Athalia Quinn

23 - Trust

☆☆☆

"She doesn't know where her mom is," I inform the guys and Frannie. "All we have to work with is her name: Mae Quinn, maiden name Parker."

Athalia had work this morning, and although the last place I wanted her was away from me, she claimed she 'wasn't making enough money with her gluteus maximus' and needed to clock in.

Before she left, the guys came over for a pancake breakfast, made by Fisher, and had asked why she wasn't acting like her overly-bubbly self like usual.

Nicolas had so kindly suggested that I was god-awful at sex, and that was why she was unhappy. But the asshole had shut up when she told them the real reason, that her mother was a drunk abuser.

Then she was smothered with hugs, and I think she found it relieving to tell a couple more people about her mother.

"How are we supposed to find someone with only their name?" Fisher complains, spinning around on his chair.

We all sit behind a computer in the tech room, searching for any hint on where Mae could be. We know a plane ticket is way out of her budget, so she's somewhere here in Massachusetts.

Frannie snorts. "Clearly, you've never had crush."

The guys are silent until River asks her what she means. I, on the other hand, do not give a single fuck about what she means. I need to find Alia's sad excuse of a mother.

"You can find anyone's social media, their house, family members, where they work, and probably what they are doing at the moment, with just a first name," she explains. The guys look confused. Frannie rolls her eyes. "Girls get it."

River throws a smirk at her. "Is that why you randomly followed me on Instagram a couple years ago?"

She mocks his smirk. "I followed you back."

"You were whipped from the start, motherfucker!" Fisher laughs at him.

River turns his chair back to his setup, shaking his head with red cheeks.

Nicolas, seated beside me, leans over. "Will I ever find love?"

"No," I deadpan.

He frowns. "Is it something I did?"

I look at him, find him feigning hurt, and look back at my screen. And then I ignore him.

Karter, who fuckin' annoys the shit out of me, and is here for no reason because he's no fucking help, says, "Someone's grumpy."

Fucking hell.

Everyone turns to pin a glare on him.

I'm going to kill him.

"He just found out his girlfriend is a victim of domestic violence, asshole," Maxen says to him.

Karter seems to shrink down in his chair.

"Found her," Frannie suddenly announces, and my attention instantly turns to her.

"You found Mae?" Fisher asks, rushing over to her and looking at her screen, followed by the rest of us.

"No, I found Amelia Earhart," Frannie sarcastically states, annoyed. Fisher narrows his eyes at her.

I read the information.

"The last place she checked out of was a Marriott in Salem," River says, "at 8pm this morning. She's likely still in the area."

"How the hell can she even afford a hotel room?" Maxen questions.