I read through her assessments of Revival’s citizens. Her explanations of how the patriarchy lost today because she and Gracie made sure the mob wife, Gina, only succeeded in making them BFFs and not the enemies she was hoping for.
She recounts the countless men who have tried to hit on Hailey, while Hailey remained completely clueless.
When I get to the end of her stream of consciousness, I shoot her a text telling her I’ll be done in thirty and to let me know where to find her.
I can’t stand one more second of not seeing her.
The need to touch her mixes with the adrenaline of the last couple of hours.
I put my phone in the holder, throw the car into reverse, and make the drive back to the station. When I get there, Jessica hasn’t responded, so I call her.
Only, there’s no answer.
The first slither of unease snakes down my spine.
I shake it off.
I’m being paranoid.
The hyperalertness suddenly rushing through me like speed is my conditioning mixing with the chemicals in my blood.
I call again.
Still nothing.
I look back at her texts, and the unease turns to a cold, inevitable dread I recognize.
The instinct I’ve possessed since I was old enough to remember.
Trouble.
A side effect of growing up with abusive parents is the ability to scent impending doom on the air. It permeates everything, and no matter how desperately you want to be wrong, you’re not.
Because you can feel it.
Feel the tension build with every second that passes.
How it coils tighter and tighter.
Every second edging toward danger.
Then, something happens.
A wrong look.
A loud noise.
The crash of a dish on linoleum.
The tension snaps, and everything turns.
And, how, in that one suspended moment of silence, you accept the inevitability of your fate.
That’s exactly what happens to me now.
Because the last message she sent to me was ninety minutes ago.
The logical part of my brain, not consumed with the volatile rush of emotions coursing through my veins, insists I’m overreacting. That there could be a thousand reasons she hasn’t texted or responded, but I don’t buy it.