Page 75 of Whisper Of Attraction (Whisper Lake 3)

“I’ll keep you updated real time,” Seth clipped before disconnecting the call.

Axel hung up at the same time Brynn did.

“Who was that?” she asked.

He almost said work, but realized there was no reason anyone would be calling him about restoration jobs at two-thirty in the morning. “A buddy I served with.” It was the truth. He had served with Sloan.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. What about you?” Axel motioned to the paper she was holding.

“Oh, I don’t know. Max was in an accident. He’s at St. Vincent’s. I’m not really sure how bad it is. I’m going to go pick up Ryder and head out there.”

“I’ll take you.”

“Oh no!” She shook her head vigorously. “You don’t have to do that.”

“You were so tired you sewed yourself into a dress. I’m taking you.”

Her cheek hollowed as she bit the inside of her mouth. He could see that she wanted to argue but she knew he was right.

“Okay,” she finally agreed and they started to head out of the theater. “I’m gonna call Ryder and let him know we’re coming.”

She lifted her phone to her ear then almost immediately put it down. “That’s weird, it went straight to voicemail.” She tried it again, but got the same result, so she left a message. When she hung up she said, “Let me try Ricky. His phone is always charged.”

After a few moments, she shook her head. “It rang but went to voicemail. I’ll try KJ.” She touched the screen on her phone and then held it to her ear. With a sigh, she pulled it away. “Straight to voicemail. I’ll call Ali.”

Brynn was on the call with her friend as they walked out of the theater and Axel locked up. When he turned back to her she had an odd look on her face as she stood next to his SUV. “He did? When? No, I’ve been working at the theater on the costumes for the show.” She smiled and a blush tainted her cheeks as he opened the passenger door for her. “No, that’s okay. Axel’s going to drive. K, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

She hung up as she climbed in. “We can go to the house. Ali went to get Ryder and the boys said he went home a couple of hours ago. I must’ve just missed him.”

Axel’s blood ran cold. He hadn’t gotten any alerts on his phone that someone had crossed the perimeter of her property line. He shut the door and walked around the back of his vehicle as he pulled up the surveillance app. No. Ryder had not gone home.

Fuck. The fugitive hadn’t been apprehended and was possibly still at large and now Ryder suspiciously left to go home and he wasn’t there. Before he panicked and called this in, he wanted to make sure that the kid hadn’t just snuck out to see his girlfriend.

Since Izzy was spending the night with her, he figured he’d call and see. Of course, it went straight to voicemail.

Shit. His mind was racing at what the best course of action would be. He didn’t want to unnecessarily freak out Brynn, but if Ryder was in danger, she needed to know.

Fiona’s house was only a block from the high school. He’d tell Brynn that he needed to stop by and tell Izzy that he was going to the city. If Fiona was there, he’d know that Ryder wasn’t with her and he’d have to call it in and tell Brynn. In the meantime, he texted Nate to track Ryder’s phone. Whether he snuck out with his girlfriend or not, they needed to find him.

He got in the truck and tried to sound as casual as possible. “Do you mind if I stop by and let Izzy know that I’m going into the city?”

“Sure, but you don’t want to just call her?”

“Her phone’s dead. Or off.”

“Of course it is.” Her hands flew up and she went on a rant about teenagers and their lack of responsibility when it came to devices.

He pulled up to the house and saw through the window that the television in the front room was on. At least he wouldn’t be waking anyone up. He was halfway up the driveway when Fiona opened the door and his heart plummeted. “Hi, Mr. Vaughn. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just need to talk to Izzy?” He would tell his sister he was heading to the city and see if she could stay at Fiona’s until he got back. That would buy him some time to figure out what was going on.

“Isn’t she with you?”

“She’s not here?” His chest constricted.

“No. She left a couple of hours ago and said that she was going home. I told her my mom would take her but she said that she had a ride.”

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