24 Hours

"Nothing?" Cassie asked, standing outside a hotel where Punk came walking out from.

"She's not there." Punk shook his head as Cassie folded her arms.

They'd spent the night stopping at nearby hotels and motels to see if AJ had perhaps checked into one for the night. All they wanted was to know she was safe. The note just wasn't good enough for them to settle.

"I don't think there's much more we can search, unless we start going further out but… we can't check everywhere." Cassie said.

"I'll phone some hotels further out." Punk nodded to her, "She hates driving." He shook his head, "I just don't understand this."

"There's nothing she's running away from?" Cassie asked.

"Well nothing she's told me about." Punk shook his head, "I mean she's had a rough couple months at work. I know she's had a lot on her plate, but… just this morning she was saying how excited she was about going on vacation next week." He said, "And then she decides she needs a break on her own?" He questioned as Cassie sighed.

"Well… what else can we do? At least she left a note." Cassie shrugged.

"Yeah with no information." Punk said, "C'mon, Cass. Don't act like I'm being insane here. Your mom doesn't do stuff like this. I mean when would she ever ignore you if you called her? She'd always pick up the phone." He said as Cassie nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Cassie said worriedly, "But what are we supposed to do? She's left this note so… I mean I can't report her missing. Plus it'd have to be twenty-four hours."

"Why would she leave the note at her work anyway?" Punk questioned, "I mean… why would she assume I'd come to her work?"

"Well if she didn't plan on coming home tonight she probably knew you'd come into the office to look for her." Cassie said, "Is any of her things missing at the house?"

"No, nothing. Her bag is still packed, the one she planned to take on vacation next week. I don't think she came home. I think she had to have gone straight from the office." Punk said.

"Does she have any friends at work you could talk to? Maybe someone saw her stressed earlier on in the day." Cassie said. She was trying to think of things that would potentially make sense of this.

"Well she doesn't really have work friends. But I did speak to her assistant earlier when I was at the office. She said that your mom was fine." Punk shrugged, "I'm literally doing my best to think of anything I might have done or said that's maybe pissed her off. But even then, we've had big fights and she's still never taken off before." He shook his head.

"Hey, I'm sure it's not your fault at all. You said she was fine this morning." Cassie assured her.

"She was fine." Punk agreed.

"Look, I wouldn't worry about it. I know it's not like her but… she left a note, she's obviously in her car so it's not like it's been abandoned or anything, you said that some of her work things were gone from her office so maybe she's gone to catch up on some things." Cassie said.

"She would never do that, though." Punk sighed to himself, running his hand through his hair, "What if she's with him?"

"Who?" Cassie shook her head.

"Joey." Punk nodded, "What if… what if she's with him?" He asked as Cassie shook her head.

"Really?" Cassie raised a brow, "I know you're worried and paranoid but do you really think she's off with some other guy right now?"

"I don't know, Cass. She doesn't do this kind of thing. She likes being at home. If she's stressed she tells me and I help her. She never just takes off." Punk shook his head, "I mean what if he invited her out for dinner or something?"

"Stop that." Cassie said, "Mom wouldn't do that to you. You know she wouldn't. She's got a little stressed at work and she's probably went to a hotel for the night. Maybe she took a long drive to clear her head." She said as Punk sighed to himself.

"How am I supposed to go to sleep when I don't know where my wife is?" Punk shook his head, "I mean seriously, what the hell is she playing at?" He questioned as Cassie looked at him.

"Just go home and get some sleep. She'll probably call you in the morning anyway." Cassie nodded.

"If I haven't heard from her after twenty-four hours, I want people looking for her." Punk nodded. He was crippled with anxiety over this. He couldn't stay still not knowing where his wife was. He was trying to settle with the fact she had probably gone to a hotel for the night and would call in the morning, but there was always the what if looming around.

"What do you mean she didn't come home?" Thea shook her head, standing in her kitchen with Cassie and her father the next morning, early. Dominic had taken the kids to school and was at work.

"She left this in her office and she won't pick up her phone." Cassie said, passing the note to Thea who took it and read it.

Punk and Cassie barely slept and were awake at the crack of dawn. Punk hoped to wake up to a missed call or a message from AJ, but there was nothing, and she still wasn't answering her phone.

"This doesn't sound like her." Thea raised a brow as she read the note, "If she's stressed she doesn't run away from things." She shook her head.

"I know." Punk sighed, "I'm headed to her office right now to check in again and see if she's maybe stopped by or if anyone else has heard anything. There's a particular person I'd like to speak to." He nodded bluntly as Thea looked at him.

"You think he has something to do with this?" Thea asked.

