Grace Taylor Hudson

Chapter 21

<Katy POV>

My teeth sunk into my bottom lip as I prepared to face my daughter. 'I have a lot of explaining to do,' I thought to myself, but all I really wanted to do was hold and comfort Grace; maybe she could do all of the talking and I'll listen. That's something that doesn't happen very often.

I relaxed a little with my new plan and opened the door to our suite.

"Grace?" I paused when I heard nothing then took a few steps past the small kitchenette. Grace was probably asleep or had her headphones in.

When I made it past the 'living area' I began to panic. She wasn't on the couch or in the bathroom; hopefully she'd be asleep on the king sized bed.

"Grace," I called a little louder before stepping into our separate bedroom. No response.

I swiveled my head around to make sure she wasn't hiding from me in a corner. Something caught my attention and it wasn't my daughter. Her white iPhone was sitting on the TV stand right next to her headphones.

I tensed then relaxed a little knowing she probably hadn't gone farther than the hotel lobby. She never left anywhere without her phone or headphones, especially if she planned on running. I walked out of the room and back towards the elevator to check the lobby.

Sighing, I pulled out my phone and called John who picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Grace wasn't in our room. Do you think you could look on your floor while I check the lobby? I don't think she went very far."

"Sure. I'll call you if I find her. I love you," his voice had a nervous edge to it which surprised me. Normally he'd be the calm one and I'd be panicking.

"Same. I love you too." As soon as I hung up the elevator opened it's doors to the semi-busy lobby. People were checking in, relaxing in the oversized chairs, and just milling about. My heart began hammering in my chest when I realized just how serious this could be if Grace wasn't anywhere in the hotel. How could they act so normally when my world may not be the same?

"Shit," I mumbled to myself when I realized I was highly recognizable at this moment. There was nothing shielding my made up face, but hopefully my outfit would be casual enough to buy me ten minutes.

I looked to my left which led to the gym and laundry area and decided to check the treadmills for Grace. Windows lined the wall making it easy to take a glance in and see that there wasn't a soul in sight. Same for the laundry room.

I made my way back to the busier area of the lobby and casually looked around for Grace. I saw a brown bun and began making my way towards it. When I was five feet away the person stood up and turned around. I glanced at her outfit then swerved the opposite direction when it didn't match Grace's running short and t-shirt ensemble for today.

I looked around again before giving up and walking back to the stairs since a large group of people stood in line for the elevator. My phone vibrated in my hand yanking me out of my panic.

I didn't even look at the caller ID. "Is she up there?" My breathing became ragged when John took a second longer to respond than he should've.

"No, I didn't see her," his voice was gentle and sympathetic.

"Call security. Have them run tapes or something. She ran, John. She ran and I'm the reason why. Grace is probably lost somewhere, it's raining harder and I don't know what the fuck to do. I can't think about what could happen." I sat down in the stairwell while salty tears dripped down my face and off of my chin.

"Where are you, Katy? We'll go talk to them together." I had to reassess my surroundings since they'd started spinning.

"I-I'm in the st-st-stairwell for the s-s-second floor." A silent sob shook my body.