Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bas awoke to his phone ringing. It took a minute for him to realize why he couldn’t move. Dane was wrapped around him and lying halfway on top of him. The first tinges of daylight were filtering through the window. It was barely 6:00 a.m. He had to dislodge Dane to get his phone. But Dane just rolled over and continued with his light snoring.
Paige. Bas frowned. “Hey, Paige, what’s up?”
“She’s missing. No one knows where she is. The police are here. I don’t know what to do. Oh God, Bas, I’m freaking out. They’re calling an Amber Alert.”
Bas sat up. “Whoa! Hold on. Who’s missing? What about the police? Search?” His groggy brain was running to try to catch up.
“Last night, sometime after midnight, Marissa got a text. I was already half-asleep, so when she said she was going to the bathroom and would be right back, I didn’t think anything of it. I just let her go. Fell asleep. Well, she’s gone. Like, not in the house. I got up myself three hours ago to use the bathroom and she wasn’t here. I freaked, woke her parents. We’ve called everyone. She’s not with you, is she?” Paige sounded frantic.
“I don’t think so. Let me check all the rooms just in case.” Marissa didn’t have a key, but maybe she’d taken Paige’s? His gut twisted in fear. His phone pinged with texts.
Dane sat up as Bas was pulling on a pair of boxers. “What’s wrong?”
“Marissa is missing,” Bas said. “I’m going to check the house. Be right back.” But Dane was already getting out of the bed, throwing clothes on. Bas made his way through the house, searching every room, closet, bathroom, and cupboard. He was trembling by the end. The texts were from Adam and Ru about Marissa.
“She’s not here,” Bas told Paige. Fear twisted his gut in painful circles. He felt like throwing up. “Do the police think someone took her?”
“I don’t know. Adam’s parents just arrived. The guys are here too. Looks like they’re forming a search party.”
A horrible thought crossed Bas’s mind. “Did they talk to Eddy?”
“I don’t know. I’m so scared, Bas. What if something happened to her?”
“Give me five. I’ll be there soon.”
“We’llbe there,” Dane said. He handed Bas a T-shirt, some jeans, and a pair of socks.
“Dane’s coming too.”
“Okay.” Paige hung up.
Bas couldn’t figure out how to get the phone to disconnect. He just stared at it, his hands shaking. Dane took it from him, clicked it off, and put it in his own pocket. He helped Bas dress, even found him a pair of shoes and a jacket since the weather was cold. Minnesota weather could do that. Seventy degrees one day, barely above freezing the next. He knew the cold would be worse because it was already making his bones hurt. Or maybe that was the fear.
“What if she’s hurt? What if someone took her?” Bas’s brain went through all the horrible things he’d experienced in the past year. He wouldn’t wish those things on anyone, especially not a sweet girl like Marissa.
“We’ll find her. I need to borrow a coat. It’s cold out. Do you have one?”
Bas pointed to the closet. “Any. It doesn’t matter. We have to go. We have to find her.” He headed toward the door.
Dane grabbed a coat and took the keys from Bas to lock the door. He put the phone and keys in Bas’s coat pocket. They were down the street and standing in Marissa’s driveway in less than two minutes. There were several squad cars flashing lights, but no sound, and just about every family in the neighborhood all stood listening to officers’ instructions.
Adam reached out and squeezed Bas’s hand. He and Ru looked tired but were dressed warmly. Mr. C handed everyone a flashlight as the police talked.
“It’s unknown what she was wearing at the time. We believe a pair of jeans, a sweater or T-shirt, and there’s a light blue hoodie missing from her room. Everyone is to take a quadrant and report in to your designated lead if you find anything. Any questions?”
“Does she have that tracking thing on her phone?” someone asked.
“We believe her phone is either off or disabled. Last ping was from the tower near here. We don’t think she’s gone far but haven’t been able to get an exact location. Any other questions?”
No one asked anything else, just went to their group to get their quadrant.
“Did they talk to Eddy?” Bas asked Mr. C.
Mr. Corbin nodded. “Apparently Marissa’s father woke him up as soon as they found she was missing. He claims he sent her the text. She was supposed to come over but never did. Your father was home, but you know how he is.”
Bas frowned at the words. “Eddy could have stuffed her in a closet and he’d be oblivious.”
