Not Even Close (A New Generation) by Elizabeth Reyes (books to read in a lifetime txt) 📗

his mind racing but he refused togive into the ugly thoughts that maybe she’d been in an accident or somethingworse. Since her phone was ringing now, he tried her mom again. “When’s thelast time you tried calling her?” he asked as soon as she answered.

“I was calling every five minutes but since its going straight tovoicemail, I stopped trying about twenty minutes ago.”

“Try her now. It’s ringing now but she’s not answering. She wasupset with me when I last talked to her, but I’m sure she’ll answeryou.”

Her mom was quiet for a second, but thankfully didn’t ask whySavannah was upset. A few minutes later he read the text from her mom lettinghim know Savannah hadn’t answered.

“Fuck!”

He banged his steering wheel and tried Savannah again a few moretimes. Each time it rang until it went to voicemail. As he pulled into theparking lot of her dorm the line surprisingly clicked midway through the thirdring and Byron’s heart nearly burst with relief, until he heard the male voiceon the other end.

“Hello?”

Glancing down, he checked to make sure he hadn’t hit a differentnumber by mistake, but confirmed it was hers. It’s when another thought of whyshe might be missing came to him, and he was hit with a mixture of terror and rage.“Who the fuck is this? And where’s Savannah?”

“This is her father.”

Byron stopped cold just as he jumped out of his car and almostsmiled. “Mr. Moreno? You found her?”

“No. Just her phone.” Feeling the blood thrum in his ears, Byronswallowed hard not sure what to think. But he started toward her dorm anyway.“What do you mean? Where?”

“Here at her dorm. We just got here. It was still on thecharger.”

“What did Xochitl say? Has she seen her?”

“No one’s here. When’s the last time you talked to her?”

“About two hours ago.”

Byron explained what he’d already explained to her mother, minusthe part about her being upset with him. Then let him know it was him knockingat the door. Her uncle Angel opened it, looking as worried as Byron was nowfeeling.

Her dad walked out of her bedroom holding a phone. It rang andthey all froze but her father frowned when he glanced down at the screen.“Valerie,” he said to them then answered. “Babe, it’s me. I’m at her dorm. Thedoor was unlocked, and her phone was here on the charger but no one else ishere.”

The man was quiet for a moment as he listened to whatever she wassaying, then his expression went rigid, and he glanced up at Byron. “She wasupset with you when you last talked to her?” They all turned to him at once.“I’ll call you back.” He hung up the phone and glared at Byron. “Is that whatthis is all about?”

Byron shook his head. “I don’t think she’d worry you guys overanything that happened between me and her.”

In the next moment as her dad took a deep breath he also seemedto double in size as he stared Byron down. “Why’s my daughter upset?”

Uncle Sal took a cautious step in front of him and thankfully so,because the man looked ready to lunge at him. The knob on the front door jiggled,and they all turned anxiously as it opened. Xochitl walked in and froze, gaspingwide eyed when she saw them all standing there. But Savannah didn’t walk inwith her.

“Where’s Savannah?” Byron, Taz and her father all asked inunison.

She shook her head still looking very stunned. “I thought she wasin La Jolla.”

“She never got there,” her dad explained everything going on. “We’vebeen calling both of you and neither were answering. We didn’t know what tothink.”

“Sorry. I was on a date and I silenced my phone.”

Savannah’s dad turned to Byron again. “Why the fuck was mydaughter upset?”

One quick glance at Xochitl, and Byron knew she knew. She lookedas horrified as Byron felt over the prospect of him having to explain this tothis brood. “She uh, ran into someone I used to—”

“Last I heard from her when I spoke with her on the phone, she wasleaving her phone on the charger,” Xochitl blurted out. “Because it was dying.School’s website was down so she had to run back to the lab at school and turnin an assignment.”

“What?” Again, Byron and her dad spoke in unison.

“So, she never got back from the lab over two hours ago?” Her dadsounded as alarmed by this as Byron was.

The sudden chill down Byron’s spine was reminiscent of what he’dfelt the day he got the call about his mother. God no. He’d been so surethis had nothing to do with the shooting at the school, and now it may haveeverything to do with it. Sal held her aghast looking dad back again because helooked ready to bolt out of there, just as Byron felt like doing now too. Onlythe sheer terror he was feeling now, rendered him completely inert.

Sal said something about the news coverage reporting the wholeplace was on lockdown. Even streets leading up to it. There’d be no way theycould get anywhere near there.

Byron felt ready to pass out. He was suddenly assaulted with allthe memories he’d since repressed. Both from the day his mother died, and whenhe’d gotten the news of Lizette. The feelings of utter shock and disbeliefoverwhelmed him. As dreadful as those memories were, even losing his mother,didn’t compare to what he was feeling now. While he’d gotten past those twohorrific events in his life, he already knew he’d never survive this ifsomething had happened to her.

The noise from her dad and his brothers arguing, and then Xochitlturning on the news because she hadn’t even heard about the shooting, wasnothing but a droning buzz in Byron’s ears. The boulder in his throat,threatened to suffocate him now, as the reality that something might haveactually happened to Savannah sunk in deeper.

Xochitl gasping broke Byron out of his terror induced trance. “Listen,”she said pointing at the reporter recounting the latest and upped the volume onthe television.

“. . . school administrator having marital problems for some time.Her estranged husband entered the lab where a gunshot was heard . . .”

“Oh, my God! The