The Lifeguard Hates You (Completed)

July Chapter 20

Four days.

Rory went missing four days ago and she still hadn't been found.

I have a theory of course, I have a feeling I know exactly where she is.

You see, the Cougar's Paw Bar was almost always run by Coog, sure he had servers and bar tenders and his occasional days off, but he was always there if he could be.

He had been gone for the last four days. The exact same amount of days Rory had been missing.

I had asked about it right away, but as he wasn't there I had to ask one of servers. They didn't know much. Something to do with a family issue, but Coog never married and well... I haven't ever heard of him talking about extended family.

See, my theory is that, with nowhere else to turn, Rory went to the only person she had left. She and Coog had always had a strange relationship, I wouldn't be surprised if that was where she went.

I obviously brought my theory forward to the cops who said they were still looking for her and they had merely shrugged me off. Let them do their jobs, they had told me. But it didn't look like they were really looking for her. I mean... there was no search going on in the woods and no flyers or ads or anything so what were they really doing?

It was because of the indifference of the local cops that I took it upon myself to drive up to Coog's cottage to see him. Either to suss out if Rory was there or to pay his respects for whatever family drama he's going through and to offer support. That was a normal thing to do, right?

I park my car beside a flashy Audi Q8 which was in turn parked beside Coog's red pickup truck and I can't help but wonder who exactly he has visiting him. The people around here didn't really drive Audi's, unless they were heading to Polished Elite. I didn't think that Coog really hung out with that kind of crowd.

Ignoring the worry that crept up into my stomach that I was interrupting an actual family drama, I made my way up to the door and knocked before I could lose my nerve.

The probably is that the person who opens the door isn't Brandon Coogan at all.

The woman in front of him is terrifying.

She's not even that tall. But she has an air about her that makes me cower in front of her. She has her dark brown hair swept up in a severely tight bun. And she's in this professional black knee high dress. Her dark brown eyes are setting in a dark glare trailing up and down me and from the look alone I know I'm not up to whatever her standards are.

The only thing that seems off with the whole look is the fluffy plaid slippers on her feet.

She continues to stare at me in that cold, appraising manner before suddenly switching it up. A warm and kindly smile stretches over her lips and seemingly animating her face, taking away all the sharp edges that initially worried me.

But I am not at ease at all.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"I uh... I'm looking for Coog..."

She makes a grimace at the sound of his nickname, a sort of wrinkling of her nose in disgust. So clearly she didn't have a good relationship with him.

"He's detained," she says quickly. "If you want I can give him a message."

"I..." I start and I realize even though I know that he's there I won't be able to get past this woman to see him. "Look, our friend went missing. She uh... she goes to his bar all the time, we all do, but uh... she's been gone for four days and the cops can't find her and we just... well they know each other Rory and Coog. I was just wondering if she was here, or if he saw her?"

The woman's patient smile turns up into something a little bit more dangerous. She's out of the doorway, shutting the door behind her and then standing in front of me before I can register that she's moved. She crosses her arms over her chest to glare up at me. She's tiny, I have to literally look down on her, but it's me who feels small under the weight of that terrible gaze.

"And this girl, Rory, why are you looking for her?"

That's a weird question to ask me. Maybe she knows Rory, maybe she knows that Rory is there. "She's my friend. I work with her..."

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"Earth and Body," I answer and she suddenly freezes. She is eyeing me in a different light, as if she was expecting a different answer. And that hardness once again leaves her as she softens to me. But only barely.

"Ah, I see," she murmurs. "Well I can tell you that I've been here for the last three days and there hasn't been anyone here but my family and Brandon."

I feel myself deflate at the news. It occurs to me that she could be lying to me but I don't know why she would. She didn't know about what was going on with Rory and me, she probably didn't even know Rory in the first place.

She takes in my crestfallen face and puts a hand to my arm. "We'll keep a look out for her, okay?" she offers. "If we see her, I'll tell her you came, okay?"

I nod my head to her and she slowly pushes me towards my car. Once I turn away, she immediately disappears back into the cottage. The door closing behind her in definite click and I was once more left alone.

Later that night Bryce called to tell him that the cops had found Rory with her family.

Apparently, they had gotten a call from them, having heard that she was reported missing. Apparently, they even spoke to Rory, but they wouldn't give them her location, just that she had gone home to Toronto, which made no sense because I knew her parents worked abroad and were always traveling. So there would be no way she had actually gone to Toronto.

She didn't actually have anyone there.

And there was no way to contact her family. They weren't her emergency contact. For some reason her emergency contact was Coog and he wasn't picking up the phone.

Bryce then asked if I thought that was where she went, as he planned to drive down to talk to her.

I told him what I know about her family and that if Rory had really gone to her parents, she was abroad, not in Toronto.

We just had to face facts. Neither of us were going to get to apologize to Rory. Not in person anyway.