A Taste of Magic Page 8

  But then I thought of Nate. A week later and my body still buzzed with the memory. Maybe a few more sessions wouldn’t hurt. I hadn’t seen him again since that night. The fact that I hadn’t, well, it worried me slightly—but not too much. He did work odd hours, after all.

  The rest of the training session went pretty much the same way. By the end of the two hours, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to slap Kevin or thank him. Because, while I was certainly exhausted, I also felt really good. Though, I stunk. And the mirrors surrounding the entire damn gym didn’t make me appreciate my appearance any.

  “This was the first half of your workout. Tomorrow, same time, good for you? If so, we’ll go over the second half,” said Kevin the torturer, as he bent over to pick up his water bottle. I had never seen butt cheeks as firm as his. Forget what I said earlier, the man was definitely hot. Working out eight hours a day will do that, I guess.

  “Elizabeth?”

  Oh yeah, I was supposed to answer him, not stare at his drool-inducing body. Silly me.

  “First half? You mean I’ll be doing twice this much every day? I can’t do that. You’re crazy.”

  “Stop saying you can’t do something. That’s the number one rule here. You can do anything, Elizabeth! But no, you’ll have two different sets of workouts, so you can switch things around. Then, after six weeks or so, we’ll change them again.”

  “Why would we do this?” His enthusiasm should annoy me. The intelligent part of my brain knew this, yet it was weirdly endearing. As if he’d become my personal cheerleader.

  He laughed. “Because our bodies fall into a habit, and once they’re used to something, they get lazy. They find ways to cheat so your muscles don’t get everything out of it they should.” He tapped his finger to his temple. “But we’re smarter than that.”

  “I see.” I didn’t really see, but he was the expert, not me. “Well, I can’t come in tomorrow morning. I work until five.”

  “What time do you go in?” Kevin asked.

  “Early. Why?”

  “We open at six. You could get your workout in before the day started. What a great way to wake up, Elizabeth!”

  Yeah, right. Sure, that would happen. Before coffee. “I don’t think so, Kev.”

  He sighed. “That’s too bad. I won’t be here tomorrow evening. Let’s see who we can hook you up with. When can you be here?”

  “Um. I don’t know. Six, I guess?”

  “That’s Ellen or Joy. Have you met either one?”

  I didn’t really want to meet a new trainer. I hated this so much anyway, I figured I should at least enjoy looking at my torturer. “No, but what about lunchtime? Can you see me at eleven? And can we make it shorter? Like an hour or so?”

  “That will work, and yeah, you’ll have a heavy and a light day, so that’s perfect.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you then. Thank you for being patient with me.” This was odd. I almost felt as if we’d been on a date, because let’s face it, we’d just gone through a fairly intimate process. All the groaning, sweating, and swearing created an interesting bond I hadn’t expected.

  “We’ll weigh and measure you tomorrow, so wear something more formfitting than those baggy sweats. You don’t want to add extra inches on because of too-loose clothes.”

  “I don’t think so,” I said, aiming for the door. He was nice and all, but wow, a little too overwhelming for the first day. I wanted a shower. And I was ravenous. I’d planned on a healthy salad for lunch, but now I wanted a huge burger, complete with all the trimmings, and maybe some dessert. Screw salads.

  “Elizabeth! We need to know where you start so we can celebrate each accomplishment! It’s exciting,” Kevin called after me.

  Sure, exciting. I didn’t bother replying as I made my way to my car. This exercise stuff hurt. My muscles were already curling up into tight little knots. I wondered if I could wish myself to a better body. Yes, I liked that idea. Smiling, I decided it would be the perfect experiment when I got home. I mean, I couldn’t bake a salad, now could I?

  What is it they say about best-laid plans? On my way home, Alice called crying so hard I couldn’t begin to make any sense of what she said. So now, instead of standing in the shower contemplating what words to use for the steel body spell, I was pulling into the parking lot of my sister’s apartment complex.

