Page 85 of The Doctor's Twins

“He’s been watching him for a few weeks now,” I continued. “However, Sam called me last night and told me that Mateo has disappeared. No one has seen him. That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh, no!” Millie gasped.

“Do you think he’s coming here?” Frank asked, looking terribly worried.

“I don’t know. But I’d rather be safe than sorry, so I flew here as soon as I could.”

Millie looked at her watch again, and then at her husband.

“She should have been here by now, Frank,” she said in a shaky voice.

“Ben,” Frank said and got up, “let’s go for a drive.”

“Find her, Frank,” Millie said with tears welling up in her beautiful blue eyes.

“We’ll find her, sweetheart,” he said and kissed her on the forehead.

I followed Frank to the garage where we got into his car.

“Oh, Frank!” Millie called after us. “Peyton said she was in an Uber when she texted me.”

“Great. Thanks, hon. I’ll call the service and see if I can find out which driver picked her up,” I said.

“Okay. Call me as soon as you find her, please.”

“Will do, Millie,” Frank said and pressed the button which opened the automated garage door.

I googled the nearest Uber while Frank was reversing out of the garage. As soon as I had the number, I called the helpline and explained our situation to the dispatcher. Of course, they were of no use, stating they couldn’t give us any information due to privacy concerns, blah, blah, blah. I was furious but it made no difference to the end result.

“I’ll drive to the nearest greengrocer where we usually buy our eggs,” Frank said. “Let’s ask around if anyone’s seen her there.”

“That’s a good idea, Frank.”

I called Sam while Frank drove.

“Ben. Any news?”

“No. I’m with Peyton’s father. It’s not looking good, Sam. No one has seen her, and her phone is off.”

“Shit! Can I help?”

“Yeah, I called Uber to find out where the driver stopped with Peyton, but they won’t give me any information.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty strict about giving out their info. Leave it with me. Where was the pickup?”

Frank gave me the address of the hospital, and I relayed it to Sam.

“I’ll call you back,” Sam said and hung up.

Damn it, Peyton. Where are you?!

The shopping center where Frank drove us to was busy by the time we got there. He parked and then we got out of the car and walked around.

First, we went to the greengrocer. Frank chatted to the sales assistant, who then asked the teller if she had seen a woman fitting Peyton’s description. The young girl remembered Peyton because they chatted for a bit about the free-range chicken farm where the eggs were from.

“Yeah,” she said with a bouncy disposition, “she was here about an hour ago.”

“Do you happen to know if she was alone?” I asked.

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