Page 82 of My Lord
An hour passed, and then another. More police arrived, a thorough search of the house was undertaken, and Mackenzie and I sat in the garden.
“I can’t just sit here any longer. I feel totally useless,” I said. Mackenzie nodded.
I called security at my apartment block; they’d accessed my flat with the master key to see if she was there. She wasn’t but I wanted to look for myself, I needed something to do.
“We’re going to check my apartment again. I doubt she’s there, but we can’t sit here anymore,” I said.
“Okay, but someone is going to have to stay while we finish up here,” Burrows said.
I looked at my watch. “How long do you think that will be?”
“No more than half an hour.”
We agreed to wait, as frustrating as it was. We couldn’t just leave the police in her house, hoping they’d set the alarm and lock up after themselves. I paced, Mackenzie drank endless cups of black coffee and I was sure the handshaking was a combination of fear and caffeine overdose.
I scrolled through my contacts. “Mother, I’m sorry it’s late and this is a rather strange question, but Gabriella hasn’t visited you, has she?” I asked. It was a long shot but that’s all I had left.
“No, darling. How is she? Is everything okay? I’ll tell you who has, Duncan! He came by just a few hours ago.”
I wasn’t interested in Duncan in that moment. “I’m sure it was lovely to see him, but I need to go. I’ll call tomorrow.” I cut off the call without waiting for a goodbye from her. I then texted in case she worried all evening.
Sorry the call was cut off rather abruptly. I’ll call tomorrow to explain but if Gabriella does make contact in any way, could you let me know? Alex.
She was quick with her reply.
Of course, darling. I hope nothing is wrong with you both. She’s a lovely girl.
The police started to pack up. It seemed there had been a partial print found on the perfume bottle. When they’d left and we set the alarm and locked up, it was gone midnight.
“Are you okay?” Mackenzie asked.
I shook my head. “I couldn’t tell her that I loved her. Now, if something has happened…”
Mackenzie placed his hand on my shoulder. “Nothing has happened, Alex. We can’t think that way. Let’s get going.”
We took a taxi back to my apartment. The lift seemed to take forever, and it was with some trepidation that I opened the apartment door. Nothing had changed since I’d left it, and, of course, Gabriella wasn’t to be found.
“Anything out of place?” Mackenzie asked. He picked up a shirt of Gabriella’s.
“No, well, not that I can tell. That shirt was there this morning.”
I opened wardrobe doors, she had shoes and work clothes, a couple of casual outfits all hanging. Her toiletries were in the bathroom, her hairbrushes and styling products on the dressing table. My stomach started to physically ache. I sat heavily on the bed and covered my face with my hands. I felt exhausted and so very scared. I’d never felt fear like it. It gnawed away at my insides. Mackenzie sat beside me; he placed his arm around my shoulders. Before I realised, a tear dripped through my fingers.
We were beyond the,she’d forgotten the time,orshe’d met up with friends and forgot to callstage. It was early hours of the morning and there was no doubt something had happened to her. We went back to the office, checked with the pool car manager again to be told, for the second time, she hadn’t taken a car that day. We walked from the office door and in the direction of the store, knowing she’d never have walked that distance. We stopped a couple of taxi drivers to ask if there was a central system to track a missing person that may have used a taxi. He offered to share her photograph, but I was reluctant. I did agree to take his details and we’d have the police share anything necessary.
Eventually we just sat on a bench watching the river.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Now I think we go back to her house and we wait,” he said.
If she was going to go anywhere, I would have hoped it would be home, but I wasn’t sure. I sighed, feeling all the anguish knotting my insides. “Don’t you think, if she’s in trouble, she would come to me or you?”
“I don’t know. I’m not thinking straight. Let’s go to mine. You have security, if she shows up they can contact you.”
We drove to Mackenzie’s house and we watched the sun rise.
Chapter Sixteen
