“That’s good. I hope you enjoy your afternoon.”
“Shiloh.” Her voice softly whispered my name, sending chills down my body. “That was an invitation.”
I nodded as if I understood but was unsure that I did. “Oh? You want me to join you?”
“Yes, silly.” She wrote something down on a napkin and handed it to me. “Let me know when you’re free.”
I stared at the number with a heart at the bottom and couldn’t believe this was happening. Caz would get her story, and I would get my happy ending. I didn’t even make myself sick with nerves.
My endearing awkwardness was probably wearing thin, so I needed to end the conversation. “I’ll talk to you soon.” I offered a small wave and turned to leave.
Usually, I would have sat in the back and nonchalantly continued to watch her while she worked, but now that I had a date coming up, I needed Caz even more.
I briefly scanned the room for her, but she wasn’t around. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I headed outside to see if she was waiting there, but she wasn’t. When I reached the parking lot, I noticed her car was gone, so I pulled out my phone to see if she had messaged me, but nothing.
She had been off all day, and now I was worried. I shot off a text asking her where she was, but she didn’t immediately read it, which was odd. Maybe she was driving back to the station? I called the studio and was told that Caz was out on assignment. When I asked to speak to Matt, they said no one worked there by that name.
“I could have sworn that was what Caz called him.” Then I remembered she also used another name, but my mind was blank.
I messaged Caz one last time before realizing she wasn’t answering. I sighed deeply, fully aware that I was left with no other alternative but to pursue my last resort. I dialed Sonya’s number, hoping I could get information about Matt from her or Devon.
“Hey, cuz. How’s it going?” She was eating something as she smacked into the phone.
“Um, it’s going. Do you know where Devon is?” I wanted to cut to the chase because the longer Caz didn’t read my messages, the more concerned I became.
“Why do you want to know?” Who was she—her gatekeeper? She was acting like I was a cop or something.
“Because I need to speak to her.”
Devon and I were only friends by association. We didn’t have that type of relationship where we talked on the phone.
“About what?” Sonya was so nosy; I should have known this wouldn’t be a simple task.
“It is personal. Do you know where she is or not? Or can you give me her number so I can call her?” I tried to hide my annoyance, but it was hard.
“Chill out. She’s right here.”
“Hey,” Devon’s voice sounded through the phone, and I was slightly grateful.
“Hey. Can I have your boyfriend’s number?”
“Why?”
I was in the same loop of hell with her.
“For the love of god, please give me his number so I can find out where Caz is!” I had lost all patience, and my voice was loud enough to echo in my ears.
“Calm thy juice box.” I couldn’t handle Devon’s nonsense today, but I had to play nice to get what I wanted.
“I’m sorry for my outburst. Can you help me?”
“Sure, I texted him your number and told him to call you. Good?”
It wasn’t what I had asked for, but that was probably as close as I would get. “Perfect. Thank you.”
“Welcs. You want Sonya back?” Before I could respond, my phone beeped, and hopefully, it was Matt.
“Gotta go.” I hung up on them to pick up the other call. “Hello,” I breathed into the receiver.
“Hi, this is Matrix. I work with Caz.” His tone was peaceful, and he didn’t seem like he would give me the same trouble as the Tweedles.
“Hey, Matrix, I’m so sorry to bother you, but Caz was with me, then she wasn’t, and now I can’t find her.” I sounded like a frantic parent who had lost their child.
“Oh wow. Umm, let me check her location.” He disappeared for a second. “It doesn’t show her current location. Either her phone is off or her battery died. Where was she when you last saw her?” There was concern in his voice, and I knew he was the right person to contact.
“We were at the coffeehouse.”
“Did anything happen between you two?” His question threw me a little, but I answered.
“We did my interview, then I went to talk to Ember, and when I was finished, she was gone.”
“Hmm.” Did this mean he knew something, or was he just making noise?
“What?”
“Nothing. Let me do some digging, and I’ll get back to you.”
“All right. Is there anything I can do in the meantime?” My mind was racing to the worst possibilities, but I was helpless to stop it.
