Smiling, I turned the car onto the main road. “I stand corrected. It seems if I go missing my best friend will track my phone and find me right away,” I said to her.

“That’s not funny, Cat. Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I stayed the night at Duely’s. I’m now in my car and headed to my house to get ready for work. I may stop somewhere and grab breakfast. Do you need any more details or is that enough?” I replied with thick sarcasm in my voice.

“Where does Duely live? And why would you stay there?” She wasn’t satisfied just yet. Why was Margo awake this early tracking me? That was the real question here. Not my whereabouts or why I am at Duely’s. I couldn’t tell her the truth about that anyway.

“He lives in an apartment over his bar, and I came to visit him yesterday, and we drank a little, so I stayed over.” I had been lying to Margo about this part of my life for as long as I’d known her. I didn’t like doing it, but there was no other choice. If I wanted to keep them safe then Margo and Heath couldn’t know the truth.

“YOU drank so much you had to stay the night at a bar?” She sounded shocked. I didn’t blame her.

“I didn’t sleep in the bar. I slept in Duely’s apartment OVER the bar,” I corrected her.

“Same thing,” she said.

“Is she okay?” I heard a familiar male voice ask in the background. “Do I need to go get her?” he then added. That wasn’t Heath’s voice either. I felt a slight thrill that I needed to get control of because Rathe was only asking because we were now friends. Not because he wanted to see me.

“She’s driving home now,” Margo answered him. “I’m guessing Jacque hasn’t gotten in touch with you yet. He called Heath, which is why I started looking for you.”

“Why would Jacque need to get in touch with me? I know I’m scheduled for first shift.” I asked confused by her question.

She sighed. “Well,” there was a pause, “just come here first. Not home. You don’t need your uniform. You won’t be going into work today. They’re closed.”

“What? Why?” I asked, not liking the way her voice sounded. She was not wanting to tell me something. A very important something too if the restaurant was closed. “Where is Heath?” I then asked, knowing he’d tell me what was going on.

“He’s not here… and I don’t want you to get upset. Just come here and I’ll tell you.”

“Tell me now. I’m already upset not knowing what’s going on. It doesn’t help my driving,” I added the last part, knowing she’d spit it out quicker.