“But she’ll text.”
The phone goes to voicemail. More people are returning from break. Mark says hi as he passes, but he tends to want to stay in character between scenes.
Damon waits a few seconds and then he pulls up the other app for Annie’s ring. It takes a moment to upload. He straightens suddenly. “What the fuck?”
I glance over his shoulder. The dot is speeding away from the theater. I pull up Annie’s phone tracker and it still shows her phone here. I press the play-sound button to find her phone. A very slight beep sounds over the people chatting while waiting for the break to be over.
“Keira, something’s wrong,” I say. “I need quiet.”
“Hey, I need everyone to be quiet!” Her yell fills the room.
Crystal stops next to Keira. “Have you seen Chase? He’s not in the hallway.”
I hit play-sound again.
“It’s coming from over here,” someone says from near the set.
I lead the way behind the temporary walls. The phone continues to go off. It’s dark, so I turn on the flashlight app.
Damon hurries ahead when he sees someone on the floor, but it’s clearly not Annie. He picks up Annie’s phone and hands it to me. She dropped it or someone might have tried to break it. The screen protector is shattered. He rolls the guy over, and his face is unrecognizable from swelling.
“Fuck, is that Chase?” Cam says.
“Call 9-1-1!” Damon yells, checking for a pulse and breathing, and then steps over Chase. He moves into a small antechamber and pushes open a door below an exit sign. It leads outside.
My heart pounds so loudly in my ears. She’s not here. Fuck. I study the surrounding area for any clues to who or what happened to her.
Damon steps outside and looks around. He holds his phone up to see where the dot is and takes a screenshot. “Does someone have him?”
He must be talking about Chase. Mark hovers over him. “Yeah, we’ll get him medical attention.”
“Good.”
“Where’s EvanAnn?” Keira asks in a very small, worried voice.
Damon glances at her. “That’s what we’re going to find out. Hawk, stay here, find out if anyone saw anything. Chase is going to wake up, and hopefully he knows more.”
I’m looking around the area with my flashlight when I see a blood smear on a wooden stool. My stomach twists. “Damon.”
He turns and looks. He glances over at Chase, who doesn’t appear to be bleeding. Whoever took her might have hurt her.
“9-1-1 will send everything. Police, ambulance, fire truck. Tell the police when they arrive. You have her location and ours.” Damon clasps my hand. “We’ll get her back.”
I swallow down the fear and nod. Cam and Damon head out the door and walk around the building. I turn back and look for a stagehand. When I find Rob, I stop him.
“Did someone have this door open?”
Rob opens his mouth and closes it a few times before nodding his head. “It-it gets hot.”
I nod. At least that’s one mystery solved. Someone left the door open, which might be why Annie came back here. But why was Chase here? Was he harassing her? Did he lead her back here and get betrayed?
I walk through the main area where everyone is gathered. When I glance at Keira, she nods. Practice is cancelled. This is a fucking crime scene.
“If anyone saw anything, please let us know. We all need to stay here until the authorities arrive. Make yourselves comfortable.” Keira goes to her desk.
“Hawk?” Sophie tugs at my sleeve before I reach the door to the hallway. I just need a minute to calm myself before I start asking people what they saw.
I glare down at her. I don’t have any time for her bullshit. My stomach is in knots. I shouldn’t have left Annie alone, but she wasn’t. She’s never alone during practice.
