“I don’t know, Rhonan. I called out for her as loud as I could, but I haven’t heard her or seen her. The gate is still locked, and I…”
“Did you call law enforcement?”
“I was about to, but…”
“Okay, just wait while I check the front yard. You go inside the house and search all the rooms.”
“What if she passed out? Or what if—”
I don’t let her finish that thought because at this moment, I’m living through one of my worst nightmares as a parent. Gripping her shoulders, I say, “We’ll find her, Joanne.”
As soon as the words leave my lips, I race back up the stairs on the deck and run through the house, hearing Joanne yelling Ellis’s name behind me. The screen door slams against the outside of the house as I barrel through the front door in search of my kid—my everything.
Fuck. This can’t be happening.
Cupping my hands around my mouth, I project my voice as loud as I can. “Ellis! Ellis!” But I get nothing in response. Twisting my head back and forth, I look up and down our street. There’s no sign of cars or her bike. The garage is closed, so the likelihood that she took off on her bike is low. Joanne would have heard her open the garage, and she knows damn well she’s not allowed to ride without an adult watching her.
“Ellis!” I jog up the road to the bend, thinking maybe she took off after the ice cream truck.
“Rhonan!” Joanne calls out to me from my house as I run back toward her.
“Anything?”
“She’s not in the house. I even checked her normal hiding places, but…”
“Shit.”
Sobs wrack her body. “I’m so sorry, Rhonan.”
“Stop it. We have to be missing something. There has to be…” The sound of music playing from Vienna’s house stops me mid-sentence. “Vienna.”
My feet carry me as fast as I can go to my neighbor’s house, not even bothering to knock on her door as I burst inside.
“Jesus Christ!” Vienna shrieks as I barrel through her door, finding her standing in her kitchen, music blaring from a speaker—and my daughter standing right next to her.
“Daddy!” Ellis jumps down from a stool and races over to me.
“Ellis Seraphina Hart! What the hell are you doing over here?”
The music cuts out, making the sound of my voice echo throughout the house.
“Rhonan,” Vienna starts, but I glare up at her and cut her off.
“No! You don’t get to talk right now.” Her head rears back, but I turn back to my daughter. “Ellis, you had me and Joanne scared to death! You can’t just take off without telling us!”
“Rhonan…” Vienna attempts to interrupt me again, but I point a finger at her this time.
“No! Don’t talk! You have no idea what was going through my mind just now!”
“Daddy, stop yelling,” Ellis says, tears forming in her eyes.
“You just left our yard,” I say, my voice cracking despite myself. “And didn’t bother telling anyone. You know better than that, Ellis!”
“Rhonan.” Joanne’s voice comes from behind me, breathless with relief.
Ellis runs into Joanne’s arms.
Joanne drops to her knees, catching Ellis like she might vanish again. “Oh, thank God. We were so scared.” She presses her face into Ellis’s hair.