“Annabeth!” he called out, but there was no answer.
He had no idea what to do first. All he knew was that his daughter was gone and…
His parents.
“Son of a bitch,” he murmured as he stormed out the door.
Jonah was still exhausted when the alarm went off, but they needed to jump back into their routines. He needed to go to preschool, and Lexi needed to get up to her office. Slater was leaving on his mini vacation today, so she had to make sure she was up to date on anything that happened while she was away.
The two of them got ready, even though neither had much energy, and she still needed to go and get Annabeth. Today was her carpool day, and even though she wasn’t prepared to see Connor just yet, there was no way she was going to take that out on his daughter.
“Come on, buddy,” she said, trying to sound cheery. “Let’s go get Annabeth.”
“Okay!” It was adorable how just the mention of his friend perked him up.
Grabbing her keys and purse, they stepped out of the cabin and began walking along the path to Connor’s. But when she got there, no one answered. She glanced in the windows but didn’t see either of them.
“That’s weird,” she murmured, but then figured Connor must have driven his daughter himself.
And that just ticked her off because it was petty.
“Where’s Annabeth?” Jonah asked.
“I guess Connor forgot it was our day to drive and took her himself,” she said softly, making sure her son didn’t sense her mood. “That’s okay, though. We can go ourselves.” But when she made it to the parking lot, Connor’s SUV was exactly where they’d parked it last night.
She was about to get concerned and then figured that maybe they had decided to meet his parents for breakfast before school. That made the most sense.
At her car, she was helping Jonah in when she heard someone shouting her name. Turning, she saw Slater running toward her.
“Hey,” she said cheerily, but the closer he got, the more she realized this wasn’t a friendly greeting. “What’s going on?”
“Have you seen Annabeth?” he asked breathlessly.
“I haven’t,” she replied, worry creeping up her spine. “What’s going on?”
“Connor woke up this morning and she was gone. He thought she was with his parents, but they haven’t seen her either.” He let out a long breath. “We’re searching the lodge now and getting everyone together to search the property. The police are on their way, but I have a couple of drones that I’m going to use in hopes of spotting her.”
“Oh my God…” Turning, she carefully pulled Jonah from the car with shaking hands. “Okay, okay, where do you need us? Where should we start?”
This was her biggest fear—something happening to her child. Connor must be completely distraught right now.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him come running out of the lodge looking positively frantic. Her heart kicked hard in her chest as she quickly made her way toward him. The moment she reached him, he took her in his arms, and she could feel him trembling.
“I don’t know where she is,” he said, burying his face in her neck. “I don’t know when she left or why or…or if it was her own choice…”
She felt his tears on her skin as she held him tight. “We’re going to find her, Connor. I promise.” Pulling back, she cupped his face in her hands. “It’s going to be okay.”
But he was shaking his head. “I thought my parents took her. They threatened to last night, and…and…”
That was a conversation for another time because that one statement filled her with rage. How dare they even try to break up their son and granddaughter! What kind of controlling monsters were they?
Again, a conversation for another time.
“She’s not in the lodge!” Walker called out as he jogged toward them. “We had a complete room search. Housekeeping is checking all the closets and storage rooms.”
“The storage room!” Connor said loudly. “The old one! The one with all the old stuff in it!”
“I’m on it!” Walker said, running off.
