Page 35 of Every Broken Piece
What. The.Fuck.
I stare at the email in shock. Hell, no.
No.
This is unacceptable. She’s not going to just disappear from my life with no explanation.
I dial Tess’s number, but a mechanical voice tells me the number is no longer in service. This is different from what I was getting last night. Last night my calls went straight to voicemail. Something happened between Sunday night and Monday morning. Something bad.
I dial my new VA’s number.
“This is Jacob Davis.”
“It’s Gabriel Strong.”
“Mr., Strong, it’s a pleasure to speak to you. I assume you read my email.”
“Where’s Ms. James?”
Jacob hesitates for the slightest moment. “I’m afraid Ms. James no longer works for TaskGenius. I was assigned to you as of this morning. But please don’t worry, I’ll be up to speed in no time—”
“Where’d she go?”
Another pause. “Uh, well. I’m not sure. I wasn’t given any specifics.”
“And who’s your manager?”
Another pause. “Mr. Strong, I understand that this is an abrupt change—”
“You understand nothing. I need your manger’s name and phone number.”
This pause is longer than the others. I rub my aching eyes. I didn’t sleep at all last night. Visions of Tess being drugged, of going home with a strange man, of being in some sort of accident, haunted me every time I closed my eyes. My reaction is out of control. I know that. I also know this stems from Cara’s death, the not knowing where she was for hours.
Except there will be no police knocking on my door this time because no one knows of my relationship with Tess. I need answers and obviously Jacob Davis doesn’t have them.
“Look,” I say, trying to soften my tone while adrenaline pumps through me and my gut is telling me things I don’t want to hear. “Mr. Davis, I’m sure you’re a fine virtual assistant, but Ms. James and I have projects we’re working on. I don’t have time to get you up to speed. I need to find her.”
“But she doesn’t work for the company anymore.”
“Doesn’t matter. Now, what’s your manager’s name and phone number.”
He rattles off the name, Mary Vaughn, and her phone number.
I hang up without saying goodbye, knowing I’m being a dick, but I don’t care.
I dial Mary.
“This is Mary Vaughn.” The voice is no-nonsense, older, professional.
“Ms. Vaughn, this is Gabriel Strong.”
I can hear her quick intake of breath. “What can I do for you, Mr. Strong.” Interesting that her tone went from professional to cold.
“You assigned me a new virtual assistant. I prefer to work with Ms. James, so if you could assign her back to me.”
There’s rustling on the other side and the click of a door like she’d stood up to close her office door. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Mr. Strong. Ms. James doesn’t work for us anymore.”
“Why?”
