Chapter 448
“So Effie never even agreed to go out with Fidelia in the first place-how can you possibly blame her for this?”
Lindy shot an angry look at Marcia. “Marcia, it’s not fair to throw accusations at Effie just because you’re upset.”
Realizing she was losing ground, Marcia glanced nervously at Lindy.
Suddenly, tears welled up and spilled over as she burst out, “But what are we supposed to do about Fidelia?”
Effie’s voice rang out through the speakerphone, calm and clear: “We should call the police.”
“But….. it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since she went missing. Will they even take the case? And, well… she’s an adult now,” someone hesitated.
That was exactly why Marcia had tried to drag Effie into the mess. After all, the main branch of the family had much more sway than the Fowlers did.
“Fidelia is family. Of course we’ll help,” Lindy said firmly. “But I don’t want to hear any more blame being tossed around.”
Marcia was quick to respond, “Thank you, Lindy. I’m sorry. I was just panicking.”
Tears streaked Marcia’s cheeks, her face twisted with anxious worry for her daughter. No matter how angry Lindy was, she couldn’t keep scolding her now. “Let’s leave it for now,” Lindy said, sighing. “We’ll talk more once we find her.”
Sensing Lindy’s softening, Marcia seized the moment, pleading, “Since you’re willing to help, could you call Lyman for me? He’s resourceful, knows a lot of people. If anyone can find Fidelia, it’s him.”
Lindy could see right through Marcia’s attempt to rope Effie into responsibility. But she didn’t call her out.
“Lyman’s out of town on business—he won’t be back soon. But I’ll give him a call and ask him to reach out to his contacts.”
Marcia nearly dropped to her knees in gratitude. “Thank you, Lindy. Thank you so much.”
A little while later, Effie’s phone buzzed. She answered, “Hey, Lyman?”
“I heard about Fidelia. And Aunt Marcia tried to pin it on you?”
Effie sighed. “Yeah, but it’s fine. I’m not that easy to push around.”
There was a pause, then Lyman
said Don’t worry about any of thet
All handle it. I’ll have people look for Fidelia.”
“Okay.”
Effie hesitated, then added, “Fidelia
sent me her location. I’ll forward it to
septime
you so you can pass it on to your
contacts.”
“Will do,” Lyman replied.
“Just stay home and don’t go anywhere. No one’s going to give you any trouble,”
he told her gently.
Staying out of it didn’t mean running away.
“Alright,” she agreed quietly.
This whole thing really had nothing to do with her, and Effie had no intention of getting dragged in.
Just then, her phone rang again—Nita’s name flashed on the screen. Effie picked up immediately. “Nita?”
“Effie, I went to a live escape room event today, and I saw your sister-in-law, Fidelia,” Nita said breathlessly.
“Where are you now? Is she still with you?” Effie asked quickly.
If there was a real lead, she wasn’t above lending a hand.
Nita explained, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I was actually there today for work, to meet a new client Sol was pretty much glued their side. But then realized your sister-in-law was gone! No one saw where she went…”
A loud clatter rang out as Nita’s phone hit the floor, the sharp sound slicing through the call.