Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 75
As he flew out of the place, Edward vaguely recalled the barkeep yelling at him about confiscating his car keys. On any other occasion, he would have handed them over to the guy at the bar and obediently wait for the cab to haul him home. But not today.
Today, he couldn't spare any time.
He sped through the streets toward the suburbs, breaking the speed limit without a second thought to his own safety or others on the road. He tried to call Carmen on her cell. It went to her voice mail. He tried again with the same result. He tried their home number next. Just as Kate had vouched, that too went to the machine.
He called Renate on her cell next.
"Dr. Cullen?" Renate asked as she answered, sounding surprised by his untimely call.
"Renate, where are you?" he nearly barked into the phone.
"I'm at my home, of course," she seemed bewildered. "Why do you ask? What's going on?"
"I'm asking because you're supposed to be with Ella until I get home from work. Yet, clearly you're not. Why aren't you with her?"
"I don't understand... Mrs. Cullen told me that you two made plans with friends. That she was taking Ella to her friend's house and you were going to join them straight from work. She sent me home and said you wouldn't need me until tomorrow 'cause you might spend the night there..."
"Why didn't you call me?" Edward demanded, not considering the unreasonableness of this expectation.
"Uh... I don't know. I didn't realize I needed to. I saw her speaking on the phone and I... I assumed it was with you. She seemed to be doing quite well. Dr. Cullen, is everything okay?" she asked with concern in her voice.
Edward ignored her question. Not that he had the answer to it yet anyway. He disconnected the call without any pleasantries and threw the phone on the passenger's side seat. He then turned his full attention on the road.
He drove like a maniac and made it to his driveway in record time, cutting the usual thirty-five minute commute nearly in half. He sprang out of the car, not bothering to turn off the engine or close the door behind him.
He could hear Ella's cry even before he could open the door.
He was too afraid to put to words what exactly he was expecting to find once he got home, but the proof that Ella was alive relieved a small part of his worries.
"Carmen!" he called out as he ran up the stairs.
Other than Ella's wail, the house felt devoid of life.
"Carmen!" he shouted again.
He found his daughter in her crib. She needed to be changed and was crying her lungs out, but otherwise she seemed to be in good shape. He decided that a diaper change would have to wait until he determined Carmen's whereabouts.
He laid Ella back down in her nest, ignoring her protests, and went to their bedroom; the last place where he had seen his wife alive.
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.