No Help’s Coming

I sat down on the edge of the bed, holding Kieran’s hand, my heart pounding. Kieran asked again, ‘What’s wrong?’ I decided to be honest with him. ‘Claire has left the house.’ ‘Walk?’ ‘Maybe. But she might have gotten lost. Do you want to come with me to look for her?’ Kieran nodded. ‘Then go get dressed.’ I watched Kieran pad over to the walk-in closet and wondered who else I could call for help. Come to think of it, I didn’t have that many friends. My best friend, Cara, was in some far-flung corner of the world with her husband and son, working for Doctors Without Borders. Even if I wanted to contact her, I wouldn’t know how. As for my other friends… Kingsley and Conor were in Lisbern at the moment. I scrolled through my contact list, hesitating. I didn’t want to bother the two of them again—they had helped me more than enough. But Claire was obviously agitated and not thinking straight. If the person she was following turned out to be the guy who cheated her out of her life savings,