frustrated tears clouded her vision. This wasn’t like Mila. She wouldn’t just not come home after work. Wouldn’t not call or text or let Elsie know what kept her out later than expected. Not when they’d made plans to chat. Not when her son waited in his bed.

Not knowing what else to do, she called 911. She tapped her foot against the carpeted floor while waiting for the dispatcher to answer.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“My roommate hasn’t come home from work, and I can’t get ahold of her. She won’t answer her phone. Won’t text me back. I don’t know what to do.” Not wanting to wake Jimmy, she shut off the light and hurried back to the living room.

“Okay. When was she due home?”

“A little over five hours ago.” She wrapped her free arm around her middle, praying she wouldn’t get sick.

“And you said she was working this evening?”

“Yes,” Elsie said, irritation sharpening her voice.

“Could she have stopped somewhere else after work? A significant other? A diner or bar? A friend’s house?”

“Not without calling to tell me. I know her. Her son is asleep in his bed and will want to see his mom before school. Shewouldn’t leave me to worry. Wouldn’t go some unknown place and chance not seeing her son when he wakes up.”

“Ma’am, I can understand why you’d be upset, but at this time there’s no reason to suspect anything is wrong. If she hasn’t come home by tomorrow evening, contact the sheriff’s department.”

“Are you serious?” Elsie shrieked. “You can’t do anything?”

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