“Brat.” He pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. “Now go be nice to the poor guy you’ve kept waiting.”
“Oh, he’s been waiting for years for me to come around. He’ll wait a little longer.” She swung her purse over her shoulder and opened the door.
“Who is he? Do I know him?” Tash frowned. “You never tell me who you’re dating anymore.”
“Gotta go. Bye.” She blew him a kiss and closed the door in his face.
Hmm. Why did it seem as though she was deliberately hiding who she was dating? Cleo wound herself around his ankles, looking for some attention. “What do you say, girl, if we go upstairs and wake that lazy guy?”
“Meorw.” Cleo ran down the hallway.
Tash shook his head at his cat’s strange behavior as he mounted the steps. His heart rate quickened when he reached the top of the stairs, anticipating crawling into bed with Brandon. To hell with the roast. He’d gladly suffer another night of pizza if it meant a few extra hours in bed with his lover.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty.” His voice died in his throat when he saw the bed was empty. The air rested quiet without any scent or sound, as if it had been empty for a long time. The light in the bathroom was off, and the room was dark.
“Brandon? Where are you?” Panic rose in his chest. Where could he have gone? It had only been around half an hour since he’d come up here and seen him sleeping. He glanced around the room but didn’t see a note.
“What the hell?” Frantic with worry now, he pulled out his phone and called Brandon’s cell, but it went straight to voice mail. He texted him.
Where are you? What happened? Call me.
He waited for an answering ping back but nothing. Tash ran down the stairs, searching through the carriage house, but the empty rooms mocked his solitude. Futilely, he kept looking at his phone, willing it to ring, but it remained stubbornly mute.
His pacing continued in the front hall where the cats sat on the stairs, regarding him with their unblinking blue stares. It was then he noticed Brandon’s jacket was missing from the hook.
What the fuck?
* * * *
After a night waking up every hour or so, at seven a.m. Tash figured there was no sleep left in his bed. The first thing he did was check his phone, but there was no message, no voice mail. Nothing. He took a shower and got dressed, then, after checking his silent phone again, fed the cats and made his coffee. With panic tasting bitter in his mouth, he picked up the phone and dialed Ash’s number.
“Tash? What’s the matter? Did something happen to Brandon?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” He quickly outlined what happened last night, leaving out the content of his conversation with Valerie.
“So you haven’t heard from him even though you texted him?” Ash sounded more curious than worried. “Hold on while I text him, and I’ll see if he answers me.”
Several moments passed by.
“Anything?” Tash asked.
“No. Shit,” Ash bit out.
“I’m going to go to his school and try to catch him this morning. I’ll keep you posted.” He hung up before Ash could answer. Shoving his keys in his pocket, he sent up a silent prayer that everything was all right. He rushed out of the house to the garage like the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels.
Without traffic, it would take about half an hour to get to Brandon’s school; Tash pushed through many yellow lights and skirted the line on some red ones, but he didn’t give a shit. Brandon’s first class started at eight thirty-five a.m., and he pulled up to the front of the school at eight thirty. For the first time in years, he used the power of his MD license plate and parked in a No Standing zone. Knowing his luck, he’d probably get a ticket anyway.
He headed up the steps of the school with the kids who were rushing so as not to be late for the first period. At the front door, a bored-looking security guard stopped him.
“Can I help you?”
“I have to get a message to one of the teachers. Brandon Gilbert?” Tash tapped his foot on the step. “It’s a family emergency.”
The guard leveled an assessing stare up and down his body, then jerked a nod. “Go on in.”
Tash huffed out a quick thank-you and raced up the stairs, then skidded to a stop as he entered the main hallway. The cacophony of noise from all the students walking to class was overwhelming. Tash realized he had no idea where to go; he’d never visited Brandon inside the school. He stopped an older man who looked as though he worked there.
“Do you know where Brandon Gilbert’s classroom is, please?”
