Page 2 of Keeping Collette

All that mattered was finding Astrid. There she was. Collette rushed over to her, her husband stood by her side.

“Astrid. I’m so sorry, but I had no choice. I need your help.” The words rushed out quicker than a bullet train in Japan.

“Whoa. What?” Astrid grabbed her hands. “Slow down Collette, what’s going on?”

“It’s Courtney. She’s missing and the police aren’t taking it seriously. Courtney wouldn’t run away, and if she did, she’d come to me. She wouldn’t have taken drugs and overdosed, like the police think. Nor would she go and not contact me, because she needed ‘space’. Something is wrong, Astrid. I know it. Something bad has happened to her.”

Saying it all out loud to her friend made it seem more real. Realer than it had been two minutes ago when she’d been outside debating on whether to come in or not.

“Okay. Are your sure she hasn’t gone to a friend’s place?” Astrid asked.

The question was a logical one, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear it. It was likely one she would’ve asked if someone had come to her saying their sibling was missing. “No. She doesn’t have a lot of friends. I’ve got a bad feeling. I—” Collette looked over at Astrid’s husband. “I was hoping that—” Her voice hitched, and she swallowed back a sob. “Callum would help.”

Astrid pulled her into a tight hug, and she returned her boss’s embrace. She was Astrid’s personal assistant, but they were friends as well. Collette needed this hug. “It’s going to be okay.”

Why did people always say that?

How did they know it was going to be okay?

“I didn’t know where else to go. I’m so sorry for interrupting your dinner.” Collette had no idea what was going on around her, but she imagined everyone’s attention was solely on her and Astrid. They were all likely wondering who the hell she was, and why she’d interrupted a private event.

“Please, Callum.” Astrid looked at her husband, having a silent conversation with him.

Collette held her breath. What would his response be? She couldn’t see what he was going to do, but she could hear him.

“Of course.”

Two words, and Collette relaxed in Astrid’s embrace. Tears threatened again, and the last thing she wanted to do was cry on her boss’s shoulder. She pulled out of her hold, looking at Callum. “Thank you.”

“I don’t know what we can do,” he said, his voice a little grumbly. “But we’ll look into it.”

“Look into what?” The man she’d noticed when she walked in, came up to them. Along with another a couple of others.

This attention wasn’t what she wanted. But what did she expect? That she could talk to Astrid and then leave without anyone enquiring about it all?

Over the two years she’d been working with Astrid, she was aware that her husband worked for a security company—hence why she was here. She’d heard the stories about how they all worked together. How close they were in terms of almost being a family.

Her friendship with Astrid, and not wanting to abuse it, had been a reason for her holding back on coming to her sooner.

“Collette’s sister is missing, and the police aren’t doing anything,” Callum said.

The other man nodded. “Right, and it was so important that our dinner and celebration had to be interrupted?”

Collette’s head snapped back as if she’d been struck by his harsh, but fair, words. The correct thing to do would be to leave, but she’d come this far, and she’d take what this man was saying to her on the chin.

“Deal, a little unnecessary,” Callum admonished. “Collette works with Astrid. She’s a friend. She’s here to ask us for help, and I know she wouldn’t have come tonight if she wasn’t worried or desperate.”

Collette sent a grateful smile in Callum’s direction before turning to the man he referred to as “Deal”. “You’re right, it was rude of me, and I’m sorry, but—” She shrugged. Why repeat what Callum had already said?

“Is there something going on we need to attend to?” Another man came up to them, this one had silver at his temples and was as handsome as the rest of the men in the room. And didn’t seem to mind that she’d interrupted, unlike Deal. She didn’t have the brain space to worry about why he was rude. Maybe he was just an asshole.

She should’ve paid more attention when Astrid had talked about her husband’s associates, then she may have been able to recognize them all. The air of authority that surrounded the silver fox suggested he could be the one in charge.

Callum explained why she was there and what was going on. The man, she found out, was called Ox. What was it with these guys strange names? He nodded, his lips pursed in thought. “Okay, well, we can’t do much tonight. Why don’t we all meet in the office tomorrow? I know it’s a Saturday, but if Collette is part of Astrid’s team, then she’s our extended family.”

Being considered one of them warmed Collette in an unexpected way. This wasn’t what she thought the outcome would be when she’d barged in on the group. She’d been hopeful, of course, that she’d get some assistance, but not to be enfolded within them like she’d been a part of the group for a long time.

The tears welled up again, and she blinked rapidly, not wanting to let them fall, but a fat one trickled out. “Thank you. I don’t know what else to say, but that.”