The Beta's Missing Mate (Book 16 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 11

Four Months Later

Ana stared up at the apartment building that had been her father's home since he'd split up with her mother fifteen years ago. The building was brick and non-descript, and it was located on the wrong side of town. She hadn't been there in over a year. Typically when she saw her father, he came to Saint Louis. They'd have lunch or dinner together and chat, mostly about what was going on in her life. Her father had told her many, many times that he was so proud of her and what she'd accomplished.

The fact that he'd disappeared two months ago wasn't completely shocking. Coleman Sawyer would occasionally go off the grid, but if he was gone longer than a month, he'd tell them, and he would pay ahead on his rent. When his landlord called her and told her that not only had her father not paid his rent, but that his cell phone was disconnected, she'd gotten worried. As odd as Coleman might be, he still kept in close touch with his daughters.

It had made Ana nervous, and she'd used resources she had access to in order to look for her father's phone. It was nowhere to be found, which was absolutely ridiculous. It had to be somewhere. The last known location was in southern Missouri, about an hour from his apartment, and then it had completely disappeared. Like it had been destroyed.

Ana knew it was quite possible that the phone had been destroyed, but why hadn't her father reappeared? She could think of three distinctive possibilities. One, her father had gotten himself in some trouble and had to disappear. Two, someone had kidnapped him. And three, he was dead. She truly hoped it wasn't the last one, well, she actually hoped none of them were true. But knowing what she knew about how horrible people were, she would rather it was number three than for him to be suffering somewhere at someone else's hands.

She'd wanted to come sooner, but she'd been unable to get away due to a huge case she was working on. It was all finished now though, the ends all tied shut into a pretty neat package. Bad people were behind bars, and good people wouldn't have to suffer. But she'd still done a bit of searching, trying to find out what she could about her own father's disappearance.

Ana had spoken to both her mother and her sister a few times about her father. Her mother had blown it off, saying that her father periodically did this and she wasn't worried about it. Ana wasn't fooled by that. She could hear the worry in her mother's voice. She knew her mother still loved Coleman Sawyer. She'd never dated anyone else.

She'd insisted though the Ana not alert the cops. That hadn't thrilled Ana, but her mom had said Ana was the only cop that needed to know. "Your father wouldn't like it, Ana. You and I both know that." Her mother wasn't wrong.

Ana had also spoken to her sister, Genevieve, who had been unusually tight-lipped about it. She had told Ana that she'd seen him two days before his phone had suddenly vanished. She hadn't said much about the meeting though, except that her father had brought her dinner, chatted for a bit and then left.

Ana had seen Gen last night, and had noticed a change in her sister. She looked healthier than she had in a while and like she'd gained some weight. Ana had been very worried about her sister, and afraid that she wouldn't make it until her twenty-fifth birthday.

Gen had spent most of her childhood sick, and the doctors hadn't expected her to reach adulthood. She had, but Ana always worried about her. Her sister looked worse and worse every time she'd seen her. But last night, she'd looked good. Exceptionally good. But she'd been quiet, and it made Ana wonder, though she hadn't pushed her into opening up.

She'd talk to her another time, and hopefully Gen would be okay for a while, though unfortunately, Ana doubted it. It made her heart ache for her little sister. Gen had it rough growing up. Constant doctor's visits, constant hospital stays. Their mother had homeschooled Gen as she would miss too much schooling if she was to go to a public school, and her immune system couldn't handle it. Gen hadn't gone to college either. Ana sighed softly.

She pushed the door of the apartment building open and walked inside to the landlord's office.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked, looking up from her computer. The poor woman looked exhausted and like she'd rather be anywhere else but there.

"Hi. I'm Ana Sawyer. I'm here to see someone about my father's apartment. Number 206," she said. She already knew the apartment had been cleaned out and his belongings put in storage. She'd spoken to his landlord a few times over the last few weeks since she was Coleman's emergency contact.

Her father had been an exemplary resident, always paying his rent on time, and quiet. He kept his apartment clean, and caused no problems to anyone else. His landlord had appreciated that, and actually knew Coleman quite well. He'd gone above and beyond what he needed to, and Ana truly appreciated that.

"Oh yes. Just a moment," the receptionist said, then stood and left the room.

Ana nodded. As much as she'd hated to, she had let the landlord empty out his apartment. She couldn't afford to pay his rent along with her own month after month. Not when he might never return.

"Miss Sawyer?"

She glanced up at the landlord. He was an older man in his late fifties with a bald head. He looked tired. "Yes? That's me."

"It's nice to finally meet you. I have the key for the storage unit right here. I'm going to need you to pay the bill on that."

Ana nodded. She'd expected that. They'd already discussed it. She quickly paid the bill with a small sigh. A part of her hoped her father was still alive, but the sane part of her doubted it. She just had no idea what had happened to him, but she was good at playing detective, and hopefully she'd be able to find out. Hopefully something in his things would lead her to him, or at least let her know that he was dead.

She followed the landlord out to the small storage area that was exclusive to the apartment building and watched him open the unit. She stared inside. Her father's entire life was stacked away in a few boxes. She sighed softly. "Thank you."

He nodded. "If you need anything, I'll be up at the office."

She nodded and turned her attention to the unit. Her father had never had a lot, and she knew most of the things in these boxes were books, and diaries. Her father had notebook after notebook stacked in his office, and she'd been brave enough once to ask them about them.

"My journals," he'd said quietly, looking them over. "Thoughts, notes, those types of things. It's silly but it calms my mind to write everything down."

She hoped that those notebooks might be able to help her figure out where her father was at, though who knew. He did, she supposed, but that wasn't helpful at the moment.

An hour later, everything was packed up in the truck, and she left the apartment complex and headed for the storage unit she'd rented. She didn't have room for her father's stuff at her own apartment and so she'd keep his things here for now. Once she'd determined if he was alive or dead, she'd be able to decide what she would do with his things. Hopefully move them into a new apartment for him.

She began the two hour drive home. She'd come yesterday to visit with her mother and sister, staying in her old bedroom, which her mother still kept for her. Ana was thirty years old and hadn't lived at home since she was twenty-two. Even through her four years of college, she'd stayed on campus except for the summer. She'd completely immersed herself into her studies, wanting to achieve top grades.

Gen's health had always been a bone of contention between her parents. She'd heard them arguing over it so many times, when she was young. Gen was six years younger than her, and still holding on strong. But Ana had a feeling Gen's health had led to her parents splitting up. She would never ever say that to her sister, but it was always there in the back of her mind. That and the sometimes unscrupulous things her father got caught up in.