Page 84 of Red Hot Harmony

He looked just as shocked as I felt as we began searching the room for clues of what exactly had happened.

“I swear to God, she was here when I went to sleep last night. I checked on her.”

This wasn’t happening. Not to my kid.

We weren’t one of those dysfunctional families a teenager systematically ran away from...Or maybe we were.

Panic and horror clutched at my chest as I patted my pockets looking for my cell. “Shit. I left my phone in the car.”

Harper was inspecting the window and Tallulah was underneath the bed when I darted out of the room and shouted, “Call her! I’ll be right back.”

Ten minutes and twenty phone calls to all sorts of people later, I found myself back inside the condo in front of the buzzing TV. On screen, the anchorman continued to drone on about the worsening situation near Santa Rosa Valley.

“...only twenty percent contained. Close to forty thousand acres have been burned in the past thirty-six hours and we’re getting reports that the wind has thrown the fire across the highway and it’s now spreading southwest toward the regional medical center, which is being evacuated as we speak…”

“She’s not answering!” Harper shouted over the racket of the news. His footfalls pounded through the unit like hammers while he was getting ready to leave.

I heard the slide of a closet door. Then more noises came from the bedroom, some of them sounding a lot like cursing.

And Harper hardly ever cursed.

“Did you try tracking her phone?” he called out.

“Yes, but it’s not showing anything. She must have turned it off.” I tightened my fingers around my device as if the harder I squeezed, the greater the chance of Ally returning my calls or texts would be.

All my attempts to get a hold of her didn’t yield any results and I reached the point where I couldn’t control my emotions anymore. My mind pictured various scenarios, everything from Ally driving off to Vegas to marry the crook who’d tattooed her to Ally getting kidnapped by a cartel in exchange for ransom because she owed too much money to her cocaine dealer.

Neither Jules, for whom I’d left a distressed voicemail, nor Pauline picked up.

I also called a couple of other friends. Turned out, they hadn’t heard from my daughter in weeks.

My heart was doing insane acrobatics in my chest and I was considering calling the police when Harper finally came into the living room. “Here!” He tossed me a piece of navy blue fabric, which—upon further inspection—appeared to be one of his scarves.

“What’s this?” I asked, dumbfounded, my head still spinning from the idea that Ally could be out of state right this moment.

Harper sighed loudly and proceeded with the demonstration. He tied a mahogany-colored scarf he’d grabbed around his neck and pulled it over his mouth and nose. “I don’t know about you, sweets, but I don’t plan on dying from asphyxiation on my way to work. I’m too young and too pretty for that.”

“We’re the same age,” I argued mechanically, then added, “Actually, you’re older.”

“I still have a better sense of fashion.” He dragged the scarf down to give me a toothy grin and yanked it back up on the way to the door, where Tallulah’s crate sat.

“Are you taking her with us?” I asked as he carefully nudged the cat into the carrier.

“I’m not leaving her in a place that could potentially burn while I’m pacifying distressed brides-to-be.”

“It’s not going to burn. The fire is nowhere near here.”

Harper straightened up and reached for the door. “I know a couple of places we could check out.”

“What places?”

“The ones where your daughter hangs out with her crew.”

“My daughter has a crew?” I gaped at him as we tumbled out of the condo.

“You’re so out of touch with how to be a teenager, sweets.” Harper all but rolled his eyes as he locked the door, and then he motioned for me to cover my face.

“I never had a chance to be one,” I said, and it came out louder than I intended, even through the layer of fabric I dragged over my mouth. “Have you met my parents?”

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