  Alice didn’t get upset often. Well, wait a minute. She gets upset, but usually it’s the fearsome, get-out-of-my-way-before-I-clobber-you type. Nobody was as scary as my little sister when she was pissed off. But crying hysterically? No, that had been my niche for the last year, not hers. Luckily, I seemed to be growing out of that, which made not only me, but everyone around me, all that much happier.Climbing the last flight of stairs to her fourth floor apartment wasn’t easy. My legs almost gave out. My entire body hated me. Tomorrow would be fun, adding insult to injury.

  I arrived at Alice’s door and found it hanging open. This on its own didn’t alarm me. Though, in hindsight, it probably should have. Walking into her apartment scared the crap out of me. My eyes took in the mess, and even though it was right there, right in front of me, I could still hardly believe it.

  My sister’s place was normally perfect. Anyone from Home Beautiful could literally stop by at any moment with a camera and snap amazing pictures. Well, not at that moment. But that’s what terrified me.

  Broken glass pieces were strewn all over the dark wooden floor of her entryway. The cloudy green of her drinking glasses, the head off her white-as-snow porcelain cat, other various pottery pieces, and her black dishware—all were smashed in a trail from the entry to the kitchen to the dining room.

  “Alice?” I yelled. “I’m here, honey. Where are you?”

  Carefully, I stepped over the chunks and splinters of glass, every now and then crushing a piece beneath my feet, and moved to her bedroom. Maybe she was in there.

  She wasn’t. I shoved my trembling hands into my coat pockets. The mess hadn’t come this far. What ever had happened hadn’t touched her bedroom, as it was as neat as a pin.

  “Alice! You’re scaring me. Where are you?” I yelled again. I knew it was useless; she wasn’t there. I could tell I stood in an empty apartment. You get a specific type of feeling when you’re alone.

  Grabbing my cell phone out of my purse, I tried to ignore the panic building. I clicked her cell number in my directory. It rang, not only through the phone, but from somewhere inside the apartment. I set my phone on her bed and followed the melodic sound of ringing. It took me to the living room, and I had to step over more broken glass as I made my way to the other side.

  My eyes darted around, trying to find it. There. Her little blue phone was sitting on an empty bric-a-brac shelf above her leather couch.

  I clicked the END button on the phone. My mind sifted through the possibilities, and I didn’t like any of them. Most people thought they knew exactly how they’d react in situations like this, but it was as if my mind had shut down and I had to remind myself to call 911. I pushed the numbers in as fast as I could and hit the SEND key.

  “911. What is the nature of your emergency?” the operator’s voice came through the line.

  “My sister is missing. Well, maybe she isn’t. I guess I don’t know. But her apartment door is open and there’s broken stuff all over, and she’s not here.” I rambled as I tried to make sense of an unimaginable situation. I stopped, took a breath. She was fine. There was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation.

  “What’s your name?” the operator asked calmly. “Elizabeth. Elizabeth Stevens.”

  “Elizabeth, are you in danger?”

  “What? Me? No.”

  “You’re safe?” she questioned again.

  “Yes! I’m safe. I’m worried about my sister.”

  “Is your sister a child, Elizabeth? And what is the address, please?” the operator asked, enunciating each word slowly.

  “No, she’s an adult. And, I don’t know. She’s in the Vale Apartments on...
oh hell, what is the name of her street.” I closed my eyes and tried to envision the street sign. “I thought you could tell by the number I called from,” I snapped, my mind blank.

  “Are you on a cell phone?”

  “Shit. Yes. Wait—she’s on Edmonton Street. The Vale Apartments on Edmonton, number 4521.”

  “We’ll send a car over. Stay on the line with me until the officers get there.”

  “But I’m safe. No one is here. I have a friend who’s on the police force. I don’t know if this is his jurisdiction or not, or even if he’s on duty today, but can you contact him? His name is Nate Sutherland. Please have him come.”

  “One moment. I am not putting you on hold. Do not hang up.”

  I paced the living room, my heart pounding like crazy, my feet crunching on bits of glass. “Where are you, Alice?” I murmured.

  “Elizabeth? Did you say something to me?”

