Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 74
He couldn't think of any reason why Carmen's friend would call him at all. Perhaps she had mistakenly chosen his number, thinking she was calling Carmen?
There was only one way to find out.
He pressed the green button.
"Hello, Kate."
"Oh, hi, Edward. Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if...Uh... could you pass the phone to Carmen, please," Kate said from the other end. "I can't seem to get her on the line."
"I would love to, but I'm still at work, I'm afraid. She probably just let the battery die on her again. I'll be home in less than an hour, but why don't you try the home number?" Edward suggested.
The pause Kate took was uncomfortably long. He thought he could hear her mutter a curse.
"You're not home? I... Edward... Uh... when did you speak to her last?" Edward could sense hesitancy on Kate's part and he didn't like it.
"What's the matter, Kate?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, probably nothing. I don't want to start any kind of unnecessary panic. It's just... would you please make sure Carmen gives me a call when you get home?"
Her cryptically worded assurance did nothing to repel his rising concern.
"Would you please just tell me what the hell is going on? What's up with you and Carmen all of a sudden? Why do you need her so urgently?"
Kate took another hesitant pause.
"She was at my place today. This afternoon. You know I'm moving to New York, right? Well, a few of our friends were here. Just hanging out, you know. Saying goodbye. Anyway, I didn't think Carmen would show up at all, but she did. She looked quite well to me. She even brought Ella with her..." Kate trailed off, pausing again as if she couldn't make up her mind whether she should proceed or not.
"Was Renate with them?" Edward prodded. The news was surprising indeed. Carmen seldom left the house. Even when she did, it was rarely with Ella. And definitely not without help on hand.
"No, it was just the two of them. Like I said, she looked really well. But... I mean, I'm sure it's nothing. It's just... after she left, I noticed that my sleep medication was gone. Most of my friends know that I'm on prescription for insomnia, but not everyone knows where I keep them."
Kate took another pause as Edward's sluggish brain tried to connect the dots and make sense of what she was suggesting.
"Like I said, I'm probably only being paranoid. It's just that I've been trying to call her ever since, but she isn't answering her cell and no one's picking up the house phone...
"With all the packing and moving, I'm sure I misplaced the pill bottle and now worrying about nothing. I... I'd feel a lot better if you just made sure she's alright and have her call me, okay?"
Edward's mind went into a paralytic stupor not unlike the one he had experienced the evening before when he picked up the silent baby monitor. This couldn't be happening to him again.
"...you still there? Edward, can you hear me?" He heard Kate's worried voice.
"When?" he asked in a raspy voice, the gravity of what Kate's message implied was sobering him up rapidly. "When did she leave your place?"
"A few hours, I don't know. I noticed the pills missing about twenty minutes ago. I'm sure-"
Edward disconnected the phone before Kate could finish. He had to go home, and he had to get there fast.
Please don't let me be too late.
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.