I went back to Laurie's usual spot, closed my eyes, and breathed. There wasn't a trace of him left.
Nothing to follow. Nothing to even ease the ache in my mind and in my chest, the parts of me that couldn't fathom the thought that he might have really disappeared.
My phone rang, and I nearly didn't answer it.
But I had to. Laurie or not, I had a job, and my bosses were even less tolerant of bullshit than I was.
"What is it?" I snapped.
Because my boss or not, I wasn't in the mood.
"What crawled up your ass and died?" Esther shot back. "Focus, Tristan, and ditch the attitude. We have a problem."
"I need the night off," I said, keeping my tone even with difficulty. "I have a problem too. Personal."
Esther fell silent for a moment. "Is this something to do with that little friend of yours?"
I went cold all over, colder than the frigid air could account for. "Everything, Esther. What's going on, and don't fuck around with me."
