Chasing Carly (Holiday Cove 3)

After a shower, change of clothes, and dinner for both myself and my new four legged friend, I settled onto the couch. I positioned Lady—who was fast asleep—on one leg, and balanced my cell phone, face up, on the other. I tried to lose myself in a police show on TV but couldn’t stay focused long enough to follow the storyline as I obsessively checked my phone every few minutes.

Where was Alesha? And, even more importantly, where was Carly?

20

Carly

* * *

“Alesha, this is the last time I’m calling. I don’t even know if you’re listening to these or not,” I paused to sigh and recollect my wandering thoughts before the voicemail system cut me off again. Like it had the last three messages I’d rambled through. As I’d hunted down clues, I’d continually called Alesha. When the phone finally kicked on and let me record a message, I’d shot off three in rapid fire. An hour had passed since the last one, and still, nothing.

“If I don’t hear from you in the next hour, I’m calling Dad and I’ll tell him that you stole the money. I don’t want to do that, Leash, so please don’t force my hand. Wherever you are, just come back—”

Beep.

“Shit!” I slammed the phone down on the counter. “Why the hell can’t I have more than thirty seconds! Bastards.”

I dialed again but hung up when the voicemail kicked on again. There was nothing left to say.

I set the phone down—this time gently—and braced myself against my elbows. I muttered to myself as I rubbed my fingertips into my temples.

After discovering that Alesha was gone, I’d circled back through town, casually asking if anyone had seen her. I made up a story that she’d left her phone at The Siren and that was why I was looking for her instead of calling her.

After the fiasco last summer, I didn’t want everyone thinking she’d gone off on another bender. That had been embarrassing enough to last a lifetime. I knew I shouldn’t care what other people thought—but it was impossible not to.

Especially in a small town like Holiday Cove where everyone was in everyone’s business. After that whole thing had gone down, I’d received nothing but feedback. Some people gave me long lectures on proper parenting—hello! She’s not my kid!—and I got pitying looks from everyone else.

No, I didn’t want to go through that again. Until I knew—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that she was actually in trouble, I wasn’t going to alarm everyone to organize a search. Clearly she’d left of her own volition. Last time I checked; kidnappers didn’t let you take the time to pack all your belongings into suitcases before the abduction.

But once she was on her own, anything could happen. The incident with the attacker in the bushes came back to me and a swirl of nausea rolled through me and I shuddered at the possibilities.

I knew he was already locked up, but I had to find her before someone like him did.

Memories of that night made me long for Nick and his strong arms that held me close and kept me safe. He’d be able to chase away the pounding fear that flooded my veins. Why had I been such a bitch to him on the phone? He only tried to help and I’d all but hung up on him.

“Carly, when are you gonna learn?” I asked myself, my voice barely above a whisper in the empty coffee shop.

I straightened and reached for my phone. It was time to let go of some of my pride.

With swift fingers, I flicked through the screens and found Nick’s name in my contact list. Right as my finger moved to tap the call button, a new call interrupted, flashing Alesha’s name on the screen.

“Oh!” I gasped and hurried to answer. “Alesha? Alesha, where are you? Are you okay?”

“Carly—” her voice sounded faint. Far away. “I—I’m so sorry.”

She was crying. The realization made my heart plummet into my chest. The anger I felt slid to the back of my mind as my protective big sister mode switched into drive. “Where are you?” I repeated, keeping my voice steady.

“At the Dolphin…”

“The Dolphin?” I wrinkled my nose. The Dolphin was a rundown motel about an hour up the coast, right off the highway. It was a seedy place that attracted all the wrong kinds of attention.

My mind swam with questions. I wanted to know how she got there. Why had she left in the first place? Why she was there? Who she was with, if anyone? Everything was coming rapid fire, but I sucked in a breath and forced all the questions down. “Alesha, I’m coming to get you, okay?”

“Carly, I…I think something’s wrong.”

Like a rocket, my heart launched from my stomach back up and lodged in my throat, pounding at the hollow between my collarbones. “What do you mean? Is someone there?”