Will frowns. “Who is?”
“Owen. He was supposed to be here over an hour ago to help with dinner. I thought that maybe he decided to come with you.”
“He didn’t.” He tries to remember if Owen has said anything about meeting up before dinner, but the last time they spoke, they agreed for Will to come at seven. Owen promised to be there already so Will wouldn’t get stuck alone with Sheryl. For a second, he wonders if Owen did this on purpose to leave them no choice but to speak with one another. But no, Owen wouldn’t have put him in such a spot.
“Have you tried the library?” Will asks.
“Francie said he left early to come here.”
They watch each other for a tense moment, and however dark their past might have been, it feels insignificant when Owen’s safety is on the line.
“I’m going to drive around town and look for him,” Will says. He knows where he’s going, but telling Sherylthat might reveal something Owen wouldn’t want her to know.
“I’ll do the same. Let’s meet here in an hour if we can’t find him. I’ll get the sheriff involved if I need to.”
“Okay. I’ll take the west side of town.” Before she can answer, he hurries back to his truck, hoping for Nate’s sake he isn’t behind this.
*
He doesn’t want to jump to conclusions, so he spends ten minutes driving around town, eyes darting to every corner as the sun disappears from the sky. His grip on the steering wheel is strong enough to hurt, so he flexes his fingers and takes deep breaths. He’s not going to make anything better by panicking.
He wishes he had less certainty that something bad has happened, but he can feel it in his gut like a crawling snake.
He gives up on the search and drives to Nate’s house. By the time he arrives, it’s fully dark outside, and he has just over thirty minutes to get back to Sheryl. Nate is home based on the television light flickering in the window. Will has a flashback of sitting for hours in front of that damn television, watching horrendous and gruesome scenes for Nate’s sick amusement.
You see how real they made the blood look? That’s art.
He climbs out of his truck and walks over to knock onthe front door. The television goes quiet. Nate opens the door and takes a step back in alarm.
“Relax,” Will says. “I’m not here to fight.”
“What do you want?”
“Owen is missing.”
Will watches Nate’s face as closely as he can. The man seems confused, but then understanding flickers across his face. “Sorry to hear that, but I don’t know why you’d think your boyfriend might be in my place. You two had a fight or something?”
Will takes a step closer. “Nate… I’m not here to play games.”
“I don’t know what happened to Owen.”
“You’re lying.”
Nate moves to close the door, but Will pushes it back before it can slam in his face. He shoves his way inside and says, “Where is he? Is it something to do with that undercover work?”
Nate crosses his arms, his pale skin cast by the light of the television. “I told you—”
“I was supposed to have dinner with him and his aunt. She’s out there right now looking for him. If we can’t find him, I’ll have to tell her about that undercover job.” Seeing the fear in Nate’s eyes, Will says, “If you just tell me where he might be, I won’t tell her about your connection to any of this, but you need to tell me right now.”
Nate looks away, his jaw tight. A lot of thinkingseems to be going on in his head. “I don’t know how to explain to you where he might be, but I can drive with you there. It’s out of town.”
Then something did happen to Owen.“You fucking bastard.”
“Hey, hands off! I could be wrong about this. Calm down if you want my help.”
Will takes a breath, though it fails to fill his tight lungs. “We’re leaving right fucking now.”
Nate glances at the door. “Yeah, okay. After you.”
