“Wait… Like what?” he prompts.
Oh my God, I’m going to kill the man. Does he not realize what it means to have Lizzie missing from her place and here? More than likely, she’s headed for my place and or already there. In one scenario there lies safety. In the other…
I growl at the man.
“Look, I don’t have time to get into her dad’s accident right now. I need to—”
“Oh shit…” Jace shakes his head. “You really have no idea.”
No idea about what?
“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that, Walker? You need to get out of here and find her. Like, now.”
“That’s what I’m trying to—”
“Lizzie was here,” Jace finally explains.
I freeze.
“She what?”
“She was here. This morning. She picked up a few of her outstanding checks, said she was going to take her friend to the airport. After that, she was headed to yours.”
I feel my heart turn to lead in my chest. Right there. It turns into metal. I can no longer breathe.
“To mine?”
“Yeah. She said that she was picking up some of her things. I didn’t think much of it. I figured she was just moving into her own place now that it’s livable and all—”
“Get to the point, Jace!” I yell.
“I saw her with a guy!” Jace yells back. “At the beginning of this week. I don’t know if it was this David friend or not. I assume so but I’ve not seen him before. I did, however, get an eyeful of the guy at her place seeing as he was in his underwear. Dude was hugging Lizzie up on her balcony. I figured Lizzie’s not the sort to fool around, you know, so there must be some innocent explanation for it all. But given what you just said, Caleb, dude they were talking about New York. About Lizzie going there.”
New York?
I’m still recovering from the detail about the underwear, and Jace knocks me with a double-hitter. I blink the rain from my eyes, feel my extremities turning numb. I try to piece together what I’m hearing.
“She’s leaving?” I cry.
Jace looks sympathetic.
“I mean, not today. Like I said, she was headed back to yours after seeing her friend go but, given what you just told me, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s on the next flight.”
Oh no…
“I need to go.” I need to leave. I need to find her. I need to fix this colossal mess before it goes beyond the point of fixing.
“Yeah, you do. You need to find her so you can—”
“Jace, she’s on foot.”
“She’s on what?!”
“I have the truck. If she’s going back to mine, she’s walking.”
“She can’t be out in that alone.”
Yeah, no shit.