The dispatcher told me to remain calm.
I photographed the note and bottle, then messaged Paige.
Stop every wedding payment that hasn’t been finalized. Don’t contact Colin.
She called immediately, but I declined.
A moment later, she replied.
I trust you. I’m stopping everything.
I hid the note and medicine in my handbag, returned the other items to the backpack, and pushed it behind the couch.
Then I opened the bathroom door.
Colin was waiting.
His eyes moved from my face to my handbag.
“You look pale.”
“Wedding stress.”
“You’ve never been nervous about marrying me.”
He reached for my purse.
“I’ll carry that.”
I stepped back.
“I can carry it.”
His hand slowly fell.
I looked directly at him.
“Where is Judith?”
“At home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The hesitation lasted less than a second.
But I saw it.
A hard knock sounded downstairs.
Elaine called from the kitchen.
“Colin? The police are here.”
His expression changed.
“What did you do?”
I walked past him.
When the officers asked about Judith, Colin smiled as though the entire situation embarrassed him.
“My fiancée is overwhelmed because of the wedding. She misunderstood a private family matter.”
Elaine stared at me.
“You called the police on Colin?”
“Judith has been missing for hours.”
“She isn’t missing,” Colin said. “I dropped her near the residence. She wanted to stop at the pharmacy.”
One officer checked his notes.
“The residence says she never returned.”
“Then she must have gone somewhere else.”
“Without her phone?” I asked.
I placed the prescription bottle on the kitchen table.
Elaine recognized it immediately.
“That’s Judith’s.”
“It was hidden upstairs with her identification, cards, and signed checks.”
Colin’s pleasant expression disappeared.
“She asked me to keep them safe.”
I handed the officer Judith’s note.
“She asked him to return them.”
Elaine read over the officer’s shoulder.
“Colin?”
“It isn’t what it looks like.”
“What does it look like?” I asked.
He turned toward me.
“You don’t understand her condition.”
“I understand the word no.”
“She changes her mind constantly.”
“Then why did you lie about taking her home?”
Before he could respond, the officer’s radio crackled.
Police had circulated Judith’s description and were checking the area around the bank and her residence.
A few minutes later, another message came through.
“They found her,” the officer said.
My knees weakened.
“Is she hurt?”
“She’s exhausted and upset, but she appears unharmed. A passerby found her sitting outside a bank branch.”
Elaine gripped the back of a chair.
“How did she end up there?”
Colin spoke quickly.
“She became angry and refused to get back in the car. I thought she had arranged transportation.”
The officer looked directly at him.
“Judith says you left after she refused to withdraw money.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“You had her phone,” I said. “How was she supposed to call anyone?”
My own phone rang.
It was Paige.
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