Page 81 of Commit

I consider that as I look back through the cameras more slowly. I find her school bag at the front door where I left it this morning and notice the door’s wide open.

I stand up. “Something’s wrong.”

I walk out and dial the high school on my way. Once the secretary answers, I ask her to check and see if Starling was at school today. I wait while the phone plays annoying elevator music.

Atlas and Kenzo step up next to me. “Might as well come along,” Atlas says.

I nod. If something happens, I’ll take all the help I can get.

“Get in. I’ll drive,” Kenzo orders.

I dig in my pocket for my keys and toss them to him. Atlas and I climb in the back as the secretary comes back.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Smith, but it appears Starling didn’t make it in today. And since nobody contacted us, it will be marked down as an unauthorized absence.”

“What about Abbott Peters?”

She tuts and asks me to hold again.

“I swear to God, if she puts me on hold once more, I’m going to reach down the phone and choke her with her fucking pearls.”

“How do you know she’s wearing pearls?”

“Oh, trust me, she screams pearls and twinsets,” I grunt. She comes back and informs me Abbot didn’t show up either.

I hang up without thanking the bitch and look at Atlas. “Neither of them showed up.”

“So they skipped together?”

I grit my teeth so hard my jaw pops.

“You have cameras. Can’t you scroll back through the footage?” Kenzo says over his shoulder.

“Shit.” Of course. I’m a fucking idiot.

I open the app, go back to when I left, and fast-forward until I see Starling wake up. I watch as she looks around and dives out of bed, sneaking down to her room. When she disappears into her bathroom, I lose sight of her, which pisses me off that I didn’t put cameras in there.

I speed up the footage, feeling myself get hard as she gets dressed. I frown when she freezes, thinking the feed has glitched, until I see the door open. When I see Abbot enter, I expect the worst. But then her hand covers her mouth, and she’s running to the bathroom. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s happening.

When Abbot comes out and trashes the room, I curse. “Fuck! Kenzo, drive faster.”

“What’s happening?” he asks, speeding up.

“Abbot. He must know. He trashed Starling’s room.”

I watch it unfold on the screen. There’s no sign of Starling, and though I could fast-forward, a part of me thinks the worst. Finally, I see her rush into the room, and he pushes her. My grip on the phone tightens. I continue watching as Abbot leaves and Starling stumbles back into the bathroom.

“Did he hurt her?” Atlas asks quietly.

“I can’t tell, but if he did, I’ll kill him.”

Some time passes before she emerges from the bathroom again, this time struggling to stay on her feet. I watch her walk down the stairs, looking like she’s in some kind of trance. I follow her as she leaves the house on foot, not taking anything with her. I’m still watching the footage when we get to the house, but as far as I can tell, she hasn’t come back, and when I look up, the front door’s still open.

We all climb out of the car and head inside. Nothing’s out of place downstairs, so I head upstairs.

I lift my phone and dial Abbot. It goes straight to voicemail as I walk into Starling’s room.

“Jesus.” Kenzo whistles from behind me.