“Sir, we can take your statement, but from the looks of it, no crime has occurred here.”
“Are you fucking joking with me?” I spit as Lottie places a hand on my forearm.
“Officer, Mia and I were meant to meet two hours ago, and she didn’t show. Alfie found her phone on the ground, next to the car door, which was unlocked. She’s missing. We need to find her and make sure she’s okay.”
She’s calm, using that tone she does when she wants someone to do exactly as she says. Without wasting time, she adds, “My father, Henry Buckingham, will be saddened to hear that you didn’t take this seriously.”
The officer’s eyes widen after a brief second, and his eyes roam down Lottie’s body in obvious recognition.
“We don’t have time for this,” I hiss.
“Patience,” she sings beneath her breath.
“I’ll call the missing persons team; they’ll be here shortly,” the stocky cop mutters before heading back to his car, leaning down to speak into the radio strapped to his chest.
The other cop rolls his eyes, like Lottie throwing her weight around is the only reason he’s agreeing to do his actual fucking job. My skin boils with annoyance. Mia is fucking missing, and this guy looks like I’ve asked his grandmother out on a date.
“Does Miss Sinclair have any enemies? Ex-boyfriend? Anything like that?” he asks.
“It’s Dr. Sinclair.” Not that that's important right now. “No ex-boyfriends. Not in this state anyway.” I think for a moment, looking back toward my office.
Nate.
How could I not have thought about it before? He talked numerous times about Mia; he actively disliked that I was with her romantically. He even brought her up when I called him about missing his new therapy sessions. Not to mention the creepy-as-fuck notes he’d been leaving her.
“I have an ex-patient. I referred him to a new doctor because he was making inappropriate comments about Mia. Leaving hernotes and flowers. He was becoming fixated on her, and I put her needs above his and moved him to another doctor.”
“What’s his full name?”
“Nate Everly. I can call his doctor now.”
“Give me the details, and I’ll follow up with him in the morning."
“No, not in the morning. Fucking now!” I bellow. “I’m not waiting around for something to happen to her. I’m finding her tonight. With or without your help.”
I storm off as Lottie placates the laziest cop in the fucking world.
Before I’m out of earshot of the officer, I’m dialing Dr. Abraham’s number.
“Alfie, it’s very late.”
It’s ten o’clock, you fucking wet lettuce.
“I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t urgent. My girlfriend Mia—she’s missing. Nate Everly, the patient I referred to you after he made inappropriate comments about her, has he been attending sessions?”
“Yes, we had our second one this afternoon. He didn’t display any concerning actions or behaviors. He was attentive, engaged, and actively seeking advice on how to improve his chances of attaining a relationship with apreviouspartner.”
Emphasis onprevious, I note.
“I don’t think he was referring to Mia. Although he did mention in our first session that he was unhappy with you and how things had been left. He felt that he’d be targeted.”
“That’s in line with my assessment of him. He has narcissistic tendencies with a victim mentality.”
The doctor hums for a moment, the noise making my neck itch. “That is true. I’m not faulting your assessment of him, Dr. Adams. I’m merely suggesting that a broken clock is still right twice a day. Perhaps Nate wasn’t the one leaving the notes.”
Fucking useless.
It’s the last time I refer a patient to him again. Absolute waste of time. “Thanks for your help, Dr. Abraham.”
