Page 49 of Prudence
Just like that, my gut twisted with unease. This wasn’t like Gigi. Even when she was in the worst of her depression, she normally just hid in her room. She never went missing without letting me know where she was.
“Maybe they went to the beach,” Milly suggested. “Do teenagers still throw parties on the beach?”
“Not on a Monday night, no,” I responded gruffly.
“We need to go find them, then.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes. Be ready.”
With that, I hung up and grabbed my car keys. “Gigi’s gone AWOL,” I said to Pablo. “Stay here and let me know if she turns up. I’m going out to look for her.”
“Oh, shit,” my son exclaimed, but I was too busy worrying about Gigi to reprimand him for his foul language.
No, I needed to locate my daughter because this certainly wasn’t like her. And if it wasn’t like her, then that meant someone else had influenced her, likely Milly’s daughter.
17.
Milly
I paced frantically at the entrance to the hotel until Derek’s car pulled up, and he threw open the door, “Get in.”
Sensing he was just as tense as I was, I climbed into the passenger seat and just about managed to get the door closed and my seatbelt on before he sped off.
“I’ve checked with my parents, but they haven’t heard from Deirdre all day. Does Gigi have any other friends whose houses they might’ve gone to?”
“I’ve already called everyone she could possibly be with,” Derek responded flatly. “I’m starting to regret not insisting she install one of those tracking apps on her phone.”
Feeling my stomach twist with unease, and also from the angry vibes simmering off him, I suggested, “Perhaps we should check the beach, just in case.”
He nodded gruffly, and we drove in silence for a few minutes before reaching the beach. Derek parked, and we both hopped out to check along the strand. It was completely deserted, and my twisting unease intensified. I searched my brain for anything I might’ve overheard the girls discussing, perhaps some plans to go somewhere, but drew a blank.
“They’re not here. Let’s get back to the car,” Derek said curtly.
“I’m worried, too, you know. You’re acting like this is my fault somehow.”
“Maybe it’s not your fault, but your daughter’s done this before,” he clipped.
“What are you talking about?”
“You told me how she and her friend snuck off without telling you when you lived in London. This seems like a very similar situation. Deirdre’s convinced Gigi to go off somewhere, and they could be stranded right now. What if they were mugged and don’t have their phones?”
“First of all, that was years ago, and Deirdre’s gotten a lot more responsible since then. And second, I can’t believe you’d throw something like that in my face. The only reason I told you was to console you when Gigi lied to you about the concert.”
His only response was a wordless grunt that incensed me further. Earlier tonight when we’d stood close in that storage room at the school, I’d felt a connection simmer. There’d been a warmth between us and a teasing flirtation from him, but now all that was gone. We were too worried about our daughters, and endless terrifying scenarios wouldn’t stop running through my head.
“Can you try both their numbers again?” Derek requested when we got back to the car. “I’m going to drive us through town and see if we can spot them.”
“Sure,” I replied, still sullen over how he’d spoken to me on the beach. Pulling out my phone, I tried Deirdre’s number again, but it went straight to voicemail just like it had earlier. I left another worried message for her to contact me as soon as possible before hanging up and trying Gigi’s phone. It rang several times, and when someone answered, “Hello?” my heart leapt. Immediately putting it on speaker, I replied, “Hello, Gigi?”
Derek glanced my way, looking just as hopeful as I felt.
“Sorry, this is Mina. I have Gigi’s phone,” a girl responded. “We met earlier tonight, but she left her mobile behind. I’ve been trying to call Deirdre to let her know, but I think her battery died.”
“Who is this, and how do you know my daughter?” Derek demanded.
The girl on the other end of the call—Mina—sounded nervous when she said, “Me and my friends met Gigi and Deirdre at the Purple Beatrice concert a couple nights ago. We arranged to meet up today at my house in Sutton, but they left over an hour ago.”
“Sutton?” I said, looking to Derek. “They should’ve been home by now if they got the train.”