"He thinks mom is with him." Cassie nodded.

"No I don't." Punk looked at her fiercely as Cassie shrugged.

"How could you think that?" Thea asked angrily.

"I don't. Look, I'm just trying to think of anything that would make better sense." Punk said.

"Her going off with her work colleague who she doesn't even like, doesn't make better sense." Thea said, "Although, I do admit, this doesn't make much sense either." Thea said, looking at the note, "What about Jude? Maybe she flew out."

"No, she hasn't. I've checked." Punk said, "None of her things are gone. So… if she's not back tonight then we've got a problem." Punk groaned. He couldn't explain the feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was different to what he felt when his daughters were in any kind of distress or trouble. Not any stronger, but just different.

"Well if she's not back by tonight that's twenty-four hours." Thea said, "So we can report it." She sighed, not quite believing this was happening.

"I don't know how they'll take it, though. Considering she's left us a note." Cassie shrugged.

"Which clearly is out of character." Thea said, "We all know that. Mom would never ignore us. If we call, she answers. And let's say that she did want to go away on her own for a day or two, she'd know we'd be worried so she'd at least message us or tell us where she was headed." She shook her head. She could feel something wasn't right. There was dread all over it.

"I'm gonna go to her office again." Punk nodded, not knowing what to say. He was too frightened to think about another possibility, and even with his daughters being older, he still did his best to make sure they didn't worry. But he could see they were.

"Is there anything I can do?" Thea asked, "I'm not working."

"Come with me." Punk nodded, "I need a bodyguard." He teased as Thea smiled.

"Ok, well I gotta go to work but call me if… if you find out anything. If not then… I can make the report tonight." She said stressfully as Punk nodded.

"Don't worry, she'll be somewhere. She's probably just hit a wall like you said, needs a little break." Punk said, noticing Cassie was look extra pale and worried.

"Yeah." Cassie nodded along. She knew he was only saying that to make her feel better. She knew he was extremely worried, "Ok, call me." She said, leaving the house before Thea got her coat on and left with Punk.

"You go to her office and check. I'm gonna talk to this idiot, if he's in." Punk said, standing in the elevator with Thea.

"Don't cause a scene." Thea rolled her eyes.

"I won't." Punk bit back like a child, walking out of the elevator with her, "You know where her office is?"

"Yeah." Thea nodded, heading on down to her mother's office whilst Punk looked for Joey's. If Joey wasn't in his office, he would definitely have a hunch and a suspicion, but to his surprise, he was in his office.

He walked into the office without knocking as Joey looked over.

"Hey." Joey looked at him with surprise.

"Where's April?" Punk questioned as Joey looked at him with confusion, "My wife? April? The one you have a crush on and harass-"

"Dude, if this is another warning for me to back off… I got the message loud and clear the first time, alright?" Joey laughed a little as Punk looked at him.

"Did you see her yesterday?" Punk asked, "I suppose you probably did."

"Yeah, I saw her. Why?" Joey shook his head, "Isn't she on vacation now? Why are you even here?" He questioned.

"She… apparently was very stressed and has taken off without telling me where the hell she is." Punk said, "Did she looked stressed to you yesterday? Was she upset about something? Did someone say something to her?"

"Dude, you must be suffocating to live with." Joey raised his eyebrows as Punk glared at him, "She was fine in the morning, I spoke to her and gave her some things from the copy room. I then saw her in the afternoon but she was a little more stressed. Looked kinda upset, actually." He nodded, "Then uh… I saw her leave with a ton of folders."

"What was she stressed about?" Punk asked.

"I think she's a little behind on some shipping dates." Joey said, "But I… I don't know the details. We don't talk as much as you probably think." Joey assured him.

"And you saw her leave with her work things?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, she went zooming by my office." He pointed to the glass window, "Maybe she went to one of her daughter's houses-"

"No, I've checked with them. I've also checked surrounding hotels. She left a note in her office for me but… it's just not something she'd do." Punk said as Joey looked at him.

"Well I wish I could be more help. I didn't speak to her much after the afternoon. Maybe she's just checked in somewhere and did some work. I know I don't like taking work home with me."

"She doesn't mind it. That's why it's weird. Plus she doesn't have any clothes with her." Punk sighed to himself, "Did you say something to her?" He asked, "I know you like to cross the line-"

"Dude, I said nothing." Joey shook his head.

"Nothing in her office." Thea walked in through the door as Punk sighed to himself as Joey watched him.

"Let's go." Punk nodded, leaving Joey's office as Thea looked over at Joey, an intense stare exchanging between them both before she left the office.