Angel Academy

Chapter Thirty-five

Caleb's POV

I tried her phone again, but she still didn't answer. My heart was pounding in my chest as I dialed the hospital's number. A woman answered, her voice formal as she said, "Rogue Valley Hospital, how may I direct your call?"

"Hello," I said, my voice all business, "my name is Officer Caleb Adams. I'm calling for a Niamh Harvey. She's supposed to have visited an Addaline Symonds. Do you know if she ever made it in?"

I could hear her fingers typing, and then her voice, "No, sir. No one by that name had signed into the visitor's papers since she was in last visiting her mother, Beth Harvey."

I nodded, a scowl on my face. I was afraid of that. "Thank you," I said before hanging up. According to Corbin, he left her at the park over five hours ago. She hadn't called anyone it seemed since she last called me, which was weird for Niamh because she tended to call to talk to her boys, or at least hear them, every hour or less.

I was beginning to panic, but, being a cop, I knew that sometimes people just didn't do the things they normally did. Corbin did say she was stopping somewhere else on the way to the hospital, so she might be taking a bit longer there than normal. It's what most of our missing persons reports are about, and the people are usually found within minutes of the call.

I sighed. The part of me that cared for Niamh, the Caleb part of me, was terrified she was lying in a ditch somewhere because some dumb-ass accidentally ran her off the road. Or she could be kidnapped. Or God knows what could have happened.

It was night, so I had settled the boys into their beds, and Corbin was passed out on the couch snoring. I wanted to rip him off the couch by his hair, and beat the shit out of him. His "best friend" was missing, and he was taking a damn nap. Who does that?

I continued to pace, my heart pounding in my chest, trying to calm myself. She's fine. She's fine. I know she's fine. My breathing is rapid as I walk around the living room, my anxiety rising with each minute that I don't hear from Niamh. If she isn't home in ten minutes, I promised myself, I'm calling it in.

I waited very impatiently for ten minutes, and when those minutes were up, I dialed the station's number.

"Hello?" It was Kobe.

"Kobe?" I asked, my voice high and tight.

He was instantly alert. "Caleb, what is it?"

I shook, trying to calm myself down. "It's Niamh; she's missing."

"Are you sure? How long has she been missing?" He instantly went into "cop mode".

"We didn't notice until an hour or so ago, but she's been missing for five hours or more. No one can get a hold of her, and she never stopped at the hospital like she said she would. Kobe, I don't know where she is."

Kobe cleared his throat, obviously surprised by the way I was acting. "Caleb, calm down, bud. I'm sure she's just running a little late." Five hours late? I thought angrily. Now I knew how the people who call in panicking feel. I was terrified, and it felt like Kobe was just writing off my fear as invalid.

"Kobe, please," I begged, my voice sounding a little crazed.

Finally, Kobe sighed. "Fine. We'll send out a search party."

Hours passed until Kobe called me and asked me to meet him at the cemetery. When I arrived, everyone looked at em glumly as I walked by. I found Kobe at a grave marked

Jeff

No one thirty years from now is going to care about when I was born or when I died

Good man

In front of the grave, sat a black shoe, and a black and white cell phone. My hear raced as I picked up the cellphone and turned on the screen. A picture of Heath and Dean light the screen, and my hear sinks.

Kobe comes up behind me and sets a hand on my shoulder. "It looks like a struggle happened," he says calmly. "I don't think she left of her own free will."

I fall to my knees in front of this grave, my heart sinking as tears filled my eyes. Niamh was missing. Someone attacked her, and I wasn't able to help her. I couldn't believe that I had let her down so horribly. I quickly left the scene, forcing myself to leave Niamh's things behind, and raced to Niamh's house. Corbin sat up when I slammed the door, and looked around sleepily.

I stalked up to him and punched him in the face. He fell back off the couch with a thud and quickly stood up.

"Man, what's your problem?"

"You are!" I shout. "Niamh is missing. Someone attacked her!"

Corbin's face pales. "What?"

I nodded, my fists clenched painfully. "What did you do?"

Corbin shook his head. "Me? What-"

I shook from the anger that I felt. "You wanted Heath so damn bad, didn't you? So you got rid of her."

Now Corbin was angry. "Don't be ridiculous! I've been here with you the entire time!"

I advanced on him again. "Get out of her before I beat you within an inch of your life." Corbin fled the house without another word.