“Millie!” she exclaims. “You look positively disheveled! Are you all right?”
“Fine,” I mutter. “Um, are Enzo and the kids here? I need to get everyone home and start dinner.”
“Enzo is here in the backyard,” she confirms. “He’s got so many helpful tips for gardening. Honestly, he is a genius, Millie.”
“Are the kids out there too?”
She shakes her head, puzzled. “No, just Enzo. I haven’t seen the kids. I think Nicolas has broken enough things in my house, don’t you?”
The relief I felt a minute ago completely evaporates. “The kids aren’t here at all?”
“No…”
When I got home, I felt secure in the fact that the kids had to be safe with Enzo. But if he isn’t with the kids, then where are they?
I search Suzette’s face, wondering if she’s messing with me. I don’t think making a mother scared that her children have vanished is a funny joke, but who knows with this woman. Except I don’t think she’s joking around. She hates the kids, so it’s not like she would want them over here.
“Can you please go get my husband for me?” I croak.
Her voice softens. “Of course. Just a moment.”
A second later, Enzo comes out from the back of the house, walking quickly. He has that same crease between his eyebrows that Ada gets.
Ada… I hope she’s okay. Where could she be? That girl wouldnevergo off anywhere without telling me.
“Millie?” He frowns at me. “What is going on?”
I squeeze my hands together. “I just got home, and the kids aren’t there. I… I thought they might be with you.”
Enzo looks down at his watch and his eyes bulge. “You just got homenow?”
I don’t appreciate the judgmental look on his face. “Well,youweren’t home either.”
“Because I thoughtyouwould be,” he shoots back.
I don’t understand him. He got home before I did, so he had to have known I wasn’t there based on the fact that my car wasn’t in the garage. Yet he still left.
“Did you check the backyard?” Suzette asks unhelpfully.
“Yes.” My face burns. “I checkedeverywhere.”
Enzo looks over my shoulder at our house. “I’m sure they’re hiding in there somewhere. We will go look. Ada would not have run off.”
I can barely keep up with Enzo as he sprints across the yard to our front door. He stomps across the grass, smashing the blades with his boots—he must bereallyworried. Which in turn makes me even more worried. He’s generally the more laid-back parent between the two of us.
I trail behind him, and coming up from the rear is Suzette. Why is she following us? This is none of her business! I am tempted to whip my head around and tell her to get lost, but I’ve got bigger problems than Suzette right now.
Where the hell are my children? If they are gone…
The front door is still unlocked, and Enzo pushes it open. Just like before, the first floor of our house is completely silent except for the sound of my heart thudding.
“Was the door unlocked when you got home?” he asks me.
“No.” I distinctly remember pulling my keys out of my purse. “I unlocked it.”
“It’s a very safe neighborhood,” Suzette insists. “I always tell my clients that the crime rates are some of the lowest in the country.”
Shut up, Suzette. This is not the time for a sales pitch!
