Out of My Mind (COMPLETED)

Chapter Nineteen

Brayden's POV

It's been two and a half hours since Skyler's mom called and all we've concluded is that Donovan is the cause of it. There's no one else who would be behind this.

"We have to look for her. We have to find out where he has her," Mia says, her hands flying into her hair as she paces the floor next to the dining room table where Janet and I are sat across from each other.

Janet sighs. "Honey, why don't we just look for her tomorrow? It's past midnight. You're still recovering from a head injury. Let's just get some sleep and we'll look in the morning."

If Janet thinks Mia is going to agree to this—to just sleeping and looking in the morning—she doesn't know her daughter very well. Mia won't stop at anything, including a head injury, to find her best friend who is being held hostage by her psychotic father.

Mia stops pacing the floor, dropping her hands from her hair to her waist. "Yeah. Okay, you're right. We'll get up early and look for her," Mia agrees and I look at her, shocked. Her eyes widen at me in a just-go-with-it way. I pinch my lips into a fine line and just go with it.

"Alright, get some sleep, honey," Janet says as she walks over, kissing her daughter on the top of her head. "Goodnight, Brayden." I give her a little wave and she walks to her bedroom.

When we hear Janet's bedroom door click shut, Mia walks closer to me.

"Call your dad," Mia demands in a hushed tone. There's my girl. "Tell him we need him to help us figure out where he may be keeping her. I'm going to change because I don't think pajamas are the right clothing for Hostage Hunting." We both look down at her blue t-shirt and fuzzy penguin pants. I bite my lip and swallow down the laughter rising in my throat. Mia narrows her eyes playfully at me before kissing me quickly, shuffling down the hallway in a hurry to change.

I slip my phone into my pocket, pulling my phone out. I look at my lockscreen, examining the picture I took of the New York City skyline. I realize that Mia and I haven't taken any pictures and I suddenly want to fill my camera roll with unguarded pictures of my beautiful girl.

Focus.

I tap the phone next to Dad's name and raise the phone to my ear when it starts dialing. It rings one time before he answers.

"Are you okay?" is the first thing he says.

"I am. Mia? Not so much."

"What happened now?" he asks, hesitantly.

I breathe in, looking down the hallway to make sure Mia isn't walking out of her bedroom. I don't want to trigger her tears. "Skyler never came home from the hospital."

The line goes quiet and I pull my phone away from my ear to see if the line got disconnected, but then Dad speaks.

"Who's Skyler?"

I bang my head on the wall behind me. Once. Twice.

"What the hell are you doing, Brayden?" Mia laughs. I lift my head from the wall, looking at her.

I laugh awkwardly. "Oh, nothing. Just dealing with my dad."

"Son, I'm still on the phone," Dad says from the other end of the phone.

"Sorry Dad," I say into the phone and Mia smiles. She nods her head at the door in a ready-to-go? type of way and I follow her. "Okay, so Mia and I are heading to the house to talk to you and we need your help. A lot."

"What? Why are you coming here? Brayden, do you realize what time it is?" Dad rambles and I roll my eyes.

"I'll explain when I get there. Just be prepared to bring you're A game." I hang up the phone before he can say anything else.