Reset

“What’s going on, Ruby?” Henry looked around the apartment as if hunting for clues as to what was being kept from him.

Ruby knew he’d find her out in seconds and had told David as much so she knelt down in front of him and put a comforting hand on his forearm as she said, “I’m sure it’s nothing but Emma’s missing.”

Henry’s eyes flew wide open and he let out a gasp of breath.

“It’s okay,” Ruby assured him, “we think she’s out working but we can’t get her on her phone. When David arrived for the morning shift she wasn’t in the office but she’s probably just tied up on a call somewhere.”

Henry worried his bottom lip and nodded before stating, “I don’t want to go to school, I want to help look for her.”

“I’m sorry, Henry,” Ruby nodded her understanding, “I know you want to help out but it’s probably nothing and you can’t miss school over nothing.”

“But she’s missing,” Henry implored the waitress.

Ruby sighed, “look, let’s get some breakfast at the diner and then we’ll call Mary Margaret or David and see what is happening and we’ll make a decision from there, does that sound okay?”

Henry nodded and followed Ruby out of the apartment.

In the Sheriff’s office Mary Margaret was pacing the main office while David sat anxiously on the top of a desk watching his wife.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Mary Margaret announced, “where could she be if both cars are parked outside.”

“I know,” David pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve the stress that was building up, “she’s definitely not in the building, I’ve checked everywhere. And Sean is out looking and casually speaking to people.”

“Why casually?” Mary Margaret frowned.

“We don’t want to create panic,” David told her gently, “people will start to worry if the Saviour is missing.”

“My daughter is missing,” Mary Margaret angrily intoned.

“Snow, we don’t even know if she is missing,” David tried to calm her, “she might have gone for a walk and lost track of time.”

“She might be..” Mary Margaret’s voice hitched as she hesitated to even finish the sentence.

David slid off of the desk and quickly pulled her into a reassuring hold, “look, I got here at six and she wasn’t here,” he looked at the clock, “it’s only eight, that’s two hours, I’m sure everything is fine.”

“Two hours if she went missing at six, what if something happened to her at ten last night? What if it’s ten hours?” Mary Margaret pointed out shakily.

David smiled and held her by her shoulders and looked at her with a reassuring face, “I’m sure everything is fine, we’re just taking precautions. You know Emma, she’s probably gone for a walk or she’s at someone’s house or she’s fallen asleep, it could be anything. Right now we need to keep panic to a minimum, why don’t you go to the diner and try to catch Henry before school?”

Mary Margaret nodded sadly, “yes, I better, Henry will have seen right through Ruby so he’s bound to have questions.”

“Exactly,” David smiled, “he’ll need to be reassured.”

Mary Margaret gave him a hug and then kissed his cheek, “find her, David, find her quickly.”

He nodded and watched as the pixie haired brunette left the office, once she was gone he sighed and ran a hand through his hair with worry. He picked up his radio, “Sean, anything?”

After a moment Sean’s voice crackled to life through the speaker, “nothing, no sign of her, no one has seen her all night.”

David flopped into a chair and grasped the radio with both hands and leant his forehead on the device.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Sean replied down the line, attempting to convince David in much the same way he had tried to convince Mary Margaret.

“Keep looking,” David ordered as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes. He put the radio down and at the same moment his mobile phone rang, he rushed to get it out of the coat that was hanging on the back of a chair in case it was Emma.

He looked at the screen and saw it was Mary Margaret, “hello?”

“Henry’s missing,” Mary Margaret told him quickly, “he was in the diner with Ruby and said he was going to the bathroom but he’s gone..”

“Does he know about Emma being missing?” David quizzed as he picked up his coat and started walking out of the station.

“Yes, he knew something was up,” Mary Margaret said and he could hear Ruby apologising in the background.

“It’s okay,” David said confidently, “I’m on my way now.”

Chapter 30

Henry ran up the path of 108 Mifflin Street with a tear soaked face and quickly hammered on the door and then bent forward as he panted to catch his breath. After a few moments he heard the front door and Regina spoke, “Henry..”

Before she could say anything else he stood up and looked at her and watched her face turn to shock as she saw the tears streaking down his face, “Emma is missing,” he blurted out.

Her facial expression changed again, this time to confusion, “missing?”

Henry could hear the sound of a car coming and turned to see David’s pickup truck park outside the mansion so he quickly turned to Regina, “she’s missing, I know something is wrong, please help to find her.”