Frame It And Pin It

Chapter 2: Doubt It

Seated on Alex's king sized bed, I looked through Diane's phone, searching for clues of what might have happened to her. I had observed Alex all the way back to his apartment and it was obvious he was uneasy. He had been tapping on the steering wheel the entire ride back and his lips had been pulled downward in a frown. I suspected that he had lied to me about Diane calling him but I wasn't completely sure that he was. What reason did he have to lie about talking with her?

I searched through Diane's text messages and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Next, I searched through her call logs. Michael had called her seven times before and after she had called me. Why would he have called her if she was at home with him? I scratched my head, trying to figure out exactly what any of this meant. Could Alex have really lied to me? Did he know what had happened to Diane? Was that why she insisted I didn't tell him where she was?

"What is going on?" I muttered to myself in confusion. My heart had began to pound in my chest for some reason. I was starting to get scared by the entire thing. It didn't make any sense that Diane would have called Alex to help with game planning at four in the morning. The next game wasn't for another week, so, they had plenty time to set everything up. Where had Alex really gone? Was I just being paranoid?

I took a deep breath and continued to look through her logs. She had called a number right after she had called me. There was no name attached to it but the call had lasted about ten minutes. I contemplated dialing the number to see who it was and if they knew what had happened but then I hesitated. Was I doing the right thing? I had watched enough murder shows to know bad things happened when people stuck their noses where it didn't belong. Then again, I couldn't sleep until I knew Diane was safe. She wasn't my friend but she was still a human being who needed my help. I had to help her.

I tapped on the call button before I could change my mind and pressed the phone to my ear, listening to the dial tone. After three rings, someone picked up.

"Hello? Diane? Are you okay? You really scared me. Where are you?" A masculine voice answered.

"This isn't Diane but I'm trying to find her. I think something happened."

"What? What happened?" He sounded panicked.

"I don't know. I'm trying to find out, maybe you can help me. Who are you?"

"I'm her brother, David. Who are you?"

"I'm a friend. Uh, Faith." I fibbed. I had no idea of this David was really her brother and I wasn't stupid enough to give him my real name. I wasn't going to blindly trust a stranger. "Did Diane tell you what was going on?"

"No. All she said was that she was in trouble."

"For a whole ten minutes? She must have said more than that."

"Why are you with her phone?" He switched the topic and I gave a sigh before answering. He didn't trust me either and I understood that it was only normal to but if I was to find Diane, I needed all the information I could get. Maybe I could get him to trust me if I told him everything I knew.

"She called me to pick her up and when I got there she was gone. Her phone was lying on the floor."

"Jesus. What has this girl gotten herself into this time?" He cried out. "Do you know anyone that might know of her whereabouts? Anyone at all?"

"Um, I-"

"Jolene?" I heard Alex call from the hallway and I immediately cut the call and hid the phone underneath my pillow. I slid down in the bed so I was in a lying position, then, I pulled the duvet over my face and pretended to be asleep. I took in deep breaths to calm my uneven breathing as I heard the door open and I closed my eyes tightly as Alex got closer. "Jo?" He gently nudged me and I gave a small groan, pulling the duvet closer to myself.