Chapter Twenty-Seven

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"Cata?"

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"Cata?"

I reach over in bed, and she's not there. She must be in the bathroom. After our fight, after our intense sex, we both collapsed into the bed and fell asleep, exhausted. I try to drift off again but can't because she's not next to me.

"Cata?"

She doesn't respond. I turn over and check my phone on the nightstand. Christ, it's five a.m. already. I climb out of bed and head for the bathroom, expecting to see a line of light under the door.

The bathroom's open and empty.

Where the hell is she? My chest squeezes with panic.

I pad back into the bedroom and see that her phone's not on the nightstand. Her earrings aren't, either. And her flip flops, which she had kicked off haphazardly before we tumbled onto the sofa, were also gone. Zelda's in her dog bed, and she looks up at me, her eyes big.

"Where'd she go, Zelda?" I mumble. Maybe she's downstairs.

The dog cocks her head, yawns, and stretches.

My heart hammering, I run downstairs. Zelda follows, her nails making little click-clack noises on the wood floor.

"Hey," Liam calls out. He's gaming, he's got three hours left in his shift. I stick my head into the Den of Pleasure. Zelda ambles in and sticks her face into a bag of popcorn on the floor. I scoop the dog up.

"Dude, did you see Cata?"

Liam shakes his head, never taking his eyes off the screen. "Nah. I heard a door slam an hour or two ago but thought it was Sawyer or something. I've been really into this Warcraft raid."

Rolling my eyes, I stomp out to the driveway, dread filling my chest.

Her car is gone.

Where the hell did she go?

* * *

I'm already in Orlando by the time I get Diego's first text

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I'm already in Orlando by the time I get Diego's first text.

Where are you?

I shouldn't look at it as I drive and I toss the phone lightly on the floor of the backseat, so I won't be tempted to touch it. I've got a full tank of gas, a bag of stuff I'd hastily thrown together at my mom's house, a bag of Combos and a big Dr. Pepper.

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