Blessing in Disguise (MM)

Chapter Forty One

NICK'S POV

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I've never drowned in work like I have today. The whole weekend I tried to work my way around the incident last week but today–it's a whole new ball game. Robyn is in and out of my office like a flash of lightning, attending a hundred different meetings and talking to the police about our stolen data.

I get five minutes to myself in the late afternoon. I lounge back in my chair and look up at the ceiling blankly. My phone buzzes on my desk and I groan. I sit up to retrieve it to find a notification from my bank. I glance at the time to find that it's approaching four o'clock.

My thumb swipes down on my notifications but I don't find one saying that Aris and Elodie are home yet. I frown at the screen and go through my security app to find the house empty and no motion at the front doorbell.

I immediately ring Aris in case anything is wrong but when I do, it goes straight to voicemail. That's unusual. He normally answers every time. I clear my throat and try again but I'm met with the same result.

A low noise escapes the back of my throat as I bite down on my lip. A wave of discomfort hits my sternum–something doesn't feel right. I call Luca next and he answers on the third ring.

"What's up, Nick? I'm at work." He says.

"Have you seen Aris?"

Luca pauses. "Aris? Not since this morning. Why?"

"He's not answering his phone and they're not back from school yet." I say with a shallow breath to try and calm myself down. "I'm a little concerned."

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe they're just running late?"

I gnaw on my lip painfully. "Maybe."

"I'll let you know if he gets in contact," he says. "I gotta go."

"Thanks," I murmur before putting the phone down.

I try Aris' phone one more time and I still have no luck. A curse word falls from under my breath and I stand up. Robyn enters my office at the same time. "What's wrong?"

"Aris is not answering his phone and they're not back from school yet."

She checks her watch and sighs. "Give it fifteen minutes, if they're still not back then go to the school. I can cover everything here."

I grab my coat. "I'm going now," I shake my head, unable to let go of the dread that rushes through my body. "I've got a bad feeling and I don't want to sit around doing nothing. This isn't like Aris and I refuse to wait it out."

"Okay," she blinks at me. "I've got it covered. Go."

On the drive to Elodie's school I try to think through the possibilities that Aris has taken Elodie out to the park or to the ice-cream shop again and he's not answering because his phone is on silent.

But he's always reliable. His phone would never be off.

I run a hand down my face and try to drive as sensibly as possible but I can't shake this feeling. This isn't right. This really isn't right. Once I pull up outside the school, I barely rip my keys from the ignition before I run into the empty playground. All the children are gone.

My feet rapidly carry me towards the reception where I slam a hand down onto the desk by accident. "Mr Nash, can I help you?"

"Elodie," I exhale through a breath. "Did Aris come here to pick her up?"

The woman blinks at me once and then twice. "Uh. I am unsure."

"Unsure?!" I yell at her. "I need to know where my daughter is. I need to know if Aris came to collect her. Can you look at CCTV? I need to know now."