Page 89 of Wild and Bright

My whole body grows cold.

“What’s wrong?” Hunter mouths to me, his eyes wide.

I wave him off, but his gaze stays fixed on my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Janie rest her cello on the stand and start walking in my direction.

“I know she moved out of your house a few days ago,” Helen continues, “since she dumped off everything here. In trash bags, too. Her room looks like a junkyard.”

I grit my teeth, inwardly begging her to get to the point.

“But you’re my last resort. I don’t know who else to call. She took Cadence with her, too, so of course both John and I are going crazy.”

Now, my pulse is hammering. “Have you talked to Ryder?”

She sighs heavily. “Yes, and he says everything is fine, but I don’t think he knows much more than we do. She told him she and Cadence would be out of town for a few weeks and promised to FaceTime him, and that was that.” She lowers her voice. “Between you and me, she’s run circles around that boy since they were teenagers.”

I take a deep breath. This is nothing to worry about. She’s probably visiting a friend. She’s too responsible a mother to put her daughter at risk.

Our daughter.

“I’m worried because she can be so impulsive when she’s angry. She does stupid things without thinking them through. You know her.”

My stomach sinks. I do know her. I know that even being a wonderful mother, she’s still impetuous. She can do wild, reckless things when provoked, especially when she feels trapped and judged. And what could make her feel more trapped and judged than what I did two days ago? Unbearable anxiety claws at my insides, and I’m seized with the need to act. I won’t be able to rest until I know they’re both safe.

“I’ll find her,” I say, my tone hard.

“You really don’t have to do that. I got the idea you guys broke up when she came home Sunday night, but I was desperate, and that’s why I gave you a call, but I don’t want to put you out.”

I roll my eyes, wondering how in the hell she could care about putting me out if she thought her daughter and granddaughter were missing. “Don’t worry about it. I feel sort of responsible for her running off. She and I also got into a pretty terrible fight.”

She chuckles humorlessly. “It’s hard to not fight with her. She’s so volatile all the time. Any little thing you say can set her off.”

I grit my teeth, wanting to defend Lauren but knowing it won’t do any good. “In this case, I said some pretty terrible things I didn’t mean. I need to apologize and this will give me the chance. I’ll find her.”

“Cam, that’s just so—”

“Which of her friends have you talked to?” I interrupt, not wanting to even hear a thank you from her, let alone respond to it.

“All of them, I think. At least the ones I know. No one has heard from her. Not even Logan.”

Oh God, this is even worse than I thought. Of all the people in Lauren’s life, I would expect Logan to know. Hell, I’d expect her to go stay with him, even if it meant flying all the way to Indiana.

“Okay, I need you to do something for me. I need you to send me a list of every friend Lauren’s hung out with over the past year.”

Helen doesn't seem to mind my high-handedness. We talk for another minute, and she gives me a few suggestions of who to call first. I promise her I’ll contact her as soon as I hear something, and then we hang up.

“She skipped town, huh?” Hunter says, not sounding nearly as worried as he ought to be.

“With Cadence, too.” I huff, shaking my head. “Goddamn her.”

“She’s justifiably angry.” Hunter’s tone is hard. “She probably needed to clear her head.”

“I agree,” Janie says. “You gave her less than twenty-four hours to vacate your house.”

I exhale slowly. “I know. I’m just worried.”

Hunter gives me a hard pat on the back. “I hate to be a dick, but you deserve it. You call her impulsive? You forced her to move back in with her parents when you know she has a shit relationship with her mom. That’s the whole reason she wanted to move out in the first place. Of course she was going to run off.”

The self-loathing that washes over me makes my stomach churn.

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