"No, he sent a text message" I repeated for the fourth time to the ignorant detective on the other side of the phone.

"Okay, and he didn't specifically state it was from him?"

"No, but does that matter? You can clearly tell it is!" I argued, tempted to put the phone down and take her phone down to the station and show them.

"Look, Sir, I understand you're frustrated but-"

Click.

"Wait" I interrupted.

"Sir?"

I heard the door make a noise, and instantly panicked. There was no way he could get up here, but if he did somehow, I wanted to make sure he didn't hurt Daisy.

"Sir?" The detective shouted down my ear in a firm voice, but I ignored him as I tiptoed towards the door.

As I rounded the corner from the kitchen, I noticed that no one was here.

"I'll call you back" I ended the call, and left to find Daisy.

As I dashed through the apartment, searching every room, I realised she wasn't here.

"Daisy!" I yelled, panic rushing through my veins.

I ran outside to the balcony but it was empty too.

"Oh fuck!" I growled, as I raked my hand through my hair.

I bolted for my coat. If she left she wouldn't be far, I thought. Why would she go out on her own? I told her to stay in. I knew she wanted to look for Hope, I should of let her. Guilt surfaced making me panic even more. She was most likely pissed at me for not letting her look.

I stormed towards the door when a familiar vibration sounded from a distant. Daisy's phone.

I searched the lounge - as that's where she last was - and saw it stranded on the side of the sofa. She'd left it here?

My mind couldn't understand what was happening. Why would she leave her phone?

I clicked the unlock button, and on the screen appeared another text message from what we presumed was Robert. I knew her password - it was Hopes birthday - so swept my fingers over the numbers as quick as possible.

It wasn't until I read the above message that my brain understood.

"Oh no" I breathed.

"Fucksakes! Daisy!" I screamed, running towards the door, while simultaneously typing the detectives number on my phone. I decided the one from earlier would be more use than the one that interviewed her, he was a complete waste of time.

"Detective? It's Nate you remember me and Daisy from earlier?" I begged, as I repeatedly pressed the elevator button.

The twenty seconds it took for the ding! And the doors to slide open, felt like an eternity. Luckily the cart was empty.

"Yes, I remember, everything okay? Has she be-"

"No" I started, taking a deep breath from my panicked state. "He text. And she's gone to meet him"

"Who? Her husband?"

God I hated how he had the privilege to be called that.

"Yes"

"Okay does the text say where?" I could hear him shuffling around in the background, hopefully getting ready to find her.

"Leighway Bridge" I said as I pushed past people waiting outside the elevator. The sound of 'ow!' And 'do you have no respect?' From the various elderly people completely flew out of my head.

"Okay listen, you need to stay there. Your presence could cause him to hurt her" he demanded, but I wasn't listening. If I didn't get there he would take her.

"No, he'll take her."

I searched around me to see if she was in sight still. When I didn't see anything I jumped in my car.

I chucked my phone on the passenger seat, not forgetting to place it on loudspeaker first, and swerved out of the parking garage.

"Sir, you need to listen to me. This is important" I could hear the closing of doors, and the start of an engine on his side of the phone.

"All we can do is bring him in for questioning. He's not breaking the law in anyway by meeting his wife. You need to understand that if he is dangerous, we need to do this the right way"

Fuck that. Fuck the law. I don't doubt he'll hurt her either way. What he did to her when they lived together was beyond evil. You should never treat a person like that, never mind your wife. He will do more than just hurt her if she goes to him, and I can't live without her.

My stomach churned, and nausea lingered in my gut. The thought of losing her forever, him laying a finger on her, or hurting Hope, was too much. The anger that followed made me put my foot down, and I was already doing sixty in a thirty zone.

The detective had kept talking but I hadn't listened. I knew he was right in some way, but I wasn't accepting it. I had to get to her.

"I'm here" I declared as the car came to a stop, and I jumped out, forgetting to close the door.

There was no one here. The bridge was empty both sides.

"There's no one here" I shouted, turning my head left and right to keep checking.

"Right I'm here, I can see you"

I ended the call as I saw the detective pull up behind my car.

"Did you check under the bridge?" He yelled, as he jogged towards me.

Shit. No.

I raced towards the railings, but most of it was just water.

"How do we get down there?" I asked.

He twisted his face up as he thought about it. He was wearing grey joggers and a black T-shirt which meant he must have been at home, not at the station.

Getting impatient I said, "well?!"

"I don't think you can really"

Was he for real? Why did he suggest it if-

He thought there was a possibility she could be in the water. Drowning. My head started to spin, and I felt myself almost lose balance.

No. She couldn't be.

I looked over one more time.

"Look, I'll call it in" he said, walking off. I heard him briefly talking on his radio in the car as I searched the water. I'm not sure what I was looking for. Anything. But then I didn't want to see anything, because that would prove she was in there.

My heart bled with fear as my eyes moved over the soft waves. The sound rushed through my ears. It sounded like the beach at night. My hands were gripping the rails so tight my knuckles had turned white.

"Come on baby where are you" I thought as I shut my eyes to take some deep breaths.

When I opened them something floated across the water below me. It took a while for my eyes to adjust, squinting as I searched for whatever it was.

It was pink. Baby pink.

Just like Hopes blanket.

"Detective!" I yelled, refusing to take my eyes of the floating item in the water.

"Yeah?" He asked, stepping beside me.

"That looks exactly like Hopes blanket"

He looked at me with a strange look before asking, "are you sure? It could be anything"

"No, she has a blanket just like that." I insisted.

Maybe I was letting my thoughts get out of control, but he was the one who insisted them being down there in the first place.

"Okay, I'll call backup. Hope is missing so they should be down here ASAP"

I stood and prayed that they wasn't down there. That it wasn't Hopes blanket. That Daisy would magically appear with Hope in her arms, and we would be safe together. I held back the anger and tears that started.

Please baby come back to me. Please be safe.

———

☹️