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“No, he’s supposed to be with you.” I felt a sudden chill of anxiety.

“He called me around four and said he was gonna just drive to the house. Then we’d all go to the restaurant together. Mercy, he never showed. I’ve called him at least twenty times. He won’t answer.”

“The Five Hundred isn’t here,” I said. “You’re sure he said he was just driving to your house?” It was an insane question to ask. Of course Lloyd would be sure.

“I shouldn’t have let him,” Lloyd gasped. “He kept going on and on about how he needed to drive the Five Hundred. That it had been sitting in that alley too long. He’s so proud of that thing.”

“We have to find him,” I said.

“I’ve been trying. I drove all around. I went to the restaurant thinking maybe I had misunderstood and he decided to meet us there. Our reservations were for 4:45. He never showed up. I sent Kobe out to the island. He’s not there either.”

I walked out the front door and ran half a block. I could see the pier from here. Dad’s boat was still moored in its usual spot.

Where could he be? A thousand awful scenarios ran through my head. Had he crashed? No, someone would have called me by now. The distance between the office and Lloyd’s wasn’t that far and it was all well-traveled roads. If he’d gotten into an accident, someone would have seen it.

I envisioned him wrapped around some telephone pole anyway. But no. There would have been traffic. Witnesses.

“Let me see if he’ll pick up for me,” I said. “I’ll drive to your house. See if he just stopped someplace along the way.”

“I tried that. I’ve been going back and forth for an hour and a half. Carole thought it was better if we just waited here for him in case he showed up.”

“I’m coming anyway,” I said. “Let me hang up with you and I’ll try my dad.”

“I think we need to get Mac Henderson involved,” Lloyd said, his tone grim.

“Why didn’t you call me?” I asked. “Why am I only hearing about this now?”

“What could you have done?” Lloyd said. “I knew you were either in Chelsea still or on your way back. What good would it do for me to upset you while you were on the road? You’re here now. Let’s figure this out together. You call your dad. I’ll call Mac.”

“Fine.” I clicked off and punched in Dad’s number.

Just like Lloyd reported, it went straight to voicemail. I looked at the screen.

“I’m an idiot,” I muttered. “Lloyd’s a bigger one.”

Though I didn’t use a GPS tracker app with Dad, I had his phone connected to mine because he was constantly misplacing it. I hit the Find My Phone icon. I should have done this immediately. Lloyd could have called. I would have pulled over and tried this hours ago.

I waited an infuriating two minutes while the signal went out. Finally, Dad’s icon popped up on the map. My heart sank. His icon was right on top of mine.

With sweat running down my back now, I ran to Dad’s office. His phone sat in the charger on his desk.

I immediately called Lloyd back. “His phone is here at the office. He doesn’t have it with him. Lloyd, if he got lost ... maybe made a wrong turn and got disoriented. Do you think?”

Lloyd started to answer, but his voice turned into background noise. From the front window, I saw a deputy sheriff’s marked cruiser pull up. A second one pulled up right behind it with its lights flashing.

No. No. No. I felt my legs start to give out from under me. I grabbed the edge of the reception desk and took a deep breath. As I set my phone down, I could hear Lloyd calling my name.

The deputy in the lead car got out. I approached the front door. He made a killing gesture across his neck to the car behind him. The lights ceased to flash.

I recognized Deputy Zeke Carnes. I’d met him a few times at various events around town. Tall. Affable. He had a deeply creased forehead that made him look like he was constantly frowning, even with a smile on his face.

He wasn’t smiling now.

I opened the door and took one step outside. That’s when the second car door opened. My father emerged. I felt twin emotions when seeing him. Relief washed over me. At the same time, I was horrified. Dad’s hair was disheveled. His shirt was untucked. He had dirt smeared all over the front of it and down his pants. I noticed a small gash above his right eyebrow with caked blood.

“Dad! What happened? Are you all right?”

When he met my eyes, my heart split in half. E. Thomas Gale was a formidable presence in any room. Sturdy. Imposing. Those shimmering blue eyes could cut through you. He had a deep voice that resonated. No matter how many people conversed around him, you could always hear him loud and clear.