Page 48 of Slow Burn (Forbidden Heat 2)

I closed my eyes and turned out the light. There in the darkness, I cried silently.

Chapter Seventeen

Gary

I knocked on the door to Shelly’s office. There was no answer. I glanced at my watch and grimaced. It was almost noon. When I woke up that morning, we had a quick breakfast and I headed to work. Shelly was going to take a shower and do the same. It was better for us to not arrive near the same time, to keep suspicions down. We had a nice little system worked out that was doing great.

But then she never showed at work. I tried not to raise much fuss or even ask anyone if they’d seen her. About nine o’clock, I went to the bathroom and sent her a text. She never responded. Then I checked her office again. She was nowhere to be found.

Was she sick again? She had been the day before, but she was fine by the time I met her and we had a wonderful night together. I wanted to see her badly. I was getting really worried.

“She isn’t in today,” April said as she walked past. I looked at her casually and nodded.

“Oh, ok. I just needed to ask her something,” I said. “She still sick, I guess.”

“No, I heard that she quit,” April replied with a shrug. “Weird. I was just getting to know her.”

“She quit? Just like that? That is weird,” I said.

April walked away and I stood there wondering what was going on. There was no way that Shelly would have just quit. That had to be a mistake on April’s part. People were always starting really stupid rumors. I decided to get to the bottom of this.

I went to the Chief and knocked on his door. He opened up looking his usual, semi-annoyed self. “What can I do for you?”

“Um, I was just wondering if you’d seen the new trainer, Shelly?” I asked.

“No. She called up this morning and quit. She didn’t even bother to clean out her office.”

This couldn’t be right. “What do you mean? She quit? Just out of the blue?”

“That’s right,” he said. “Strangest thing. Well, now I have to start looking for someone new. Ugh, that is never fun. Why do people just try to ruin my day?”

I left the office feeling bewildered. I texted Shelly a few more times, then I called and left a couple voicemails. I was really getting scared. What could have happened to her? Why had she just disappeared? She seemed fine last night.

The end of the day could not come fast enough. I was so tempted to fake sickness and go home early, but I knew that would draw far too much suspicion. That was the last thing I needed at this point.

The moment I was cleared of my shift, I drove like mad to Shelly’s apartment. I tried her door. It was locked, of course. Then I rang her bell several times and then when I received no response, I began to knock and pound on the door. Shelly had given me a key to her place, but I didn’t just want to barge in, even though we’d been dating a little while now.

But I had no choice. I tried the key and it did not work. The locks had been changed. What in the hell?

I had to speak to someone. I went downstairs to the building manager’s office. There I was greeted by a little, old man of about eighty. He looked like he’d seen his fair share of trouble in this world and the next already and he was just ready to leave it all behind.

“Can I help you?” The man asked me. His voice was hoarse and a bit husky.

“Yeah, I was wondering if you could let me into apartment nineteen,” I said.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m a friend of Shelly Henry, the woman who lives there. She gave me a key and it’s not working. I haven’t been able to reach her all day. I just want to make sure that she is ok.

“Ah,” the man said. “Yeah, the funniest thing. She moved out this morning. She had a truck here to get all of her stuff and off she went. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.”

“Wait… she just moved out? She didn’t say a word to me or anyone else about it.”

“That’s her business, I guess. I’m not sure why she didn’t tell you, but I suspect she has her reasons. Maybe because of those reasons, you should just let her be, son.”

I left his office feeling stunned. What in the world was going on here? I felt completely sick to my stomach. The woman I loved, the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with had simply vanished, but according to everyone that she’d spoken to, it was her own choice. She had quit her job and vacated her apartment.

Whatever she was doing, she did not want anyone to know about it. And that included me now.

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