Page 113 of Sing with Me

“How could there be nothing?” Diehl was upset, and he couldn’t hide it. The security videos on the giant screen in front of him in Malik’s office clearly showed no strange activity for the past twenty-four hours.

Mom grunted. She was sitting in the office chair next to Diehl. They had been watching a series of sped-up videos, a presentation from Malik Metcalfe, only one of the best chief of security whom Dad could hire.

It was only four o’clock, but it felt like the longest day of Diehl’s life—longer than the day Isobel died. After this meeting with Malik, he wanted to catch Skye before she went home to shower and pack for her trip. Diehl didn’t want her to go to Miami Beach for the week, but this wasn’t her problem. Besides, he wanted to show her that he was a leader, not a follower.

Somewhere at the back of his mind, he knew she was concerned about him personally. He made a decision not to be intoxicated anymore—for the sake of his children.

So help me, God.

Diehl took Skye’s advice to keep busy at Malik’s operational center. He was in a familiar setting—an office—and he felt like a CEO again, meting out orders and getting status reports. He was in his zone. How did Skye know exactly what to advise him?

And earlier today, she knew what he needed to cure his hangover so he could be functional today. Where he had fallen short, she picked up the slack—keeping in touch with Ivan’s search team to filter information for him so that he didn’t get overwhelmed while having a headache.

Now he felt better physically, though his body was still tired. He hadn’t gone back to the gym since he arrived on St. Simon’s, so perhaps it was time for him to get in shape again. Exercising was also a good stress relief.

If something fatal happened to his daughter, he knew he was going to break.

“Remember a few years ago when Aunt Ella was here?” Mom asked. “She walked right out of Brooks Cottage and nobody saw her. Something is wrong with this multi-million-dollar security system, is all I can say.”

Diehl shrugged. “What kind of planned operation was it that could abduct a twelve-year-old right under our noses?”

“That’s the same question Detective Jeong is asking,” Malik said. He worked the mouse on his laptop that mirrored the bigger screen hung on the wall. “So we went back through the tapes for the entire evening, from the time Elisa had her dinner—the last time we saw her—through this morning when Ethan ran to Mrs. Brooks’s bedroom to tell her that she was gone.”

“And that was shortly after eight o’clock this morning.” Diehl recalled that had been around the time Skye found him asleep in his living room.

However, Skye also said that the notification history on his phone said Ethan had been trying to call Diehl for a couple of hours.

Diehl retrieved his phone. He checked the notification history, which he thankfully hadn’t cleared. The first time Ethan texted him was at 6:07 a.m.

Ethan had known that Elisa was gone at least two hours before he let his grandma know.

His first thought, as nefarious as it might be, was whether the Bishops had anything to do with it. Diehl had disclosed his concerns about his in-laws to Detective Jeong.

“Have you given all of this information to Detective Jeong?” Diehl asked.

“Yes, sir.” Malik looked up from his laptop. “As soon as we put it together, they had it.”

“Put what together?” Mom asked.

“Data from all fifty-seven cameras around the Brooks Cottage, ma’am.”

“And the guest house?” Diehl asked.

“That too. Also no activity there. The Bishops stayed in.” Malik drew a deep breath. “Frankly, we’re stumped.”

Mom made a face. “Interesting timing they have, to come here just in time for Elisa to disappear.”

“Mom.” Even as Diehl said it, he had felt the same.

“We’ll keep an eye on them if you want us to,” Malik said.

“Go back through the tapes again,” Mom said. “Maybe you missed something.”

There they went, talking abouttapesagain in the twenty-first century. Mom and Malik were not the same age, but they seemed to speak the same language. Dad too.

Mom and Malik chattered away about tightening security around the perimeter. She was afraid she might get abducted.

“Don’t worry too much about that,” Diehl said. “Not only does the cottage have security, the entire island does too.”

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