Page 8 of Finding Fate

“That’s because you’ve never seen the broken Maddox,” Riggan says. “Who is a drunk. And not playful in the least. Living with him isn’t going to be fun for a while. I give him shit about his jokes because I have the opposite personality, but I’d rather deal with them than this version.”

“So, she told him she’d move in with him and then took off in the middle of the night and didn’t come back?” Sayler asks, confirming what Riggan told us when Maddox took off by himself while we waited on our flight. My guess is he wants to be nowhere near couples at the moment. Can’t say that I blame him. Been there once in my life; though it seems like a lifetime ago.

I pull my phone out of my pocket, not looking to see Riggan’s response.

“That’s so messed up. Poor Maddox.” Again, Sayler, making it sound like he’s a lost puppy.

“Has anyone tried to call her again to see if she’s picking up? That doesn’t sound right. Why show up and sleep with him at all if you’re going to string him along and then ditch him? Maddox is an attractive guy. And even if it was just sex for her, she could have at least said she needed time to think about it if she didn’t really want to answer. There are ways out of a sticky situation without being a straight-up bitch. That behavior doesn’t sound like personal character Konnor would risk pissing me off to be friends with,” Presley adds, but I can’t really concentrate on adding my piece, which is that it doesn’t sound like Gabby at all. I’ve thought about it most of the way home. Gabby is one of the coolest girls I’ve ever met in a platonic way. She’s fun and easy to talk to. One thing I know is that she’s definitely not a conniving bitch. She doesn’t give a shit about what anyone thinks of her. I stayed with her and Autumn for a while last summer before I decided to get serious about Presley and move to Miami for school.

Autumn’s name is lit up on the lock screen, reminding me that after all of this is over, I should probably clean up my contacts in my phone, removing any and all past hook-ups. At this very moment, I’m glad I haven’t yet. I pull up the message box.

Autumn:I came home early because you had me worried. Her phone is disconnected now. It’s a different automated message than when you first called. Her car is gone. She’s not here. But she left her packed bags on the bed? I’m freaking out. Should I call the police?

A photo comes through following the text. Packed luggage sitting neatly on her bed—one rolling suitcase and a duffel bag. No one takes the time to pack and then leaves it behind. “Something is wrong,” I say out loud.

I turn around in my seat to look at Riggan behind Presley and shove my phone at him. “She packed bags, bro. She was planning to come back. Now no one can find her? That’s sketchy as fuck.”

Riggan rubs his hands down his face. When he looks back at the screen, it vibrates again. “What the fuck is that?”

I pull it back to me to see what he’s looking at. Autumn sent another photo. A four by six photo print of a baby bundled in a hat and blanket on top of a zipper pouch similar to a binder pencil case. A text comes through.

Autumn:Do you know anything about this? I found it in the front pocket of her suitcase trying to see if she left a note or plane ticket or something.

I glance back at Riggan. “She said it was in the front compartment of the suitcase. Does she have any siblings?”

Riggan’s brows bend like he’s thinking. “No, I don’t think so. Is there anything on the back?”

Me:Is there anything written on the back?

I wait impatiently for her to respond, but she sends another photo. “A date, but I don’t know what it would be,” I answer, and then show it to Riggan.

A few seconds pass of him staring at the handwriting before his lips start moving as he holds up one finger at a time, counting. “Jesus Christ. That was about nine and a half months after he left, give or take.” His eyes slowly widen and my jaw falls as we let that sink in. “Motherfucker.”

“Wait! So what you’re saying is she’s been hiding his kid, this whole time?!” Presley grabs my phone to get a closer look. “That was years ago!”

Mine and Riggan’s eyes lock. “I’m going back,” he says. “Whatever the fuck you do, donotshow him that shit until we know for sure. I’m not kidding, Konnor. He’s already a loose cannon. Maddox handles his heartbreak a lot different than anyone else. The same guy that will go fuck the first hot girl to let him in will then feel guilty and punish his liver for his brain’s decisions as soon as he pulls the condom off. The point is, he’s unpredictable.”

“Uh, guys,” Sayler butts in. “Wouldn’t word have spread around if she had gotten pregnant? There is no bigger rumor mill than high school. I can’t imagine that staying a secret in a smaller town. It’s not like he stayed gone. We aren’t kangaroos. We can’t hide them in a pouch.”

“She has a point,” Riggan says. “I would have heard about it. She was private school and we were public, but it wasn’t uncommon for people to mix.”

“And the whole time I stayed with them she never brought a kid home,” I add, letting it all piece together like a puzzle.

“We will go,” Presley says. We all look at her. “Think about it. It’s going to look more obvious if Riggan goes back. He has to work and Maddox knows he doesn’t like too much time off at a time, let alone leave Sayler here pregnant for him to do so. She’s farther along anyway. She probably doesn’t need to be back on a plane this soon. And . . .” She huffs. “Since Konnor hung out with her, he probably remembers some of her hangouts and stuff. Between my parents in California and Konnor’s sister and parents back home, he has no reason to question us leaving. My sister is high maintenance and infused with drama. I can always make up something she did.”

Riggan closes his eyes briefly and opens them. “Yeah, okay. Don’t breathe a word of that until we know what it means.” With the garage door still open I can see Kaysen’s truck pull up. Riggan grabs the door handle but leans forward before opening it. “That prick she calls Daddy lives in the biggest house in your parents’ subdivision. I’d start there. I find it extremely coincidental that she turns up missing the same weekend we had a gig and she slept with her long-lost forbidden love.”

He gets out and makes it to the cargo space before Maddox steps out of the house in a different shirt and a pair of jeans, and freshly showered based on his damp hair. He walks past everyone without so much as a glance and gets in the passenger side of Kaysen’s truck. As they back up to turn around, Sayler steps out. Presley grabs my hand. “I hate him like this. We need to fix him. We gotta find her.”

I lean in to kiss her. “We will. Do you want to freshen up or anything before we go?”

“No. Let me go pee and we can go,” she says, already halfway out of my Tahoe. When she disappears inside, I hold my phone in front of me and text Autumn back.

Me:We’re on our way. Leave the cops out of it . . . for now. I’ll call you when we land.

Seven

Maddox

---