Page 126 of Wilde Abandon
How dare she!
If he’d done that to a woman…
He’d never do something so vile.
And how was he going to make this up to Melody?
He’d brought Amy into their lives.It was his fault he didn’t see how far she’d go to get his attention.He should have fired her after she insinuated herself into his and Melody’s dinner date.
He should have listened to Melody the first time she warned him that Amy had designs on him.
He tossed the sopping towel on the tile floor and went into his bedroom to drag on a clean pair of jeans and a thermal.He’d make Melody a cup of hot chocolate, maybe something to eat, then they’d sit and talk this out.
Barefoot and surly, he walked out into the living room expecting to find her on the couch, or in the kitchen.Instead, he stared at his haggard best friend.“Where is she?”
Dean looked up from his phone.“She’s not back yet.”
He stopped midstride to the refrigerator.“What?”It should have only taken her a few minutes to get her phone and come back up.
Dean shrugged a shoulder, then pointed toward the window.“Her car is still parked outside.Maybe she needed to take a walk around the block to clear her head.”
Fox ran back into the bedroom for his phone and checked for messages.Nothing.He texted her.
FOX: Where are you?We need to finish our talk.
FOX: Please
He walked back out into the main living space, practically holding his breath while he waited for a response.Nothing.
He hit the speed dial for her and got voicemail.“Hey, it’s me.I’m worried about you.Call me back.”
Dean looked up, his eyebrows raised, suspicion in his eyes.“She’s not answering?”
“She didn’t respond to my text either.”He held the back of his hand to his forehead, hoping his phone went off any second.
Dean stared at him.“I thought she understood this wasn’t your fault.”
“Me, too.She kissed me before she left.Not like she used to, but…”I won’t lose her.I’ll get her back.
“Pull up the security footage.”Dean motioned with his head for them to go into the office.
Fox, heart pounding, senses blaring a warning, took a seat at his desk and pulled up the surveillance feeds, then rewound the lobby camera footage so he could see when Melody left and if she’d come back.
“Stop.”Dean pointed to the right of the screen, time-stamped 2:22 a.m.“There she is.”
Which meant he’d last seen her at like 2:18.
He looked at the clock on his monitor.2:34.Sixteen minutes since I last saw her.“Fuck.”
Amy stepped out of the elevator behind her.
And then his heart stopped when he saw the van, Amy holding on to Melody’s arm, the ensuing struggle.He watched Melody deck Amy, not once, but twice, and his heart pounded with dread.She shouldn’t have to defend herself like that.She shouldn’t have to deal with someone he brought into their lives.She tried to run, only to be tackled by the guy from the van, then bound, and abducted.The van sped away with the woman who was his whole life.
“Fuck!”He stood to run after her on instinct, but Dean clamped his hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down into the chair.
“Wait.Think.We don’t know who’s helping Amy.We have no idea where they took her.We need to call the cops.”
Fox shook his head.He didn’t want to wait around for the local cops to try to figure things out.He needed someone who had both the means and incentive to get Melody back.He tapped the name on his phone and waited for the call to be answered.