“You guys!” Diane says sternly. It’s honestly the most assertive I’ve ever seen my mother. “What is going on?”
“Our friend Sunny needs us.” Sam grabs her coat out of the closet.
“Sunny? Are you kidding me?” Mitchell spits out.
“Sunny, the girl you brought to our events? Why does that concern you, Tyler?” Diane asks
“Oh, for the love of god, Tyler.” Mitchell rolls his eyes, standing up. “Are you fucking her?”
Still having the phone pressed to my ear, Sam hands me my coat, but the call won’t go through. I try again. Fucking nothing.
“Fuck,” I mutter. “That doesn’t concern you,” I snap at Mitchell.
“Tyler!” Mitchell yells after me. “We have talked about this how many damn times! What if you get her pregnant? You can’t have a bastard child.”
I see my mother wince at his aggression but I don’t have fucking time for this.
“You have a reputation to hold!” Mitchell yells.
I bring my phone to ear, trying Cole. “Fuck your reputation,” I seethe.
Then I slam the door shut behind me.
By the time we make it to my place, I notice none of the lights are on in the house. Which probably means Sunny isn’t here. I already called Cole and Anthony, and they’re on their way.
Ryan could fucking be here.
“Stay in the truck,” I order Sam.
Words are lost on her tongue when she stares at me wide eyed as I pull a gun from the glove box. “What the fuck, Tyler!”
I rack the glock, do a chamber check and then meet her eyes as I shove the extra magazine in my pocket, right next to my knife.
I grip the back of her neck to make her look at me. “I said stay in the fucking truck, Sam.”
Running up to the entrance of my home, I find Sunny’s cellphone smashed on the ground. A quick glance around gives me nothing. No Sunny. No Ryan. I take the phone and pocket it.
My mind runs through a series of different possibilities. Panic makes it impossible to think. When headlights break through the dark night, I see Cole and Anthony pull up and get out of the car. It's at this moment I didn’t even think to check the cameras. Instinct had me driving here.
What if he has her? Is that why her phone is smashed? Because she fought him?
“Do not go in that house alone!” Cole yells, running up with a gun in his hands.
“What’s the plan?” Anthony asks.
Find her. Is all that keeps echoing through my mind.
“Cole, you and I will clear my house, then hers. Then we’ll scour the fucking city. Anthony, call every airport, every airline, every fucking hospital to make sure she isn’t there. He could be here and have her.” The reality dawns on me.
Before, it was Sunny everything, everywhere, all the time. And now it’s fucking nothing. She’s nowhere. It’s fucking dark.
I hear Sam running behind me. “Sam get back in the fucking truck.”
“I can go to Martha’s?” she breathes, shivering from the cold.
She couldn’t have left. She wouldn’t do that. Right?
“Tyler, she wouldn’t at least leave without a goodbye,” Sam assures.
