“Don’t tell me to calm down. Phoenix is your responsibility and now he’s gone.”
“Call the hotel and ask someone to check his room. He might have overslept.”
My stomach knots. Or worse.
“Already did.”
Shit.
“I’ll find him,” I assure him, sounding way more certain than I feel.
“Fine. I’ll tell the opening act to stay on longer, but so help me God, Lennon. He better be inside this venue within the next forty-five minutes or you’re fired.”
Before I have a chance to respond, he hangs up.
“I’m sorry.” I grab my purse off the kitchen counter. “Phoenix is missing.”
Mrs. Palma and her husband exchange a worried look. “Does this happen often?”
“Let’s just say it’s not the first time.”
That does nothing to ease their concern, but I can’t focus on that because I need to track down a rock star.
I sprint out the front door. “Be back later.”
Hopefully.
Hillcrest is a small town, so there aren’t many places one could wander off to…and virtually zero where a person of his caliber can hide.
After confirming with the hotel three different times that Phoenix isn’t in his suite, I drove around town looking for him.
I checked our high school, Gram’s old house, a few local hangout spots, some convenience stores, his favorite burger place…even Obsidian.
But he’s nowhere to be found.
Pulling over on the side of the road, I bang my head against the steering wheel. It’s been forty minutes since Chandler called and the odds of me locating Phoenix within the next five are beyond bleak.
“Think, Lennon. Think.”
He seemed fine when I saw him earlier today. Demanding and pushy as ever, but otherwise normal.
Chewing my thumbnail, I mentally run through his day.
He got off the bus, came to my house uninvited, played my song for my dad, and then left so we could talk…
Oh god.
Shifting my car into drive, I peel off the side of the road.
I’m losing my father piece by piece, but I was and still am fortunate to have an amazing dad.
Phoenix has no idea what it’s like to have an amazing parent period.
He has no idea what it’s like to be loved or cared for.
The small dose he had was ripped away when his mother abandoned him in favor of her other kid.
Hearing my dad tell me how proud he was of me might have triggered something within him.
It’s dark out by the time I pull into Bayview trailer park.
Dirt and gravel crunch under my tires as I make a quick right and pass the line of run-down trailers.
My heart drops to my stomach when I pull to a stop in front of the one at the very end—which is somehow even shoddier than it was four years ago.
The muscles in Phoenix’s back flex underneath the dark fabric of his shirt as he braces both arms against the front of the trailer…almost like he wishes he could use every ounce of his strength to shove it out of his life for good.
Nerves coil in my belly when I notice the large bottle of vodka on the porch, but when I get closer, I see it’s unopened.
For now.
The dilapidated staircase creaks under my feet as I make my way up the steps.
“Go away.”
His voice is rough, the warning in it unmistakable.
I don’t know what to say. I’m not sure there’s anything to say.
I just don’t want him to be alone right now.
I reach for his hand, but he yanks it away like he’s been singed.
“Get the fuck out of here.”
This time there’s a lethal edge to his voice. A threat.
One I choose to ignore.
“Goddammit,” he roars when I make no move to leave. “Are you fucking deaf? Get in your goddamn car and go.”
“No!” I scream back, finding my voice.
An icy laugh leaves him, chilling me to the bone. “You’re just as stupid as my mother is then.”
I flinch when he punches the trailer.
“Phoenix.”
His sneer is downright homicidal. “What’s the matter, baby? Are you scared? Or do I have to kick things up a notch so you’ll take a fucking hint and run?”
I stand firm. “Do your worst.”
Maybe that makes me an idiot considering the state he’s in, but I trust my intuition.
He won’t cross that line.
With a growl, he rushes toward me—a wall of rage ready to pummel me into the ground—but at the last second, he turns and kicks the trailer instead.
“Fuck off.”