Page 63 of Cosplay & Consequences

“She went to that effing party!” Paige shouted. “I know it!”

“What party?” I asked.

“Some of her online friends are at MVFC and they went to some event tonight. I told her she couldn’t go because the party was twenty-one and older,” Paige said, spazzing out. I could picture her spiraling around our hotel suite, kicking furniture over.

“Do you know which one?” I asked.

“I don’t know! There’s like half a dozen of them tonight!” Paige shouted at me, her voice going from panicked to hysterical. “She’s fourteen, Danny! She knows better than this!”

“Okay, calm down. We’ll find her,” I promised.

Jess made a face. “Oooh. You should not tell her to calm down.”

“DO NOT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, DANNY!”

“Okay, don’t yell at me!” I protested.

“YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE I CAN YELL AT RIGHT NOW!”

I looked over at Jess, who furiously tapped away at her phone. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’M FREAKING OUT, DANNY!”

“Not you, Paige! Give me a second,” I pulled the phone away to look at Jess.

Jess glanced at me before returning her full attention to her phone. “Judging by this side of the conversation and the shouting going on, I’m assuming Faye snuck out to go to one of the con parties and wasn’t supposed to.”

“Excellent summation,” I agreed.

“Hang on, I might have something.”

I put my phone to my ear. “Jess has a lead on where she is,” I informed Paige.

“I SWEAR TO GOD IF SHE GETS KIDNAPPED BY SOME A-HOLE WHO LOOKS LIKE VIGGO MORTENSEN I’LL-”

I pulled the phone away from my ear and put it on mute. “Please tell me you have something,” I pleaded. “Paige is losing her mind.”

“That’s understandable,” Jess said calmly. “I know some of my subscribers were having a get together at one of the parties tonight and… Yep. There she is.”

She held up her phone for me to see. “Fayed2Black. She’s going to the Primary party. I’m not sure how she’s getting in because it’s twenty-one and over.”

The panic in me began to subside and I turned my phone off mute. “We know where she is, Paige.”

“IS IT AT THE BOTTOM OF A DITCH WITH NO KIDNEYS?!”

“We’ll get her and bring her back to the hotel.” I glanced over at Jess, who nodded in agreement.

“IF YOU ARE NOT BACK IN AN HOUR, THIS HOTEL ROOM WILL LOOK LIKE A SEVENTIES ROCK BAND RANSACKED IT IN A DRUG INDUCED FRENZY!”

“There’s a bag of Snickers stashed under my bed. Eat one and then at least give me ninety minutes.” I hung up before she could puncture my ear drum with her voice.

Jess wasted no time and put the car in gear. The streets were quiet this late in the evening, so at least we didn’t have traffic to deal with. She reached over and gave my knee a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry. We’ll find her. Faye seems pretty balanced for a kid her age. She’s going to be fine.”

I let out a long breath, trying to ease my tension levels. “Let’s hope so. If she is fine, my biggest worry will be keeping Paige from killing her.”

“Well, if she does, she apparently knows the ditch to dump her in after we get her kidneys on the black market,” she joked.

I didn’t laugh.