Page 192 of Bleeding Hearts Duet

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Brighton

There was a churning feeling in my gut that I hadn’t been able to rid all morning. Ryland had been gone for six hours, and I hadn’t heard from him. Not even a text.

It wasn’t like him.

There was something about this business trip that had me biting my nails, and it wasn’t just Robert and Alex Burton. I didn’t have a good feeling about any of this, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.

I paced anxiously across the back porch, cell phone clutched in my hand as I waited for Ryland to respond to one of my many worried texts. He didn’t leave me hanging like this. Ever. I knew something was wrong.

My cell phone rang, and my heart swelled with relief. But then I saw that it was Nicole.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Brighton, have you seen the news?”

My hand trembled as I walked into the house and looked for the remote. “What news?”

“Turn on Channel 7,” she said.

I flipped through the channels and saw a photo of Ryland and Alex Burton plastered across the screen, along with a scrolling headline beneath.

Alex Burton and Ryland Bennett strike business partnership

What does this mean for the future of technology?

Rivals unite as one…

“No,” I whispered. “That isn’t right. Ryland would never make a deal with him.”

“That’s the same thing I thought,” Nicole murmured. “Something weird is going on.”

“I haven’t heard from him since he left this morning,” I croaked. “I’m really scared, Nicole.”

“I’m sure he’s just in flight, Brighton,” Nicole tried to reassure me. “He probably wanted to get back home to you as soon as possible.”

I accepted her words because I needed to believe them. But in my gut, I knew it wasn’t true. Ryland always texted me before his flight.

“Hey, look,” Nicole said. “Why don’t I grab some cupcakes and come over so we can work on the nursery until he gets home?”

“Okay,” I agreed.

I didn’t want to admit how much I needed her there. My nerves were completely shot, and I was grateful for the distraction.

“I’ll be there in an hour,” she said. “Just sit down and relax until I get there.”

Five o’ clock came and went. Then six, and seven, and nine. It was now eleven at night, and there was still no word from Ryland. Nicole and I had worked on the nursery and gorged on cupcakes and takeout. But I couldn’t hold back my fears any longer.

“I have to call the police,” I said. “There’s something wrong, Nicole. I can feel it.”

She bit her lip and nodded. “I think you’re right, Brighton. Maybe they can track his phone or something.”

The police arrived an hour later. The officer that showed up didn’t seem all that invested in Ryland’s whereabouts and even went as far to suggest he was probably just drunk in a bar somewhere.

I told him that wasn’t Ryland. That he never did anything like this. I told him about his meeting with Robert Burton and Alex’s threat from the charity gala months before. The officer jotted everything down on his notepad and explained the procedures. It hadn’t been long enough to officially declare him missing, but given who he was and the previous threat, they were going to look into it.

And then they just left me there. Alone and without my husband.

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