Page 50 of Wicked Bite
I hung up. What happened to her? She’d never leave her phone or me. We were like sisters. I couldn’t explain it, but we just knew stuff about each other. Moods, feelings, desires, it was all just known between us. We didn’t have to voice it or say anything—we just knew. And right now, I knew she was not okay. I felt it in my bones. Sirens wailed in the distance, and I held still. I didn’t know what else to do or who else to call. I had to find Piper. Something was very wrong.
A police car screeched to a halt right next to me and two officers ran out of their car and approached me. The one on the right got to me first. He was taller with dark hair and pale skin. “Ma’am, did you call 911?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He looked me up and down then looked around the park. “What’s your name?”
“Dice, my name is Dice.” I held her phone close to my chest. “My friend is missing. Something happened to her.”
He held his hand out to me. “Do you know where your friend is now?”
“No.” I shook my head. Was he kidding? Anger flared in my chest. They were supposed to help. “That’s why I called you.”
“Calm down.” The other cop, the shorter one, strolled up in front of me. “How do you know she’s missing?”
“She didn’t come home last night, and I just found her phone on the street.” I held it out to them. “I found it here.”
The taller one glanced down at it. “What’s your friend’s name?”
“Piper Santiago.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty-three.” I watched them both just stand there. “Are you going to do anything? Write this down? File a report?”
They shared a look, and I grew impatient. “What? Someone say something!”
The shorter one sighed. “We can’t file a report. For at least three days.”
“Three days!” She was gone now. “It’s already been like twelve hours. Three days is too long. We need to start looking now.”
“Ma’am, there is nothing we can do right now. But you can come down to the station and fill out a missing persons report in two more days. That’s how long we have to wait by law.”
I had to find her now! Not three days from now! Anyone could be anywhere in the world in three days. “She could be dead in three days. Please help me. I’m begging you. She’s not like this. She doesn’t just leave. I swear it.”
“I hear you. I really do. But there isn’t anything we can do. Come to the station in a few days and bring a picture, then we can get the report done.” He handed me his card and without thinking I took it.
Was he for real? “B-but she needs help now.”
“Frankly, you don’t know that. She could just be out with another friend and lost her phone.”
I shook my head. “She doesn’t have other friends. I am it.”
The taller one waved it away. “I bet she turns up at some point.”
“Probably dead, no thanks to you!”
They didn’t say anything just started backing away and heading to their car. I took a step toward them then froze. They really weren’t going to do anything to help us. To help her. My panic turned into anger and determination. If they weren’t going to help me look then I would do it my damn self. And I knew exactly where to start. With the last person who saw her, that sexy Brit . . . Grayson Shade.
CHAPTER TWENTY
GRAYSON
“We can stay no longer.” Sav stood over me with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Then leave me.” I’d been sitting here for two days. Two days of waiting for Piper to rise was one day too many, but I had to wait. Something in me just couldn’t leave her here. The thought was abhorrent to me. Leaving her . . . no.
“You cannot remain. If she hasn’t risen in twenty-four hours she’s not going to.” Sav squatted down beside me. “You’ve been in the elements for days, without food, water, or blood. You cannot carry on as such.”