  “No. I’m sorry. Is Nate coming? Please tell me Nate is coming,” I blubbered.

  “I don’t know. I’ll try to get a hold of him for you, but I can’t promise anything. The important thing is for you to stay calm until the officers arrive.”

  Stay calm? I inhaled deeply and tried to stop trembling. “It’s not working.”

  “As soon as the officers get there, they’ll need you to be calm enough to take your statement so they can find your sister. What is your sister’s name?”

  “Alice. Alice Raymond.”

  “That’s a nice name. Is she younger than you?”

  “Look, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate it, but I don’t need to have a conversation right now. I need to find my sister. But there’s no one here, so there’s no reason to stay on the phone. I’m going to disconnect and wait for the police.” I clicked the end button and set my sister’s phone back down on the bric-a-brac shelf.

  Both sick at heart and sick to my stomach, I closed the door to the apartment and then retraced my steps through each room. This time, I opened every closet and cupboard door. I looked behind the shower curtain and under the bed. I even opened her bedroom window to make sure she wasn’t on the fire escape. Silly, because obviously if Alice had been anywhere near, she’d have heard me by that point, but that didn’t stop me. I had to be one hundred percent positive. And I really wanted her to be there.

  I was still in Alice’s bedroom when I heard the knocking on the door. I ran at top speed—well, as quickly as I could amid the glass and clutter. Of course, it couldn’t be Alice, she’d just let herself in. But it might be Nate.

  My heart dropped when I opened the door to two strangers.

  “Hi, I’m Officer Thomas,” said the older, gray-haired man with a slight paunch. “And this is Officer Neuman.” He nodded to the tall, slender, black-haired female cop next to him. “We’re responding to a 911 call. Are you Elizabeth Stevens?”

  “Yes. I am. Please come in.” I stepped back to give them room to enter. I shuddered. Seeing the police made the situation all too real.

  They followed me in, and the woman, Officer Neuman, took charge. “Let’s you and I talk while my partner checks the apartment out,” she said softly, with a reassuring smile.

  We went into the living room, and I sat down. I was beginning to comprehend how serious this could be. I looked at the door again, willing Alice to come through it with her goofy grin.

  Officer Neuman flipped open a note pad. “Can you tell me what happened? All the way through. I’ll probably ask you to repeat things.”

  I related the events to her the best I could. As I did, my eyes kept drifting back to that damn door. My intuition didn’t tell me anything. You’d think if my sister was hurt in some way, I would know. That somewhere inside, I’d feel it. While I wanted to hang on to that, I couldn’t quite allow myself. After all, I didn’t have a history in ESP or precognition.

  Gypsy magic, yeah. Freaky see-into-the-future stuff? Nope. Officer Thomas returned. He tried to walk around the glass, which was nice of him. “Does anything appear to be missing?”

  “I don’t know. I’m honestly not here enough to answer that. Alice keeps to herself, mostly.”

  “Does she have a husband or a boyfriend? There are some men’s clothes hanging in her bedroom closet.”

  “A boyfriend, but I’ve never met him. He’s been under wraps. It’s a fairly new relationship, I think.” The shakiness in my voice pissed me off. How could I help Alice if I couldn’t remain calm?

  “Do you know his name?”

  I shook my head. How stupid that I didn’t know the name of the man my sister was involved with. Let me tell you, that one fact made me realize, like little else had, how much I’d pulled away from the people I loved in the past year. Alice and I used to share everything. What a rotten sister I’d turned out to be.

  “Elizabeth? I asked you if anyone in your family would know his name,” Officer Thomas said.

  I refocused. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m not sure anyone in my family has met him. She hasn’t been dating him for long.”

  “How long?” This came from Officer Neuman.

  “Um, maybe a month? No more than two, I think.” Damn, I couldn’t remember for sure the first time Alice mentioned the mystery man. I thought it was at least a good month before my birthday, which probably meant she’d known him longer. “Do you think he had something to do with this?”

  “We have no way of knowing that. Right now, we’re just trying to get a little information about your sister,” said the female officer. “When you talked to her, did she sound scared?”

