Page 94 of Emerson

How did I go without him for so long? A few weeks back in his world, and it turned me into a fucking mess of a human.

My phone is already back in my hand before the first ring breaks up the silent night. At first, I think I’m going insane, because surely his name isn’t on my phone screen. I frown, heart racing immediately. He wouldn’t just call me, not after having me blocked for months.

“Emerson?” I rasp, clearing my throat and shifting up in bed. “What’s wrong?”

He sniffles down the line, then hiccups, trying to catch his breath. “She’s gone, Dill. I can’t find her anywhere.”

His distress twists me up inside. “Who is gone?”

“Ellie,” he whispers.

“Eleanor? Your cat?”

“I can’t find her, Dill,” he sounds wrecked. Absolutely wrecked.

I tuck the phone between my shoulder and swing off the bed. My pants from last night are slung over the chair in the corner, and I step into them.

“When was the last time you saw her?” I don’t bother buttoning the jeans, just walk over and open the dresser to snatch a clean shirt out.

“Before I left to go out, she was here. I know she was.” I hear static scratching, like wind hitting the phone mic. “Where did she go?”

“Has she ever gotten out before?” I turn in a circle in the room, looking for my wallet and keys.

“No,” he says, voice cracking. “I’ve given her the opportunity every single day to leave me, and she never has. Not ever. Oh, God, Dill, what if something happened to her out here?”

“Emerson, breathe. She would have had to get out of your apartment and the security door downstairs to get outside.”

“So you think one of my neighbors stole my cat?” he screeches, and I would smile at his dramatics if he wasn’t dead fucking serious and on the brink of hyperventilating.

“Baby, no one wants to steal that cat. Okay? She is a cat only her daddy can love. I mean that with all the gentleness in the world. Ellie is probably just scared and confused and hiding somewhere in the building.”

“Great. You think she’s ugly while I’m stressed about her being a kitty pancake in the fucking road somewhere.”

The night has cooled off a lot, and I crank up the heat as soon as my truck rumbles to life. The call connects to the Bluetooth, and I set the phone next to me so I can buckle up. Luckily, I got gas yesterday. I should be able to make most of the drive before I have to stop to refill.

“Have you checked the hallways in the building? By the service door in the back?”

He’s quiet for a second, and then I hear keys in the door. “I didn’t check the service door or the stairs into the creepy ass fucking basement.”

There are hardly any cars out now, nothing like the traffic I fight on my way to and from work. Each of his agitated, scared breaths grips my heart in a fist.

“Anything?”

“No,” he mumbles, then sniffs again, and I grip the steering wheel so hard it creaks. “I don’t know what to do, Dill.”

I flick the turn signal to get on the freeway harder than necessary. “We’ll find her, Emerson.”

“We?” his laugh is broken and watery. “I shouldn’t have called. Fuck, Dillon. I’m sorry.”

“Baby, don’t apolog—”

The line goes dead. I curse, hitting the call back but it goes straight to voicemail.

This is going to be the longest drive of my entire life.

Emerson

“Here, kitty kitty kitty,” Ian whisper-yells, shaking the bag of treats in his hand as he walks around the side of the building for the dozenth time. Warren went back inside to check the laundry room, but it’s almost three o’clock in the morning. Any knocking on doors to ask if anyone has seen her will have to wait until morning.