Happily Forever After (Book 4 in Nemi Forever Series)

Chapter 25

Joe's POV

Day TWO

I woke up the next morning just before 9 & thank God, Nick was asleep next to me. He really needed to rest to keep up his strength. Who knows how long before Demi was found, if she was found. I mentally smacked myself in the face. I shouldn't say if. Quietly, I got out of bed to shower, then check for any progress downstairs. I found an officer sitting at a computer in the dining room. I stopped to pour myself some coffee. I laughed in my head at how these cops just made themselves at home. Coffee was made, there was a box of donuts on the counter as well an opened box of cereal. Dirty dishes were in the sink. What the fuck? I shook my head as I sat at the counter, watching the officer, tap at the keyboard of the computer.

"She's been missing for more than 24 hours. Do you guys have any leads yet?" I asked, swallowing the fear that she was gone & wouldn't be found.

The officer turned around to face me. His name was Stanford. Well his last name was Stanford. He sighed. "Are you the brother-in-law or the husband?"

"Brother-in-law." 

"So far, there has only been the letter in the mailbox. They are trying to get prints or DNA from it, but so far it's looking like whoever handled it, used gloves." He pulled his lips in. "I wish I had better news."

"Me, too." I replied before I set my coffee on the counter & headed upstairs.

When I got to the bedroom, Nick was awake, lying on his side, arm curled under his head, staring straight ahead at the wall. I cleared my throat & his eyes shifted to look at me, not moving his body.

"I was hoping when I woke up, this would have all been a bad dream." His voice was gruff as he chin shook from impending tears. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Do they have any leads? Did they find her & now they're on their way to get her?" His scratchy, but hopeful, voice made my chest tight. I wished I could say yes to any of those questions.

I swallowed hard. "No." It came out as a whisper.

Nick, keeping his eyes shut, broke down in tears again. He turned his head, after a moment, to bury his face in the pillow. His cries were muffled but I could see his body shaking, hard. I knew how bad he was scared right now. His wife has been missing for an entire day. His babies were with her. He had no idea if he'd ever see them again. He had to be afraid that he would never meet his son or daughter. I was so angry all of the sudden, it frightened me. Why the fuck wasn't this all over the news? Why weren't there search parties all over California? 

I sat down on the edge of the bed & let out a frustrated sigh. Nick's crying started to subside & he turned his head, his eyes open now. I rubbed his shoulder, gently. "Go take a shower. We're getting some answers today." I said in a voice that meant business. Nick nodded, then headed to the shower, as I went downstairs.

There were cops & FBI everywhere. Some were on their phones, others were checking out maps of the area. It looked like they were doing everything they could, but yet, there were no leads. Someone had to have seen something, right? I asked an officer who was in charge & she pointed to an FBI agent who was standing with Officer Petit, talking. The agent, his hair slicked back, was wearing a button up shirt, no tie or jacket, with snug grey slacks. In my head, I heard, "Book em, Dano." I was trying to hide my smile as I approached the gentlemen.

I stuck my hand out as I looked the agent in the eyes. "I'm Joe Jonas. My brother is Nick, whose wife is still missing."

He took my hand. "Agent Lombardi." 

"Italian. Awesome. Our mom is part Italian."

Lombardi nodded, a soft smile on his mouth. "How is your brother holding up?" His expression was sympathetic. Perhaps he was married, with kids.