“I’ll talk to James,” I said.
“No rush.”
As we parted for the day, I felt a mixture of things. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Confusion. The biggest question on my mind as I drove to the cemetery was why my mom had hated me so much.
15
JAMES
Brandon wassafe and at the coffee shop with Chase, per Andrew’s report via text before I stepped into the meeting. Just as the meeting ended, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and glanced at emails as I walked back to my office. I stopped and stepped to the side of the hallway when a call from Andrew came in.
“Hello.”
“Hey, are you out of your meeting?” Andrew asked.
“Yes, it just let out. Is Brandon still with Chase?”
“No, that’s what I’m calling about.”
“Talk, Andrew. What happened?”
My pulse sped up as I briskly made my way to my office to drop everything off and lock up while Andrew talked.
“I knew Brandon was nervous and I purposely hung out behind the counter to keep an eye on him. They seemed fine and intently listening to one another. They had coffee and muffins, and their conversation appeared to have concluded well. Chase even talked to Salem before he left and bought a bunch of her keychains.” I locked my office and quickly made my way toward the parking lot. Cutting through the emergency room was the quickest way. “Brandon and Chase shook hands, and then Chase left. Everything seemed fine. Brandon went back to their table to clean up, and I went over to him to see how things went. I could tell he was upset about something. His forehead was wrinkled, and he quickly brushed me off and said he needed to go.”
I stopped walking as I neared the automatic sliding doors of the emergency room.
“He left?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“He didn’t say where he was going?”
“No, just that he needed to go. Since he looked upset, I wanted to call and let you know. Maybe you can try to reach him.”
“I will. Thank you, Andrew,” I said as I proceeded to my car.
“Let me know if you need anything or if he’s okay. I worry about him.”
“You and me both. I’ll text you later.”
As soon as I got the car door shut, I tried reaching Brandon on his cell phone, but it went straight to his voicemail.
“Goddammit, Brandon,” I murmured as I pulled the phone away from my ear. I turned the car on so if he called back I could answer from the steering wheel. “Why do you force me to play James Bond?”
I pulled up the app for his car and logged in to it. I tapped the location button, and the map popped up with the red dot indicating where the car was. I watched it move along for a few minutes until it finally stopped. I zoomed in on the map and discovered he was at the cemetery where his mom was buried.
I left the parking lot and headed in that direction. At each stoplight I glanced at my phone to make sure his car was still parked there. After a short drive, I pulled into the parking lot and parked beside his car. As I followed the cobblestone path to where I knew Brandon would be, I sent Andrew a text to let him know I’d found Brandon. I turned my phone to silent and put it in my pocket.
I approached Brandon as he sat on the lawn facing his mother’s grave marker. He didn’t look up at me, but he knew I was there.
“How did you find me?” Brandon kept his head down.
“The app for your car that I have on my phone.”
“Stalker.”
I didn’t deny it and crouched beside him.
