When Justin returned to the apartment he found it empty. There was no sign that anyone had been there since he had left that morning. He thought Audrey would have come home by now, at least for a change of clothes. The fact that she hadn't, worried him.
On his way back to the Burgess' house, he decided to stop by the Townsend offices and find out if Lawrence was in. If he was, then perhaps he would know something about Audrey's whereabouts. If he wasn't, then he would have to assume that the two had skipped work to spend the day together.
When he walked into the building he was greeted at the door by Amanda, "Can I help you?"
"Is Lawrence Arrendale in?"
"Yes. Have a seat and he'll be with you in a minute"
Justin had just sat down when he saw Lawrence approach. He stood up to meet him, "I don't know if you remember me, I'm Justin Jordan, Audrey's brother," he introduced himself.
"Yes, I remember. What brings you here?"
"I don't want to pry, but I was wondering if you knew where my sister might be. I only ask because she hasn't been home and her boss called this morning to ask why she didn't show up for work."
Lawrence shrugged, "I have no idea where she is."
"She didn't say anything to you last night . . .or this morning about her plans for the day?"
"I haven't talked to her in days," Lawrence frowned.
"Then you didn't have a date with her last night? But you sent her flowers with a card that asked her to meet you for dinner."
Lawrence shook his head, confused, "I didn't send her anything."
"Are you talking about Audrey?" Chad interrupted. "I saw her at a restaurant last night, Rodney's Hideaway. She was alone, but she looked like she was dressed up to meet somebody."
"Did you see anything? Did she say anything to you?" Justin asked eagerly.
Chad shook his head, "She told me to get lost, so I left . . .And neither of you have seen her since?"
"I just assumed she spent the night with you," Justin said, turning to Lawrence. "The bouquet of flowers and the card that came with them are on the desk in our apartment. They were signed with your name."
"I don't care whose name is on them. I didn't send anything to Audrey and I didn't go anywhere last night," Lawrence insisted. "I was home all evening and I was alone. If she spent the night with someone, it wasn't me."
"But why would someone want her to think she was meeting you?"
"This isn't good," Chad sad solemnly, breaking the tense silence that followed Justin's question. "I hate to say it, but I think someone's set her up. We've got to find her."
Lawrence walked past them to Amanda's desk, "Hold our calls. Chad and I are going out."
"Hi," Reese grinned as she hurried up the front steps towards Blaine. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I got held up at the office and I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to get out of there for lunch at all today."
"It's no problem. I haven't been waiting long."
Reese unlocked the front door and led Blaine inside the house.
"Here it is," Reese said motioning to the desk where a computer was set up. "It's nothing fancy, just one of the older models the firm wanted to get rid of when they upgraded, but it's better than what I had before. No offense, but trying to store everything and keep it organized while using public computers wasn't working out for me."
"No offense taken. Believe me, I get it," Blaine said as he set down in front of the machine. "So what do you need me to do?"
"I was hoping you could help get everything transferred from my discs and set up on the computer. It's kind of a mess right now. I've got all of my work stuff and personal research mixed together."
"No problem. This shouldn't be too hard."
As Blaine went to work, Reese took a seat next to him and watched over his shoulder. She had never been one to depend on other people to do things for her, but she couldn't help thinking that it was kind of nice to have a boyfriend who would come over when she did need help.
"I'm going to have lunch before I go back to work. Do you want a sandwich or something?"
"Sounds great. Thanks," Blaine said as he clicked away at the mouse. A moment later, Blaine called back to Reese, "Is this the research you've done on your parents?"
Reese walked back to the computer and looked over his shoulder at the screen. "Yes. Unfortunately there's not much. I've tried checking the birth records from when I was born, but I haven't been about to find any matches."
"Can't the orphanage give you any information?"
"Either they can't or they won't. I've tried talking to Annie about it, but she won't tell me anything. I'm beginning to think it's a lost cause."
"Don't say that. There must be something out there that can help you find your past. I'll help you look. . . if you want."
"Would you really?" Reese smiled. "I don't know if you'll have much luck, but thanks."
"That's her car," Justin said as he walked up to the vehicle parked in front of the restaurant. He tried to open the driver's side door, but found it locked. When he looked through the window, he noticed Audrey's purse sitting on the front passenger seat. "She's left her handbag. Where could she have gone without her car and without her handbag?"
"Did she have her purse with her when you saw her last night?" Lawrence asked Chad.
Chad thought a moment and then shook his head. "I didn't notice." He went over the events of the night before out loud. "I saw her go into the restaurant. She was only inside a minute before she came out again. That's when we ran into each other and she told me to stay away from her. Then she went back inside and I left."
"Let's hope someone inside saw something," Lawrence said.
Inside, Lawrence, Justin, and Chad approached the hostess' podium. Since Chad was busy surveying their surroundings and Justin seemed out of sorts, Lawrence did the talking.
"Excuse me. We are looking for a woman who was here last night, Audrey Jordan. She might have been expecting to meet me here. I'm Lawrence Arrendale."
"Oh, yes . . ." the hostess replied, taken by surprise at the unusual question. "She was here last night, but she left right after I gave her your message."
"Message?" Lawrence repeated.
"Yes, the one your secretary phoned in."
"What was the message?" Chad asked eagerly.
"It was for her to meet him on the patio out back. Since she left the building as soon as I gave her the message, I assume that's where she went."
Quickly thanking the hostess, they hurried outside.
When they rounded the corner of the building, they found the patio deserted.
"Audrey?" Justin called out hopefully. He paused a moment, waiting for a reply as he scanned the area. There was no sign that Audrey had been there.
"What's that?" Chad called out as he stepped forward. Lying by itself on the ground was a small dark object that seemed out of place. As he got closer he saw that it was a brick. He reached out his hand to pick it up, but suddenly jerked back without touching it. "There's blood on it."
"My God," Justin breathed, feeling suddenly weak.
"I'm calling the police," Lawrence announced and went back into the restaurant.
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