Wayne frowned.
“I’m sorry to hear this. Yes, of course, I’ll be happy to check on her.”
“Oh, thank you,” Lucy said. “Please call me back as soon as you do.”
“Yes, I will. I have your number on caller ID. Give me a few minutes to get to that wing of the building.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Lucy said. “I’ll be waiting for your call.”
She hung up the phone and then sat, staring off into space, trying not to imagine the worst, while Wayne picked up a passkey and headed for the elevator.
He wasn’t overly concerned with what he’d find. He didn’t know Rachel Dean’s personal habits, but it wouldn’t be the first time a resident had overslept. He was just hoping she hadn’t taken a fall, or was passed out from being drugged up or drunk. That would be completely embarrassing.
He took the elevator up, exited on the second floor and headed down the north hall to apartment 210, then knocked and waited, but no one answered. He knocked again, and then called out her name.
“Rachel! Rachel Dean! It’s Wayne Dyer.”
Still no response.
He unlocked the door, and then the dead bolt before pushing it open. Even then, he still didn’t cross the threshold.
“Rachel! It’s me, Wayne Dyer! Your boss has requested a wellness check. I’m coming in!” he yelled, and then walked into the foyer, leaving the door open behind him as he started his search.
He could hear voices in the back of the apartment and hoped she wasn’t in bed with someone, then recognized the voices of two talk show hosts on the program he’d been watching. The sound he was hearing was the television.
“Rachel! Hello? Hello? Are you there?”
Again, he got no response.
By now his heart was beginning to race. Oh, God, just please don’t let her be dead, he thought as he poked his head into her bedroom.
The television was on. The bathroom door was open, but it was empty. The walk-in closet door was open, but she wasn’t in there. As he left the bedroom and headed toward the kitchen, he was starting to grow concerned. But it wasn’t until he saw a partially filled bowl of congealed soup and the dried cheese on a half-eaten cracker that it began to dawn on him that she was gone.
Her iPad was beside the food, as if she’d just gotten up and walked away from a meal. But that food had been there for hours, and it wasn’t breakfast food. He went back to the living room, taking note of her briefcase on the floor, and her purse on the table beside the door.
“This isn’t looking good,” Wayne muttered, then left, locking the door behind him, and headed back downstairs on a run.
He knew what she drove, and wanted to see if her car was gone. But when he stepped out the back of the building and saw the little red Fiat still parked in her assigned parking spot, his heart skipped a beat.
He turned around and ran back to his office. His hands were shaking as he punched in the numbers, and waited for it to ring, and then her secretary answered immediately.
“This is Lucy.”
“Lucy, this is Wayne Dyer. Rachel isn’t in her apartment. The television is on in her bedroom. There is a partially eaten meal from last night still on her dining table. Her car is still here. Her purse and briefcase are still in her apartment. Have you called her sister? She might know something. Do you have her contact information?”
“Yes, yes, I do. I’ll call her right now, and thank you,” Lucy said.
“Of course, and please keep me updated when you know something more.”
Lucy heard the line go dead when he disconnected, but she was already looking for the contact info for Rachel’s sister. She’d heard her talk about her often, and knew they were close. If there had been a family emergency, Millie Chriss would know.
She finally found the info and made the call, and as she was waiting for Millie to answer, Lucy kept thinking of Rachel’s purse and car still on the premises. Even if it had been a family emergency, she would not have left the purse behind.
* * *
Millie had just dropped her husband, Ray, off at the airport, and was on her way home when her phone rang. When she saw the call was from Addison-Tunnell, she smiled. It was Rachel. She hit Bluetooth to answer for hands-free driving, and took the exit off the freeway to head home.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Chriss, this is Lucy Arnold, Rachel’s secretary. Do you have a minute?”
Millie frowned. God, please don’t let Rachel have been in a wreck.
“What’s wrong?” Millie asked, and then heard Lucy hesitate. It was enough to intensify her concern.
“Well, we’re not sure. Rachel had a big presentation this morning and didn’t make it into work. She didn’t call in, which isn’t like her. And she didn’t answer any of our calls. Was there, by chance, a family emergency?”
Millie’s heart sank.
“No. Nothing like that! Oh, my God. Have you checked her apartment? Maybe she fell!”
“I already had the manager do a wellness check. The apartment was locked, but she wasn’t inside. He said there was food leftover on the table from last night. Her purse and briefcase are still there, and so is her car. But she’s gone.”
Millie moaned. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God! Have you called the police?”
“Not yet. We wanted to check with you first.”
“Call them!” Millie cried. “Call them now. I’m on my way home. Keep me updated. If you haven’t heard anything by tonight, I’ll be heading that way tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, I will. I’m so sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”
“I’ll be in touch with the Dallas Police myself today. You’re reporting her as a missing person, right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lucy said.
Millie braked for a red light, her voice shaking.
“You report it, and I’ll follow up and deal with them.”
“I will,” Lucy said, disconnected and then called Russ Addison. Reporting a missing employee carried more weight when it was the boss doing the reporting.
Once she filled him in on what she’d found out, Russ Addison became concerned, as well.
“Yes, I’ll make the call to Missing Persons myself, and fill them in on what we know,” Russ said.
* * *
Back in Tulsa, Millie Chriss was in a panic, and too far away to help. She was in shock. She was nauseated, but too scared to cry. She wanted to call Ray, but he was on a plane bound for Seattle. She and Rachel were all the family each other had. She couldn’t lose her.