Curtain Call (The Jewel Project #7)

27. Doomsday

Tom's head throbbed and he tried to identify the source of his sudden headache as he gathered the dishes.

He hadn't hit anything, and the day, for once, had been peaceful and uneventful. And yet, a sense of unease gripped him. He looked towards the door to the living room, focusing on the sounds of his family. Angie was getting Ryan ready for bed while Zoey prattled on about what she's learned in pre-school that day.

Normal, pleasant sounds. Then what was wrong with him?

His phone started vibrating in his pocket, making him jump. Dropping the last pot in the dishwasher, he fished the device out and frowned at the screen. It was Christine.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, half-wondering why she was calling him and not Angie.

"Tom, Sam hasn't come home yet," Christine said, her voice high and panicking. "I tried to call, but he's not picking up, and he won't give me tracking acceptance."

Tom's muscles tensed as the reason for his unease became crystal clear. "Where was he supposed to be?"

"At the Agency. What if they did something to him? What if he's..." Christine's voice cracked.

"We would've known. The watch would've warned us." He would've known. He would've felt it.

"If he had it on, he would've approved the tracking."

Christine made a perfectly good point and Tom's anxiety shot through the roof, almost making it impossible to think. Almost...

"They need him. Maybe even more than any of us. But this is problematic. I'll come pick you up. Get the kids ready."

"Okay. Thanks. And..." She hesitated, sniffing. "I'm so sorry I dropped it on you like that. I'm just so worried."

And Tom couldn't blame her. He hadn't blamed her for anything in almost five years. Christine loved Sam, so she had every right to freak out. It also gave her a free pass in front of Tom which would've been hard to imagine at the beginning of their relationship. But as it was, Tom felt he and Christine had teamed up somewhere along the way to ensure Sam stayed as happy as possible. Life had hit him enough over the years.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes tops. Just stay alert." And with that he said goodbye and hung up. With the shock of the news settling in, the adrenaline started flowing, clearing the fog in his brain. "Angie! Babe?"

"Come in here," Angie called.

He grabbed his phone and rushed into the living room where Angie was kneeling on the floor, trying to wrestle Zoey into her pajamas.

"Daddy called you Babe again," she said in a fit of giggles. "Like the pig."

Tom wanted to turn that pig into bacon, but it was not the time to threaten imaginary characters. "Dress her back up." He glanced at Ryan who was already in his onesie. "We'll take him like this. You need to get to Jimmy's."

Angie looked up, her eyes wide, her frame tense. "What happened?"

"Sam hasn't come home." He nodded towards the kids to make it clear they shouldn't be saying more in front of them. "I'll go pack an overnight bag, then I'm going to pick up Christine."

"Okay. I'll get them in the car."

A shiver went down Tom's spine. "No car. We'll walk." As things were, he didn't trust they wouldn't blow up.