Page 63 of After Midnight

I sat down heavily in the chair next to the entrance. “How could this happen? He got carjacked in his own garage? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“If there’s anything else you can tell us that could be helpful, even if it doesn’t seem important, please do.”

I racked my brain. “What about the text from Olivia, his sister? That’s why we called our night short.”

“We know that Olivia could not have sent that text. We spoke with her and Mr. Galbraith, and confirmed she no longer has her old phone.”

“His stepmother probably has it. Margarette Shipley. They were locked in contentious legal battles until pretty recently, then she up and vanished. Have you located her?” I asked. If this was Margarette’s doing, Dominic was in real trouble. I shivered, knowing in my heart she was behind it and not wanting to imagine what horrible things she was capable of.

The officer shook her head. “We want and intend to speak to her, but her current whereabouts are unknown.”

“What about Roger Miller?” Dad asked. “She and the girls were staying with him while the court cases played out. Maybe he can help.”

She wrote his name down, and Papa K looked up the man’s number in his office Rolodex and gave it to them.

“Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Pearson. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you remember anything relating to this case,” the officer said, handing me her card. “We’ll be back in touch if we need any more information. In the meantime, try to get some rest. I’m sure this has all come as a shock.”

Rest?Like that was going to happen. Not when my insides had been turned inside out.

After the officers left, I returned to the living room. I turned the television on and watchedThe Princess Brideagain, letting the movie give me some modicum of comfort while the cops scoured all of Denver, searching for the love of my life.

***

I never knew how long forty-eight hours could be. That’s how long I’d been waiting to hear any news about Dominic. The police had hit dead-end after dead-end searching for him. With each passing hour, I grew a little more hopeless, even though hope was all I had.

Not surprisingly, I was the prime suspect in his disappearance until the cops obtained the security footage from the club showing me driving off in the opposite direction to Dominic. Then a neighbor’s home security cameras picked up enough of what happened just inside Dominic’s garage and on his driveway to reveal his kidnapping involved multiple people. Despite thefootage being grainy, they did get a good visual of one of the perps, but even that came up as a dead-end.

I spent two days camped out in the living room of my fathers’ house, wondering if the man who held my heart in his hands was safe. We’d already been through so much but were finally together, and if I were to lose him now, I didn’t think I’d ever recover.

When I got a call from Ashton, I knew it would be about Dominic, and I struggled with an initial feeling of fear followed closely by hope. The massive swing of emotions left me feeling cold and clammy.

“Hello?” I answered hesitantly.

“Hey, Dillon. It’s Ashton. Jolie from the club told me she thought you were going to stay here in Denver for a while longer, at least until they find Dominic.”

“Yeah, I called Mr. Foreman, and he was very understanding.”

“Do you want to come over to the house? Rita and the girls are worried about you.”

Their concern for me hit me in the solar plexus, and it took a moment for me to get myself under control enough to respond.

“Um, sure. What time?” I finally managed to ask.

“Well, several of us are meeting there this afternoon. Rita was hoping maybe if we all got together, one of us might remember a detail of that night that’d help the police.”

Tears streamed down my face. I’d been racking my brain trying to remember anything that’d help find him, but with no luck.

“Yeah, I’ll come. What time?” I asked again.

“As soon as you’re free. The kids went to school today, but they’ll be home around three. So, any time after that?”

“That sounds good.”

“We’ll see you then,” he said, and I didn’t miss the sadness in his voice. No doubt everyone who knew and loved Dominic was struggling right now.

I hung up and went to let my dads know I’d be going out later.

Since Dominic had disappeared, my fathers had stayed close, but I could also tell they were working hard to give me space.

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