Margot dropped down into her chair and put her head in her hands. God, she hoped he was alright. She could not bear the thought of something happening to him. Margot realized in that moment that she was completely and totally in love with Quinn. He was everything to her and she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life - to marry him and have kids with him. She was going to smack him for putting her through this! Zut!
Chapter 9
Margot sat at Henry and Claire’s kitchen table along with the rest of Quinn’s family. Quinn has been missing for two days now. Anne Beck was a complete mess, doing nothing but cry since she showed up. Margot was extremely distraught herself, feeling like it was her fault; if she would have just stayed with him, then he would not be missing now.
“It’s time to get the police involved,” Henry Sr. said from where he sat at the head of the table.
“I agree,” Raelynn chimed in. “Since he took his car, wallet, and phone, and there was no sign of a struggle, we can assume that he left on his own accord. The police can at least try to track him down by seeing if he used any of his credit or debit cards.”
“I just can’t believe he would do this to us!” Anne cried.
Henry Sr. placed his hand over Anne’s to try to comfort her.
“Mom, he’s messed up right now. He’s not thinking clearly,” Henry murmured from where he sat at the other end of the table, his head in his hands. Margot noticed that Henry was taking this whole situation very hard, and she wondered if it had anything to do with what was said between them when Henry drove Quinn back to their parents’ house the other day.
“Should we postpone the wedding?” Raelynn asked quietly and wrapped her arms around Sebastian’s waist.
“No, we’re not postponing anything. He’ll show, he knows how important this is to me,” Sebastian said firmly.
“Where could he have gone?” Christian asked, shaking his head.
“Maybe he’s just driving around aimlessly,” Sebastian suggested.
“Then why wouldn’t he call us?” Anne snapped.
Margot jumped along with everyone else when Henry slammed his hands on the table, as he shoved up out of his chair. “BECAUSE HE WAS RAPED!” Henry bellowed.
“Henry,” Claire said a bit startled, her eyes wide from her husband’s outburst.
“The one thing he said to me in the car after I picked him up was that he was lost and he didn’t know what to do with himself. He just needs time to pull himself back together, dammit,” Henry said more calmly before stalking out of the room. Claire went after him.
“I agree with Henry, but I still think we should see call the police, and at least try to track him,” Sebastian said.
Everyone agreed. Raelynn was the one who called since a friend of hers worked in the missing persons department. They said to give them a few hours to come up with something. Everyone decided it was best to go home and wait, and Raelynn promised to call when she found something out.
Margot went back to her condo and crawled into bed. She was so exhausted since she has not slept well since realizing that Quinn was missing. She could not stop the tears that streamed down her face. What if something has happened to him? What if he got drunk like he did when they were in France and got alcohol poisoning? He could be dead in a ditch somewhere for all they knew! Eventually the crying and exhaustion pulled Margot into a fitful sleep.
~~~~~
Quinn sat in the main living area of the bed and breakfast that he checked into three nights ago. He sat in an extremely comfy leather armchair by the bay window that looked out toward the lake that was behind the large Victorian house. He sipped his black coffee and just stared, his mind racing with over a million different things.
He left a few nights ago shortly after Margot left his apartment. He didn’t plan on it; it was just a split second decision. He didn’t leave a note or call anyone because he knew what they would do if he did, they would try to talk him out of going, or someone would want to come with him. After what just happened, he couldn’t blame them, they probably thought he would try to kill himself or something. Quinn just needed to get away for a while so he could get his head back on straight. He wanted to move on with his life, he just couldn’t figure out how. He has been living with this burden, this torment, for so long that he wasn’t sure how to live without it.
Helen, the wife of the owner - who had to be in her late seventies or early eighties - sat down in the matching leather chair next to him. She sighed heavily as she sunk down into the chair.