Page 8 of Halloween in Sleepy Hollow
“I guess they could have stopped to do some shopping,” Ben replies. But he doesn’t sound convinced. He taps the screen of his phone before lifting it to his ear. “I’m just calling Thea,” he tells me. “See where they’re at.”
Following suit, I pull out my phone to call Ari. As it rings, I silently tell myself,She’s fine. The three of them just got caught up with something. It’s nice, really, that Ari’s getting some kid-free time to spend with her friends.
But she doesn’t answer. Instead, the phone rings four times before clicking over to voice mail. And when I call a second time, it does the same.
The weight in my stomach grows heavier.
I type out a quick message to Ari and send it.
Hey, hun. Where are you? Storytime starts in eight minutes. Is everything okay?
I stare at the screen, certain her response will appear.
But it doesn’t.
With a quick glance at Winnie to make sure she’s occupied with her craft and not listening to me, I lean towards Ben to say, “She’s not answering. Not my calls or text. Any luck with Thea?”
Ben’s brow furrows. “No. I called and texted, but no response.”
A second weight drops into my stomach.
Sweat prickles at the back of my neck.
My pulse jumps.
It could be fine. I’msureit’s fine. Maybe the store they’re in doesn’t have cell phone reception. Or maybethey…
Shit. I don’t know.
If one of them wasn’t answering their phone, it would be one thing. But for Ari and Thea to both be out of reach? Especially considering what they’ve been through? It doesn’t make sense.
“What about Shea?” I ask. “Do you have her number?”
Ben shakes his head. “No. Do you?”
I take a deep breath, forcing air into my constricting chest. “I don’t. But I have Oliver’s. I’ll call him.”
Surely Shea would keep in contact with Oliver, after all. He worries more than Ben and I combined. Which is understandable, considering it’s been just two years since Shea was was targeted by kidnappers. And he’s a cop, previously an agent with the CIA, so protectiveness is pretty much in his blood.
But less than a minute later, I’m left with more questions and an even greater sense of unease. Oliver got caught up at the security tent when a fight broke out between two drunk twenty-something guys wearing matching Headless Horseman costumes. “They wouldn’t take their damn costumes off so we could ID them,” Oliver grouched. “As if we wouldn’t find out eventually.”
His irritation shifted to concern as soon as I told him about Ari and Thea, and how we couldn’t get in touch with them. Oliver hung up to call Shea, calling me back shortly after with a grim tone to his voice. “She didn’t answer my calls or texts,” he reported. “And she knows I worry. I’m headed to you now so we can figure out what’s going on.”
While we wait for Oliver to arrive, I keep texting Ari, hoping this will be the time when she finally responds. Winnie is thankfully fully engaged in her skeleton-making, so she doesn’t pick up on the worry I’m probably not doing a great job of hiding.
Ben is having a tougher time with Elias, who’s insistent on going to the bathroom. “I have to go now,” Elias whines. He jumps off his seat and wiggles in impatience. “I need to go, Dad. Now.”
“I can’t leave,” Ben whispers to me. “Not now. But—” He casts a concerned glance at Elias. “He’s only been out of pull-ups a few months. And…”
“Let’s see if someone else can take him.” I scan the crowd of kids and parents around us, breathing a sigh of relief when I spot Grant and Scarlett over by the handprint monster station. Catching Grant’s eye, I lift my chin at him, and he gives me a short nod in return.
Once he reaches us, I pull him aside to give him a brief explanation. By the time I finish, he’s shifted from dad of twin toddlers Grant to former SEAL Grant, his features like stone and his posture alert.
“So you haven’t heard from any of them?” he confirms. “Not for—” He looks at his watch. “Fifty minutes now?”
“I know it’s not a lot of time,” I reply. “Not in normal circumstances. But Ari wouldn’t be gone this long. Neither would Thea. Not with the kids?—”
“Daddy!” The alarm in Winnie’s voice nearly gives me a heart attack.
