Page 33 of Dancing With Doubt

15

Roxie

“I’m going out to check on him,” Roxie said to her friends gathered around the table. They were ready to leave, but they were still waiting for Lincoln.

Roxie’s skin was covered in goosebumps that just wouldn’t go away and all of her senses screamed that something was wrong. Kai hadn’t taken her worry seriously at first, but even he had started to look worried.

“I’ll go check the bathroom, Logan would you go with Roxie to check outside?” Kai asked as he stood up from the table, buttoning his suit jacket as though it were a habit, something he did without thinking.

“Sure, Kai. Keily, you want to come with us?” Logan asked, taking his wife’s hand when she stood up.

Only it wasn’t just Logan and Keily who came with her as she went out of the restaurant, it was all her friends but Kai. Even the head waiter came out with them. The man’s name was Bill and he was busy berating the parking attendant, but Roxie wasn’t sure why.

“Do you know where the car is parked?” Roxie asked the attendant when Bill took a breath in between dressings down.

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll show you. I tried to tell Mr. Young I’d bring the car around for him, but he insisted he was fine. I’m sorry.” The young man whose nametag read Jim spoke to her softly, his head down.

“It’s not your fault, Jim. Please show me now.” Roxie said, and they all began to walk towards the parking lot.

Roxie smiled briefly when she thought about how it must look to outsiders, all of the guests leaving at once like they were running out on paying the bill. Kai owned the place though, so that wouldn’t be one of his worries.

It felt as if they’d walked for hours by the time they reached the car, and Roxie really regretted wearing the heels she had on instead of sandals, but the sight of the car coming into view made everything else fade into the background. The driver’s side window was smashed in, and the door had been left open.

Roxie sped up to get to the car faster and saw that the keys to the car were on the ground. She picked them up without thinking, her eyes on the glass that covered the ground. Inside the car, she saw Lincoln’s phone, but not Lincoln.

“Holy fuck.” She mumbled, the blood rushing in her ears and fear strangling her throat until she couldn’t breathe. She almost fell but somebody caught her in time.

“Steady on, Rox,” Trevon said, and she absently put a hand over his where it was wrapped around her shoulders to hold her up. “I’m calling the police.”

June came up beside her as Trevon placed the call, taking Roxie into her arms so that Trevon’s hands were free. “He’s been taken? By who?”

Obviously Lincoln hadn’t filled June in on everything, Roxie thought, but she was too busy thinking of worst-case scenarios to fill in the blank spots. Tears streamed from her eyes unchecked. “It has to be Nathan.”

“Your ex?” June probed, her eyes on the shattered window of Lincoln’s car.

“Yeah, him.” Roxie swiped at her face and tried to calm herself down. None of this would help Lincoln. “Trevon, are the police on their way?”

“Yep, should be here any minute now.” He answered, his captivating eyes following Wendy as she came up to check on Roxie.

“What’s going on?” Wendy asked, taking Roxie’s right hand in hers. “Is he gone?”

“Yeah.” Roxie looked back at the crowd standing behind Lincoln’s car and noticed more people had joined her friends. Nosy people trying to figure out what was going on and if any of it was worthy of filming for their social media, no doubt, she thought with a hateful glare at the unfamiliar faces.

The police roared up a moment later with sirens blaring, but that didn’t relieve Roxie at all. She could already see Detective Slater’s perpetually hateful face in one of the cars and that almost drove Roxie over the edge. If that bitch sneered at her one time…

“Who’s the sour-faced cow?” June whispered to Roxie, making her smile briefly.

At least she wasn’t the only one that noticed the detective’s sour demeanor. “A detective. I’ve dealt with her before.”

“Ms. Simpson.” The detective drawled as she strode up to Roxie, thumbs hooked in her gun belt. “Tell me why I’m not surprised you’re involved in this matter?”

“Because you’re a giant inflamed asshole of a bitch?” The words slipped out before Roxie could stop herself but once they were out, she decided she didn’t give a fuck. The woman was exactly that and it was time somebody told her. Just in case she didn’t already know.

The detective stared at her with lethal death-glare levels, but Roxie didn’t back down. Instead, she raised her chin and stared down at the much shorter detective. The detective’s glare cooled down when a policeman in uniform came up to her and placed his hand on her elbow.

“Detective Slater, you need to see this.” The man with Anderson written on his badge said.

The woman walked away, her back ramrod straight.