He had not expected her mouth to tighten as she sank into the chair across from his spot on the sofa.
“Bronwyn?”
No response.
“What is it?” he asked.
She continued to scroll. “I...”
He counted to thirty before he tried again. “Bronwyn?”
She looked at him. “I didn’t text my family yesterday and they are ... displeased.”
She handed him the phone, and he scrolled through a series of texts.
Mom6:15 AM
Bronwyn Elena Elizabeth Pierce! Call me right now.
Dad6:22 AM
Call your mother.
Grandmother6:30 AM
Your parents say you were shot at last night. Do me the courtesy of letting me know you’re alive, won’t you?
Dad6:46 AM
This is childish. Where are you? The police chief assures me that you were alive and well when you left the scene. He claims to have no knowledge of your current whereabouts. He’s lying, and I’ll have him fired.
Mom7:02 AM
How could you do this to your own parents? Just up and disappear? And June says you aren’t coming in today. Have you abandoned all your responsibilities?
Marcus7:13 AM
Ms. Pierce, your family is quite anxious about your whereabouts. I have declined to break into your house. They are threatening to fire me. I pointed out that your home is a private residence and it is illegal for me to enter it. They called the police chief. He backed me up and reiterated that you were fine twelve hours ago and as such, he has no cause to enter your home, nor do I.
Nathan7:29 AM
I admire the way you’ve done a runner, but the least you could have done was leave your office intact. What on earth is going on?
That was a joke, by the way. Seriously. What is going on? Your parents are acting like you’vedisappeared. I get why. You have a track record. But there’s no way you left without telling Grandmother. They’re driving me crazy. Do something.
Dad7:44 AM
When you come up for air, wherever you are, we’re putting GPS trackers on your devices.
At that last text, Mo looked at Bronwyn. “Meredith can track you. So can Landry.” He knew Bronwyn had given them access to her whereabouts as a general safety precaution.
“Yes, but apparently, my parents didn’t want to talk to my best friends. Or maybe they didn’t think about it. Or maybe they really do think so little of me as to assume that, at thirty-three, I still might disappear without a trace.”
He’d picked up on the “you have a track record” remark. These people were ... was there a word? Narcissists? Maybe. Unfeeling. Not one mention of worry. Not one concern for her well-being. It was all about them.
He scanned the remaining texts, finding them to be all the same until the last one, sent a half hour earlier.
Meredith8:41
