He dragged his hand down his face. “I thought she’d gone to you.”
Elizabeth was silent for a very long time.
Eventually, Ethan whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Well, son, I think you’re telling the wrong person, don’t you?”
“I know. I would tell her. I want to tell her. But I can’t reach her.”
Elizabeth paused for a moment before replying. “She’s not with me and she’s not with you, so where is she? I tried the house, but it just rang there too. And James…. What on earth was he thinking?”
“Didn’t you See any of this? Aren’t you meant to be able to see the future?” Ethan struggled to keep the annoyance out of his voice, guilt and grief winding through his words.
“Don’t you think I know that?” Her tone was sharp. “But we don’t See everything. Sometimes we even miss things that are close to us, especially when other visions are dominating everything.”
God. Kay had told him how her granddad had died suddenly and unexpectedly. “Sorry, I… I’m just worried about her.”
Elizabeth sighed, but she answered more gently. “I know.”
“Maybe if I go to the Circle House and look for her?” Ethan suggested.
“Yes. Start there.” Elizabeth gave him the address. “And call me when you know something.”
He was already out the door before she said goodbye, and then in his car and flying through London. Every traffic light, every pedestrian crossing, every bicycle that cut across him and forced him to slow, was like torture until he pulled up outside a massive house with a long driveway and an opulent front garden. He parked in front of the row of garages and jogged up to the front door to lean heavily on the bell.
After a short wait, the door was flung open by a tall, familiar man with dark blond hair and a serious face. He was wearing a suit without a jacket, his tie loosened, as if he’d just come home from the office despite it being Saturday afternoon.
“Hi, is Kay here?” Ethan asked.
“No, she’s not here. It’s Ethan, right?”
Ethan blinked in surprise. “That’s right.”
The man stuck out his hand to shake. “I’m Zach. I met you briefly outside the ambulance the other day.”
“Hi, Zach, good to meet you properly. Are you positive she’s not here?”
“Everyone was out, and it was all locked up when I got home. Her motorcycle isn’t here either, but we can go and check her room if you like?”
“Yes, thanks.” Ethan pushed inside and then waited impatiently for Zach to show him upstairs. He had to find Kay and see for himself that she was alright, and everything was taking too long.
Her room was closed, and the door was locked, everything quiet. They tried banging on the door and Zach called Kay a couple of times, with no response. Eventually, Zach went into David’s office and came back with a set of spare keys to open her door.
Her room was everything Ethan could have imagined. Cream throws and framed art that looked original. A desk in the corner with a bank of monitors and files on a shelf behind it. The bed looked as if it had been made in a hurry. But no Kay.
God. Where was he going to look for her? Where could he even start? Where would Kay go? Kay who always fought back. Kay who was sick of sitting around unable to take action….
Zach broke into his thoughts by asking, “Ethan, what’s going on? I thought you and Kay were together. Isn’t she meant to be going to Wales?”
Ethan lifted his eyebrows in surprise. “You know we’re together?”
Zach’s eyes narrowed in concern. “Sure, she mentioned it to James and he told me. Was it a secret?”
“It was just that James came to my flat… he said that she… that she was hiding….” Fuck. He already knew James had been lying about everything.
Zach frowned. “When did you see James? He said he had lots of work to do today, some kind of project he’s been working on for his uncle.”
Ethan ran his hands through his tangled hair, his dread unfurling into an awful understanding.
