The Long Haul

Chapter 6

Jay had finally wrapped up all they could for their current case around 10:00pm and headed home. He hadn't heard from Alex since her last text about coming back late, which was concerning, but he had convinced himself that she'd already be home waiting for him because it was past 10pm by the time he arrived. She'd probably shown up a while ago, put on a movie, and forgot to text him. A simple explanation.

To his surprise, the apartment was empty and there was no sign that she'd been back yet today. After pacing the living room to gather his thoughts, he pulled out his phone and called Alex multiple times - each one going straight to voicemail. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Alex, the warehouse didn't have cell reception once they had moved further into the building, so all his calls and text were going unreceived.

The panic started to settle in. Will and Jay always had to be back by 10:00pm growing up, so the fact that Alex was still out and her phone wasn't working sent a shiver down his spine. He went to grab his car keys, ready to set off into the streets to find her, but he realized that he had no freaking idea where to even start. He didn't know her friends, had no idea where she hung out, and didn't have a clue where to start. He paced the room some more, before he gave in and called his girlfriend. "I think Alex is missing," he blurted out as soon as she picked up.

"Wait, what? What happened?" Erin immediately put down the glass of wine she'd been drinking in case she had to go back out tonight.

"She hasn't come home yet, and I think her phone is off or it died. None of my calls or texts are going through," he said matter-of-factly. Jay was managing to keep his tone calm and stoic, but Erin could feel the concern slipping through his hard demeanor.

Erin took in the information for a minute, not wanting to jump to any conclusions like Jay already had. "What time was she supposed to be home?" she asked.

Jay pulled the phone away and glanced at the last text message he'd received from her. "She just said that she'd be back late. And it's late."

"What time was her curfew?" Erin pried more, trying to get all the facts to see if this was truly a missing person or if Jay was spiraling out of control.

"Curfew?" Jay instantly replied without much thought.

"Yeah, curfew. Doesn't she have one?" Erin questioned, truly confused. For being the control freak that he was, she was surprised that he'd overlooked such a major detail. In reality, this was all so new to him that he had no idea that he needed to confirm a curfew. Their father had never let him or Will stay out past 10:00pm at this age, so he had assumed she would abide by the same rules. What he didn't know was that their father gave up caring what time his daughter came home, and just let her do whatever she wanted.

"I thought it was 10:00pm, but I didn't....we never discussed it," he admitted.

Erin took a deep breath before grabbing another sip of wine. "Then this isn't a missing person, Jay. She's probably out being a teenager who is taking full advantage of not having a curfew and her phone died."

"But–," he tried to interject.

"No buts. Now go grab a beer and try to relax. If she's not back by midnight, call me and we'll figure something out, okay?" Erin had to be the voice of reason, so Jay didn't call in the whole team on this.

Jay ran his hand down his face from exhaustion. "Okay. Midnight. But no later."

She smiled, happy that she'd convinced him to take it down a notch. "Now if you need something to keep your mind off this for the next two hours...I could come over and be your distraction," she whispered seductively.