Legally not being family made it even harder to enquire about her whereabouts. I still distinctly remember walking into the police station to file a missing person report, and they wouldn’t help me, purely because Alanna and I were both homeless. I can still hear their voices mocking me, telling me I was wasting taxpayer resources on someone who probably just left me. Over time, I’ve started to wonder if perhaps they were right.
After all, she was released a few weeks after her car accident, but she never came back to me. The accident report states that her phone was run over, but she memorized my phone number in case of emergency, so why did she never call me?
I look up at the sound of my office door opening and frown. Amy, my secretary, never walks in unannounced, especially not a day like today.
She looks at me with wide eyes, a hint of panic in them. “Boss, I have an update for you on Project Sunshine.”
My heart sinks as a thousand fears fight for dominance over my thoughts. I’ve had recurring nightmares about Alanna, and the ones in which I didn’t find her were better than the ones in which I did. In some of my dreams, she simply just walked away from me, from us, agreeing with the words I uttered that day, words I’ve regretted every second since. In other dreams, I don’t find her alive at all.
Amy smiles, her eyes twinkling. “We found her.”
I rise from my seat, my eyes widening. Alanna. “Where is she?” I grab my suit jacket and slip it on, intent on finding her this very second. It’s been five years. Five years without Alanna. Alanna’s disappearance was Sinclair’s Security’s first project, and it has to date been our only unresolved case. Until now.
“Where is she?” I repeat, my tone harsh.
“Astor College,” Amy tells me.
Astor College? That’s only a few minutes from my office. “How is that possible? We were monitoring student applications, weren’t we?”
Amy nods. “We were, but she didn’t show up in any of our systems. Boss… the only reason we found her is because she applied for a job at Sinclair Security. She specifically applied to join the Ψ division. We were able to use her job application details to figure out her location.”
“What is her current exact location?” I ask. I just need to see her. The rest can wait.
Amy glances at her watch. “Her lecture is finishing in about ten minutes, after which she’ll head to the coffee shop on campus where she’s currently working part time. I will email you the exact location.”
I nod and rush out of the office, impatience dictating my every move. I’ve waited five years to see her again. I can’t wait a second longer. I don’t care where she’s been or why she’s stayed away, so long as I get her back in my life. I need some answers, but more importantly, I need to see for myself that she’s safe.
I walk into the small coffee shop on campus in a rush, nerves thrumming through my veins. Alanna is nowhere to be seen as I pick a seat in the back, and I glance at my watch impatiently.
Nostalgia washes over me as I listen to the chatter around me while I wait. How many times did I politely refuse to come here with my classmates because I couldn’t afford the coffee here? I studied at Astor College for four years and today is the first day I’ll be having a drink here. This is the college Alanna always wanted to attend, so I shouldn’t be surprised she ended up here. What I don’t understand is why she never even called. Why did she walk away from me without a word? What happened after that accident to make her stay away?
A shiver runs down my spine all of a sudden, and I know. I just know Alanna walked in. My lips tip up into a smile as I turn toward the entrance, my heart in full fucking disarray when I see her. Long dark hair, the same hazel eyes I’ve always loved. Five years, and there she is.
Alanna pauses halfway toward the barista counter, her eyes finding mine, and everything fades away. Fuck. It’s been so long since I looked into those beautiful eyes of hers, and every feeling I thought had dimmed comes rushing back in full force. She still looks the same, except a little older, a little more mature, a little more beautiful.
She smiles tightly, not a single hint of recognition in her gaze as she walks past me. It isn’t until she disappears into the staff room that I realize the only reason I caught her attention is because I stood up in the middle of a crowded room, staring at her. She didn’t seem to recognize me at all. What the fuck?
My heart twists painfully as I sit back down, my thoughts reeling. How could this be? She looked at me as though I’m a complete stranger. Something isn’t right. That wasn’t just her ignoring an ex. She didn’t recognize me.