Page 212 of The Storm

“I don’t think he’s home,” Bridge calls after me just as I open Blue’s door, and true to her word, it’s empty.

I drag my hand through my hair, hovering in the doorway with no idea what to do now.

“Any idea where he is?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Why?”

“He wasn’t at Callum’s. Said he wasn’t feeling well.”

“I just got home. Maybe he went out to pick something up?” Bridget offers.

But the bed doesn’t look like anybody’s slept in it, and there’s a stale stillness in the air.

“Have him call me if he gets back,” I tell Bridge before I push past her and out of the apartment.

“Sure. Everything okay?” she calls after me. I wave her off without looking back.

The rain’s coming down harder now, and a flash of lightning lights up the sky. I slam the car door shut behind me and just sit for a moment before I grab my phone and dial Dia’s number.

She picks up almost immediately. “I’m in a rehearsal, so you better be quick, and it better be important.”

“Blue. Any idea where he is?”

“Haven’t seen him today,” she says before she pauses. “What do you mean? He was at your place last night, wasn’t he?”

I lean my forehead against the steering wheel and try to think. “He was gone by the time I woke up this morning.”

She’s silent for a moment. “Were you a dick?”

I grit my teeth.

“It’s a fair question,” she says defensively.

My shoulder slump and I tap my forehead against the steering wheel. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve been trying to fix things, so if I’ve been a dick, that doesn’t bode well. Not that I’ve been great at it so far.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know!” I snap. “It’s been fucking weird, okay? It’s like the more I try, the more he pulls away. I gave him a key tothe boat rack, and he looked like he was about to have a panic attack.”

“What boat rack?” Dia asks.

“It doesn’t matter. I just… I tried to fix at least something, okay? So I bought him a kayak and a shell and then I… You know what? That’s not important.”

Silence takes over, neither of us saying anything, but neither of us hanging up either.

“Nick?” Dia says. “A shell? You don’t think he’s out there right now, do you? There’s a thunderstorm.”

Everything goes cold inside me. “Oh fuck. No. He’s… It’s Blue. He knows better.”

“Yeah,” Dia says. “Yeah.”

Somebody shouts something in the distance on Dia’s end.

“Coming,” she says. “Listen, I have to go.”

“He probably went to the store or something.”

“Yeah. Let me know if you hear from him, will you?”