“Have you heard from her lately?” Trey asked.
“In the past few days, specifically,” Magnus added.
Jane was shaking her head, glancing between them. “I haven’t talked to her since right before New Year’s. We were supposed to go out that night. New Year’s Eve. She was gonna meet me at my house so we could go to a couple of clubs. She never showed.”
Magnus knew that was because Harrison had beat her up, and Ava had come running to him to get away for a little while.
“And you haven’t talked to her since?” Trey asked.
Magnus listened as their questions and answers volleyed back and forth.
“I’ve tried. I called, texted, even went by her house. She didn’t answer. I assume she wasn’t there.”
“You went to her house?”
“Tried. It’s like a fortress, though.”
“Was Harrison there?”
Jane shrugged. “No one answered the door.”
“Any cars there?”
“They only have one car. Harrison’s. It wasn’t in the driveway, but he sometimes parks in the garage, so I don’t know for sure. He has a driver, but that car wasn’t there either.” She pulled out her phone. “The last time I texted her was last Saturday, just to check in. She responded the next day.” She tapped the phone screen. “Said she would catch up later, but that she was out and about, and then going to see a guy.”
“A guy?” Magnus asked, taking the phone when Jane passed it over.
“Yeah. You know her, right?” Jane asked him.
“I do, yes.”
“Then you know that’s not like her,” Jane told him as he read the text. “And that doesn’tsoundlike her.”
The text definitely did not sound like Ava at all. For one, there weren’t any emojis in the message, and Ava was almost obsessive about them, to the point there were times Magnus couldn’t decipher what she was trying to tell him.
When Trey held out his hand, Magnus passed over the phone, watched while he read it, and handed it back to Jane.
“I don’t know who texted me that, but it wasn’t Ava,” Jane concluded. “I wish I could help you. I’ve texted her since, but she hasn’t responded. Do you think she’s all right?”
Her eyes held more concern when she peered over at him. As much as Magnus wanted to tell the truth, that he believed Harrison had hurt her, he couldn’t do it. Not only because he didn’t want this nice girl to spend the rest of her workday in tears, but also because he was still holding out hope that Ava was all right, that she was taking care of herself.
“We’re gonna find her,” Trey answered for him. “If there’s anything you can think of that might help us do that…”
Jane considered for a moment. “I know she wanted to leave Harrison last year. She told me she couldn’t stand being there anymore, but she said her mom disapproved. Said Ava owed it to her husband to work things out.” Jane shook her head. “Renee’s messed up, you know. Half the time, I don’t think she knows what day it is.”
Magnus was still thinking about that when he and Trey walked out of the store, through the parking lot. It was crammed with weekend shoppers, all out to enjoy the early spring day while spending a little bit of money.
“How well do you know her husband?” Trey asked as he climbed inside Trey’s truck.
“Not really at all,” Magnus admitted. “I didn’t meet him until after Ava married him. She introduced us, but there was no budding friendship. Until today, I hadn’t seen him since he told Ava she couldn’t talk to me anymore. So I only know what Ava’s told me. Which wasn’t much, and none of it was good.”
He could feel Trey’s eyes on him, knew he should keep talking but didn’t know what else to say. Instead, he pulled out his phone and brought up his text thread with Ava. He skimmed the past messages back and forth to see if someone else had been responding in her place. She hadn’t responded back as much as she normally did, but that was the only oddity he noticed.
Trey finally broke the silence. “I need to head back to HQ to check in with the team. You wanna head over there with me? Or you want me to drop you at home?”
Magnus shrugged. He honestly didn’t know. Right now, his mind was on Ava, on where she might be.
“To HQ it is,” Trey finally said.
