Page 45 of Playing For Keeps
“Mel, please drop it. My insides are wrecked from the stress.”
“Okay, but don’t complain when you get hangry.”
I nod, my nerves electrocuting me every few seconds. I bounce my knee under the table. Every passing second we don’t hear from Dori is like a firing squad taking aim at mylife. One by one, they’re executing me. I’m a torn and bloody mess, waiting to die.
I lean forward and massage my temples. “None of this needed to happen.”
“You couldn’t have stopped it, Jami.” Mel taps the table to get my attention. “Let’s focus on getting her back.”
“And how do you propose I do that?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me what you and Hunter were talking about before Jonah freaked out?”
“He told me he’s not going to tell Dori about being reinstated.”
Mel’s eyes round. “Woah. What did you say to that?”
“There wasn’t much time to react. Jonah had launched in on his verbal assault.”
She growls and shifts forward, resting her arms on the table. “What will you tell Dori if we get her back?”
“We’re going to find her.” I rub my aching chest. “I feel like she has a right to know and make up her own mind about going back to work there.”
“Whew. For a minute there, I thought you were willing to keep that from her.”
My shoulders go slack. “She should’ve known from the start.”
“You can say that again.” Melanie crosses her legs and gets situated in her chair. “How are you going to explain this to Dori?”
“I’m just going to come out with it.” I take in a gust of air and then slowly release it. “She’s going to be upset no matter how I break it to her, and she has every right. I just figured Hunter was going to tell her before she left for Miami.”
Mel’s brows knit together. “Why did you think that when he told you not to tell her?”
I puff out a hiss. “It was in his favor to tell Dori, so I figured he’d jump at the chance when it was safe for her to know.”
“Do you think he’s honestly ready to give her up?”
“Not in the slightest. Especially with her missing.” I pull out my phone and check my messages. “Why haven’t we heard anything?”
“You’ve got me. But every time you look at that thing, my heart jumps out of my chest.”
I toss my phone on the table. “You and me both.”
“Do you think there’s anything else we should do?”
“I’m sure there are a million things we should be doing, but my brain can’t seem to connect the dots.”
Mel's voice rises, full of excitement. “Why don’t we contact the media? We should have signs and posts online, circulating information about her being abducted.”
I consider it as I run a hand over my chin. “You know, Mel, that’s not a bad idea.”
“We could set up a phone line in case anyone saw anything.”
“I think we should’ve done this hours ago.” A lightness blooms in me. “Can you get your sandwich to go, and we can see if Aiden knows how to do something like that?”
“Sure, and I can reach out to my media contacts to see if they could share anything about her whereabouts on their sites. I’m positive they’d be willing to get the message out.”
“Why didn’t I think of this earlier?” I push out of my chair. “I’m going to get the server to wrap up your lunch and pay. Meet me by the elevators.”
