ChapterNine
Devon hated everything about the day. The reporters and funeral, the stress of Ted’s arrival. Her mother’s disappearance.
From start to finish, it had gone from bad to worse to catastrophic.
Now she sat on the porch watching the moon rise above the Atlantic, unable to sleep because it was dark and her mother had yet to be found.
Where was she? Where had she gone without her purse? Money? Bank cards? A vehicle?
Don’t go there.
She didn’t want to consider the horrible alternative, but seeing as how they’d found the rental car at the end of the island… how could she not?
Ted had contacted her once he’d landed to ask if she’d been found, but the conversation had been short and stilted. His handler assistant had called regarding a problem with the gala’s security, and Ted had quickly said goodbye. It was another smack in the face after a devastating day.
“Can’t sleep?” Oz said.
She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t heard the door open, nor Oz’s exit onto the porch.
“You should try to rest, Devon. Logan might have something that would help.”
She inhaled a shuddering breath and shook her head. “No. I don’t want to take anything. Not when I don’t know where she is. If she’s… still with us.”
Everyone had eventually made it back to the house after searching their designated locations and the surrounding areas. The island wasn’t that big when it came to spots her mother liked to visit, but it seemed Rayna Jo had simply vanished.
No one wanted to leave the house in case there was news, but the Babes had eventually gone home since they literally lived within shouting distance, and they’d taken their adult children with them to sleep in real beds before the search resumed again in the morning.
Logan, Michael, Oz, as well as Tessa’s daughter, Lily, had all stayed behind to keep Dara and Devon company during their vigil, while Zoey had to work.
“Scoot over,” Oz said.
He’d said the words while literally on the way down to the couch beside her, and she scrambled sideways to give him more room. Oz had brought a throw with him, and once he was settled, he draped the blanket around her to combat the cool night breeze.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Look, Devon—”
“Don’t say it.” She shook her head, unable to look at him. “Don’t say everything will be okay. You don’t know that.”
“You’re right. I don’t know that. But I do know no matter what happens, you will be all right. You’re not alone.”
But she was. Ted was gone, unable to be there due to his campaign schedule and fear of scandal. And if she didn’t report to work tomorrow morning as she was supposed to, her career would be gone as well.
She had about a twelve-hour window left given the time it would take to get back to New York.
But how could she do that with her mother missing and so much going on here? What kind of person would that make her?
Her stomach knotted up like a giant stone. She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them tight.
Her mother wasn’t the only one losing everything. Or feeling the devastating fallout. Mama, come home.
Oz inhaled and exhaled loudly.
“Don’t freak out when I do this,” he said.
“Do what?”
He shifted on the couch, the arm at her back from when he’d wrapped the throw around her firming as he scooped her up and transferred her onto his lap.