“I don’t think anything is going to be as fun as it used to be,” I said. “I’m going home to an empty house tonight. My boyfriend, possibly ex-boyfriend, is trying to drink himself to death, I had to let Peter put his tongue in my mouth, and I still don’t know what the hell is going on in Deep Echo.”

“I got three hours of sleep last night, but I got to rock my daughter to sleep twice, so that’s pretty cool.”

We passed Peter again, and again he kept his head down.

“He’s avoiding you,” Trex said under his breath. “Did you bite his tongue off or something?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. He said he was stressed about the Deep Echo transition, but something’s up.”

When we packed up for the day and headed out, I checked my phone as soon as I had service. Nothing. I clicked my most recently-dialed number—Zeke’s—and listened to it ring through my speakers. This time, instead of his voicemail greeting, a series of three tones blared into the confines of my FJ, then a woman began speaking. “We're sorry; you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again.”

I yanked the wheel over, slammed on the brakes, and dialed again.

Same message.

I hit the steering wheel. “What the fuck?”

The FJ stayed in place until I could harness my emotions long enough to figure out what to do next. I drove straight to the hotel, waving to Darby on the way in. She was holding Maddie, but I didn’t have time to chat.

“Sorry, I have to run upstairs really quick.”

“Why? For Zeke?” she asked. “Because he checked out yesterday.”

I stopped, returning to Darby. “What do you mean he checked out? Where did he go?”

She shrugged. “I’m sorry, Naomi, I wasn’t here. The day employee, Ander, checked him out. He said Zeke was looking pretty rough.”

I walked away from her, interlacing my fingers on top of my head, blew a dark strand from my face, then returned. “Has he ever mentioned to you where he’d go if he left?”

She shrugged with a smile. “He talked about moving in with you. The rest, he wouldn’t really talk about anymore. Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I said, staring out the glass entrance doors. I let my hands fall to my thighs. “I guess that’s it then.”

“What’s it?” Darby asked, swaying with Maddie.

I smiled at her, touching the top of Maddie’s head, and said goodbye.

“Come by for dinner this week!” Darby called after me.

“I might! Thank you!” I replied, breaking into a jog once I was outside.