  “Not scared. Sad. Like something really awful had happened.” Another shiver of cold fear struck me.

  I hated this.

  A knock on the door made me jump. I shot to my feet, but Officer Neuman laid a hand on my arm. “Let us get that,” she said, with a nod to her partner.

  Officer Thomas checked through the peephole before opening the door. “Hi, Nate. We were told you might stop in. You’re a friend of Elizabeth’s, right?”

  Nate stepped into the entryway, his eyes taking in the broken glass, and then moved on, searching. When his gaze landed on me, my composure fled. Every bit of what I’d been holding myself together with went flying out the window. He wasn’t in uniform, which meant someone had contacted him at home. I’d have to find out who the 911 operator was and send her a thank-you card. Or maybe some flowers.

  I started to cry, slowly at first. As Nate came toward me, my tears came faster. He didn’t say anything, just opened his arms and I walked into them. They closed around me, and I buried my head in his chest, my cheek rubbing against the rough grain of his sweater.

  “I don’t know where she is,” I mumbled.

  “We’ll do our best to find her,” he murmured in my ear, stroking my back. “Have you called your family?”

  I lifted my head and clenched my jaw, trying to stop the tears. “No. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to.”

  “Maybe she’s with your parents or your grandmother or your brothers? Could that be the case?”

  I shook my head. “No. She called me and asked me to come over. Why would she do that and then leave? Without letting me know.” I pointed to the cell phone. “She didn’t take her phone with her either, and she never goes anywhere without it.”

  “Does she carry a purse?” Officer Neuman asked.

  “Yes. Of course she does. Don’t all women?”

  “Look at me, Elizabeth.” I focused on Nate’s steady green eyes. Thank God he was there. “Did you see her bag anywhere in the apartment?”

  I mentally went over my frantic search. “No... but I didn’t look for it either. I was looking for her, not her purse.”

  “Do you want to do that now? If it isn’t here, that may be a good sign. It’s easy to leave in a hurry and forget a phone. After that, you should call your family. Before we send out the search dogs, let’s make sure she isn’t sitting at your grandmother’s place drinking tea.”

  It was useless to argue with h
im. The last place Alice would go in a crisis was to any of our family. Maybe she’d call her best friend, Chloe. But I didn’t think so, because she’d called me. I just hadn’t gotten there quick enough.

  Because Alice was such a neat person, it didn’t take me long to ascertain her purse was not in her apartment. Which meant she had her car keys. Returning to the living room, I saw Nate in deep conversation with the other two officers. He turned to look at me. Concern flickered over his expression.

  I cleared my throat. “It’s not here. And I realized that means she has her car keys. Should I go downstairs and see if I can find her car in the lot?”

  Officer Neuman came forward. “Give us the make, model, and color, and my partner and I will take a walk outside. That way, you can have some privacy while you call your family.”

  “Alice drives a Mitsubishi Eclipse Coupe. It’s red.”

  “How old is it?” Officer Thomas asked.

  “Um, a couple of years, at least. I think it’s a 2005, but I could be off a year or two.”

  Officer Neuman wrote the information down. “We’ll go look. Fill Nate in and then call your family.”

  When they exited the apartment, I collapsed on the couch. “I don’t want to call my parents. They’ll flip out. And Alice is probably okay. So why worry them for nothing?” I needed to believe this.

  Nate sat down next to me. “You need to call. But you can start with your brothers if you want.”

  “How do you know I have brothers?”

  “Your grandmother told me.”

  I kept forgetting they knew each other. One of these days, I’d have to find out how. “This will not be easy.” I heaved myself up and walked toward the bedroom.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I left my phone on Alice’s bed. I don’t think I want to call my family on her phone to tell them she’s missing.”

  I retrieved my phone. I held it for a minute, delaying the inevitable. Calling them made the situation even more real, and this was real enough as it was. Another minute passed. I sat on the edge of her bed, put my head between my knees, and cried some more. When I felt I could talk clearly, I went back to Nate.