Page 233 of The Silent Note

But today, she’s not in the living room or in our room.

I call her, but she doesn’t pick up.

There’s a knock on my door.

Dutch barges in, his face tense. “Is Cadence in here?”

“She’s not in your room?” I ask.

“No.” Dutch grinds out.

Unease tightens my stomach.

I call Grey again.

The phone goes to voicemail.

I check her location tracker.

“Dutch,” I say in a dark voice, “her tracker’s off.”

“What?” He barges over and curses when he sees the dull grey screen. Whirling around, my twin starts calling Cadence in earnest.

Viola bounces up the stairs. “Hello! Is it someone’s birthday? Why is there so much food?”

“Viola, have you seen or heard from Cadence?” Dutch demands.

Immediately, Viola’s eyes fill with worry. “No. Why? What happened?”

“I’ll check the mall,” I say. “Maybe their phones died.”

“I’ll come with you,” Dutch says, striding forward.

I stop beside Viola. “Vi, call usimmediatelyif your sister or Grey make contact, okay?”

She nods, clutching at her necklace.

Dutch and I drive to the mall and search every store, but there’s no sign of our wives.

The sun disappears into the mountains and the moon shines a light on our path as we search the back alleys around the mall and the restaurant.

“Still nothing,” Dutch cries, pulling at his hair.

My heart slams against my ribs. I want to scream at the sky.Grey, honey, where are you?

Dutch walks off to call Viola while two pairs of headlights shine in the distance. Finn’s car stops in front of us.

He and Sol jump out.

Sol looks frantic. “I haven’t seen Cadence anywhere.” He glances at me. Seems to remember my wife is also missing and tacks on, “Or Grey.”

“Viola hasn’t heard from them either.” Dutch’s nostrils flare and he looks two seconds away from punching something.

Finn’s phone rings.

I brighten. “Is it…”

He shakes his head. “It’s a contact I called.”

---