I closed my eyes. I knew she would want to be a part of this. But putting my parents together would only slow us down. Crisis didn’t draw them together. They reacted like gasoline being doused on a flame until it was so out of control the fire couldn’t be put out. I couldn’t let them near each other right now.
“I think you need to stay at the house in case Garrett calls or shows up,” I lied. “Someone needs to stay in New Bern.”
“Then your father can stay and you and I will go look for him. He doesn’t get a say in this. Put him on the phone. I want to talk to him.”
“No, Mom. That’s not a good idea. He’s driving.”
“I don’t care, Emily. He doesn’t get to do this. He doesn’t get to decide to suddenly be a parent. Put him on the phone.”
My father glanced at me. He knew she was upset. He had predicted it. He had tried to avoid it.
“I’m not going to do that.” I sighed. “I’ll call you when we get to Garrett’s. I will.”
“I can’t sit here like this,” she pleaded. “He doesn’t have a right to search for him while I stay at the house.”
Sitting. Waiting. They were the actions that led to crazy. The futility of hoping the phone would ring. I knew it would tear at her. It would begin to corrode her sanity. But there was something practical about sticking with my dad. His lack of emotion. His ability to move forward when everyone else was paralyzed with emotion—that was what would help us find Garrett. My mother couldn’t get out of her own way. I didn’t have another option.
“Mom, please…” I knew anything I said wouldn’t matter. She’d be hurt I left her. She’d be angry thinking I chose my father over her to help. “Just, hang in there. I’ll call you soon. We’re going to find him. I love you.”
I hung up and clasped the phone in my lap. I waited for it to ring. She usually called back within minutes, but a few miles later she still hadn’t tried.
“Want to stop to get some coffee or something?” Dad offered.
I nodded. “Yes. Coffee would be good.”
He pulled into a fast-food restaurant, ordering two coffees at the drive-thru. At the window he took one and passed it to me. He drove off before I could ask for creamer. He didn’t bother to ask me.
I pressed the plastic piece in the lid to let the steam escape.
“What’s the last thing you heard from the police?” I asked. “What are they doing to help us?”
He turned down the classic rock station. “They aren’t doing a damn thing. They checked the local holding cells. That’s about it. He’s an adult. He lives on his own. He’s not a threat to anyone. That’s what they told me.”
Silver Alert requirements were different in every state. North Carolina had its own set of qualifications and Garrett didn’t meet the criteria to pose a threat to himself or anyone else. We were the only ones who saw the peril he was in.
“Have you called the hospitals?” I pushed.
“I did. But not past Carteret County.”
That was something I could start working on while we drove. I pulled up a list of medical centers in the surrounding counties.
“What about his bank account? His credit cards?”
My father shook his head. “I don’t have access to that stuff. I don’t know where he banks.”
If Garrett had used his cards it would certainly give us a location. If he had left Atlantic Beach, it might make it harder to find him, but it would be something. Right now, we needed a starting point.
“Did you call Kelly?”
“No. Why? Why would I call her?”
“Dad, she’s his kryptonite. You didn’t try her?”
“What the hell does that even mean? Kryptonite.” He slowed as we approached a red light.
I sighed. “They had the most toxic relationship. If she came back to town, or reached out to him it would explain why he ran off suddenly.”
“What was so toxic about it?” He pushed on the gas as the light turned to green.