by Sophia Gray
“Bye! Call me later!” Nadia felt foolish reminding him again to call, but she still felt the fear of his disinterest lurking in the back of her mind. It was a whirlwind kind of romance that she never wanted to end. Once inside she looked out the window and saw that he was still in the parking lot. Not understanding, she thought it was sweet the way he lingered.
“You are quite taken by this young man.” Evelyn said from behind the counter.
Nadia turned to look at her with the smile still on her face. “Yeah, he’s really wonderful.”
“Well, just watch yourself that you don’t do anything foolish, like run off and get married, or get yourself knocked up!”
Evelyn looked like a woman that would bake cookies for her grand-children and knit blankets for babies, but in reality she cursed like a sailor and told everyone exactly what she thought. Nadia wasn’t sure what to think of her when she first came to the Book Nook, but now she loved her almost as much as she loved Kristen. She leaned over the counter and clasped her hands together.
“But, Evelyn, don’t you think our children would be just gorgeous?”
“Hmph!” Was the only response given as Evelyn snapped the day’s paper open.
Just for fun Nadia straightened the baby and maternity book section. Her fingers grazed the spines of the books and she began to blush with the realization that she and Foster’s passionate kisses were going to lead somewhere further and her only experience had been disappointingly terrible. What would he think?
She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Evelyn was still reading her paper, and walked silently to the health section. There was only one book about sex there and she reached for it as the front door chime announced a customer. Nadia let her hand drop and wandered to the front of the store. The two men that walked in looked like nothing she had ever seen before, yet somehow seemed familiar.
One was at least 6’9” with broad shoulders and shoulder length brown hair. The other was shorter by at least eight or nine inches, but he had a stunning face and jet black hair pulled back in a ponytail. His hair seemed to catch and reflect light from all angles. Some women would have fallen at his feet begging to be noticed. He seemed so familiar that Nadia found she was staring. The man looked at her and she immediately dropped her eyes. If Foster had been there he might have misconstrued her staring for interest. The man seemed to glare at her, but didn’t hold her gaze long. He and his companion moved down the center isle without any purpose. Nadia gave them an appropriate amount of time before approaching them.
“May I help you?”
The two men turned and looked at her. The tallest one seemed to not care she was there, but the other one glared again. Neither spoke right away. Finally the tallest one broke the silence. His voice was an infusion of sound that penetrated her skull and caused a desire to weep with joy. She was sure if she could hear an angel’s voice it would have sounded like that.
“We’re just looking. Thank you.”
Nadia nodded once and went to sit beside Evelyn behind the counter. She had stopped reading the paper and was openly watching the men. After a few minutes they both moved to the front door to leave.
“Ya’ll come again.”
“I’m sure we will.” The tall man said again.
Once they were out the door, Nadia let out a sigh of relief and Evelyn whistled through her teeth.
“Yes, sir, if only I was ten years younger!”
“Whatever, Evelyn!” Nadia laughed and moved from behind the counter.
“What? Okay maybe fifteen years younger. What’s that saying, ‘the older the berry the sweeter the berry’?”
“No! It’s ‘the blacker the berry, the sweeter the wine’!”
“Oh. Okay, wine becomes more valuable and is smoother the older it gets! Whiskey too! So there!” She let out one of her famous cackles, and they spent the next hour debating why older women were good for younger men and vice versa.
****
When Nadia left the store she was at her vehicle before she realized that she had left her book bag inside. She ran to Evelyn’s car and told her she had forgotten it.
“Just use your key, honey. I trust you!”
Nadia waved goodbye to her and unlocked the store. She didn’t bother with lights and was back outside within a minute. She turned her phone on and saw that Foster had texted ‘I love you’ an hour after her shift began. She smiled and began texting him back when something hit her hard from behind, knocking her to the ground. She immediately began kicking and screaming. A set of strong hands pulled a sack of some kind over her head. She felt something smash into the back of her head, sending her mind into silence and darkness.
Everything went black.
****
Foster was napping in his room when his phone woke him up. He felt disoriented for a moment and looked at the clock, letting out a curse. He had slept past the time when Nadia was getting off from work. He held his phone and saw that she had texted him. When he saw the words, he felt confusion that melted into fear. The words on the screen were, ‘I lov’. That was all. His mind raced.
Foster tried to call her but the phone immediately went to voice mail. He knew the only time her phone would ever be completely off was at work. Book Nook was closed. It was almost nine-o’clock at night. He threw on his shoes and grabbed his keys. He descended the steps in such a hurry that he nearly fell flat on his face when he missed the last two steps. His father and Darren were just leaving the barn as he ran from the house. Foster saw them and ignored their questions about where he was going. His mind was in multiple places at once. Once in his car, he slammed on the gas. He took several deep breaths and choked on the dust that his tires were churning into the air. He was driving far too fast for the dirt driveway, but it didn’t matter; soon he was barreling sideways onto the asphalt.
When he arrived at the shopping center, he didn’t see any other vehicles except Nadia’s. His legs felt like rubber as he stepped out of his truck. Her car was empty and he ran to the front window of the store, hoping she was in there. He tried her cell phone again and cursed when the voicemail came immediately on. He stood in front of the store and put his hands on top of his head and slowly scanned the parking lot. He was looking for anything out of place.
His eyes caught something part way down, near Nadia’s car. As he approached, his hands began to shake. Nadia’s phone lay there, and the back and battery were a few feet from it. She had dropped it. Why didn’t she pick it up and how did her partial text even get to him?
****
Foster knocked on the front door hard enough to rattle the entire doorframe. The porch light came on and Crystal’s apprehensive face appeared when the door opened. She stood back and Foster walked in. He could feel sweat running down the sides of his face.
“Is she here?”
“Nadia? Well, no, we figured she was with you.” Crystal’s eyes became large when Foster held out the broken cell phone to her. Frank walked into the room and took it from him. They stood in silence for just a moment. The only sound was Foster’s ragged breathing, then the room became a flurry of movement as Crystal yanked the receiver from the phone on the wall and she called Kristen. Frank began barraging him with questions about when he saw her last. Crystal hung up the phone and said that Kristen hadn’t seen or talked to her.
Foster sat on the edge of the couch and listened to Frank talk to the police, and then shout that it didn’t make sense to wait a full twenty-four hours to file a missing persons report. He slammed the receiver down and came to sit heavily in his recliner. Crystal was crying silently. On impulse Foster stood and touched both of them. They instantly felt peace run through their bodies.
“I’m going to find her.” He said quietly and left the house.
****
When Foster arrived back at his house, he saw Darren and their father sitting on the front steps. Anger, so vile and foreign to him, rose from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head, and he left the vehicle in
one fluid movement. His lithe body was at the top of the stairs and on Darren faster than Darren could respond. Foster grabbed him and threw him off the porch and onto the ground; jumping down and landing on Darren’s chest. He grabbed Darren’s hair at the top of the scalp and yelled in his face.
“Where is SHE?”
“What are you…” was all Darren could respond before Foster smashed the back of his head into the ground.
Foster felt hands grab him and pull him to his feet. Julia and Walt came to either side of Foster and he fought against the calm feeling that was being transferred to him. Robert held a hand out to Darren and turned slowly to look at Foster. Foster had a sick feeling that his father for once felt a little pride for him since he had displayed violence.
“What is this about?” he asked in an even voice.
“Nadia is missing. I found her broken phone in the parking lot where she works. Her parents have no idea where she is.” He took a deep breath and pointed a shaky finger at Darren.
“I know he knows where she is!”
The air grew silent as the entire family turned to its gaze to Darren.
A faint hint of smile slowly crept across his face…
To be continued
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