He rushed out and into his car, his mind racing but he refused to give into the ugly thoughts that maybe she’d been in an accident or something worse. Since her phone was ringing now, he tried her mom again. “When’s the last time you tried calling her?” he asked as soon as she answered.
“I was calling every five minutes but since its going straight to voicemail, I stopped trying about twenty minutes ago.”
“Try her now. It’s ringing now but she’s not answering. She was upset with me when I last talked to her, but I’m sure she’ll answer you.”
Her mom was quiet for a second, but thankfully didn’t ask why Savannah was upset. A few minutes later he read the text from her mom letting him know Savannah hadn’t answered.
“Fuck!”
He banged his steering wheel and tried Savannah again a few more times. Each time it rang until it went to voicemail. As he pulled into the parking lot of her dorm the line surprisingly clicked midway through the third ring and Byron’s heart nearly burst with relief, until he heard the male voice on the other end.
“Hello?”
Glancing down, he checked to make sure he hadn’t hit a different number by mistake, but confirmed it was hers. It’s when another thought of why she 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 almost smiled. “Mr. Moreno? You found her?”
“No. Just her phone.” Feeling the blood thrum in his ears, Byron swallowed 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 the charger.”
“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, minus the part about her being upset with him. Then let him know it was him knocking at the door. Her uncle Angel opened it, looking as worried as Byron was now feeling.
Her dad walked out of her bedroom holding a phone. It rang and they 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. The door was unlocked, and her phone was here on the charger but no one else is here.”
The man was quiet for a moment as he listened to whatever she was saying, then his expression went rigid, and he glanced up at Byron. “She was upset 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 what this is all about?”
Byron shook his head. “I don’t think she’d worry you guys over anything that happened between me and her.”
In the next moment as her dad took a deep breath he also seemed to 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, gasping wide eyed when she saw them all standing there. But Savannah didn’t walk in with her.
“Where’s Savannah?” Byron, Taz and her father all asked in unison.
She shook her head still looking very stunned. “I thought she was in La Jolla.”
“She never got there,” her dad explained everything going on. “We’ve been calling both of you and neither were answering. We didn’t know what to think.”
“Sorry. I was on a date and I silenced my phone.”
Savannah’s dad turned to Byron again. “Why the fuck was my daughter upset?”
One quick glance at Xochitl, and Byron knew she knew. She looked as horrified as Byron felt over the prospect of him having to explain this to this brood. “She uh, ran into someone I used to—”
“Last I heard from her when I spoke with her on the phone, she was leaving 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 turn in an assignment.”
“What?” Again, Byron and her dad spoke in unison.
“So, she never got back from the lab over two hours ago?” Her dad sounded as alarmed by this as Byron was.
The sudden chill down Byron’s spine was reminiscent of what he’d felt the day he got the call about his mother. God no. He’d been so sure this had nothing to do with the shooting at the school, and now it may have everything to do with it. Sal held her aghast looking dad back again because he looked ready to bolt out of there, just as Byron felt like doing now too. Only the sheer terror he was feeling now, rendered him completely inert.
Sal said something about the news coverage reporting the whole place was on lockdown. Even streets leading up to it. There’d be no way they could get anywhere near there.
Byron felt ready to pass out. He was suddenly assaulted with all the memories he’d since repressed. Both from the day his mother died, and when he’d gotten the news of Lizette. The feelings of utter shock and disbelief overwhelmed 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 two horrific events in his life, he already knew he’d never survive this if something had happened to her.
The noise from her dad and his brothers arguing, and then Xochitl turning on the news because she hadn’t even heard about the shooting, was nothing but a droning buzz in Byron’s ears. The boulder in his throat, threatened to suffocate him now, as the reality that something might have actually 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 on the television.
“. . . school administrator having marital problems for some time. Her estranged husband entered the lab where a gunshot was heard . . .”
“Oh, my God! The lab.” Xochitl brought her hand over her mouth. “That’s where Savannah was going.”
The whole room seemed to hold their breath at once, as they continued to listen. The standoff was over now, and the guy had been taken into custody, but it wasn’t clear if there were any injuries, or God forbid, fatalities.
They broke away from the story suddenly to report on the death of a popular daytime soap star. “What the fuck?” Her dad echoed Byron’s sentiments exactly. “I don’t give a shit about that,” he roared doing a double take when he glanced a Byron. “You crying, boy?”
Not until that moment had Byron realized terrified tears had escaped him. They all stared at him and he glanced away swatting them away, though even their staring didn’t slow or stop the tears from coming.
“Alright,” Sal said lifting a hand. “Everybody just calm down. We don’t know anything yet. They haven’t even—”
The front door opened and like a God sent miracle, Savannah walked in. Just as Xochitl had when she’d walked in, she froze at the sight of all of them. Before anyone else could, Byron rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Even having her in the safety of his arms knowing she was fine, didn’t stop the fucking tears, but he didn’t care at that point. He was just beyond relieved that she was okay. “Jesus Christ, Savannah. I was so scared.”