The Heart System

Chapter 581

I locked the car and stepped out, pulling my jacket a little tighter as the rain tapped steadily against it. The street was quieter than most parts of the city, the kind of neighborhood that sat right on the edge of urban and suburban. There were still apartment buildings and paved roads, but they were smaller, older, and spaced out more loosely. A few houses stood between them, each with small front yards and dim porch lights. It wasn’t exactly rural, but it had that slower, less crowded feel to it. Fewer cars, fewer people, and a kind of silence you didn’t get downtown.

I walked up to the house and knocked on the door, then stepped back slightly. The lights were off inside, and there wasn’t any sound coming through. For a moment, I hoped Ivy was just passed out in there, crashing at her friend’s place and forgetting to tell Delilah. That would’ve been the easiest outcome.

I knocked again. Then again.

Still nothing.

I was about to move toward the window beside the door to try and peek inside when a light flicked on. A faint shuffle came from behind the door, followed by a tired voice.

”Who is it?”

”Hey, I’m Ivy’s friend,” I said. ”Delilah, uh, Mrs. Komb, was worried about her daughter. Is she there?”

There was a pause.

”Ivy...” the woman muttered from inside. ”No. I thought she went straight home. I offered her to stay, though. But she acted like she didn’t know me... I’m still drunk, sorry.”

I frowned. ”Where were you guys drinking?”

”A club not far from here,” she replied. ”Called Ex’s.”

”Ex’s,” I repeated, already pulling out my phone and searching it. The location popped up almost immediately. Five minutes away.

”Okay. Thank you.”

”Mm.”

The light inside turned off again, and that was that.

I headed back to my car, unlocked it, and got in. As I set the phone on the stand and started the engine, I let out a breath.

”Seriously...” I muttered. ”Making me chase all over the place.”

I pulled out onto the road and started following the route. Rain streaked across the windshield, the wipers barely keeping up as I drove through the quiet streets. My grip on the wheel tightened slightly.

Just why couldn’t she accept it? Chase was gone. It was over. None of this was her fault. And yet she was out there, drinking in the morning, picking fights, disappearing without telling anyone.

I pressed the gas a little harder.

The traffic lights ahead turned yellow, then red. I pushed through just before it fully changed, my attention flicking briefly to the map on my phone.

Right then, my phone rang.

Delilah.

I answered without slowing down.

”Evan,” she said immediately. ”Her friend just called me back.”

”Yeah,” I replied. ”I woke her up a few minutes ago.”

”So she wasn’t there?” Delilah asked, her voice tightening. ”Oh my god, where is she?”

”I’m heading to a place called Ex’s,” I said. ”It’s nearby. I’ll let you know what I find.”

”Okay... please,” she said. ”Hopefully it’s nothing bad.”

”Yeah,” I muttered. ”Talk soon.”

I hung up and focused back on the road.

A few minutes later, I slowed down and pulled over into an empty parking spot along the side of the street. The club was right there.

Ex’s.

Except... it didn’t look open.

The lights inside were dim, the sign barely glowing, and the front doors were shut. For a nightclub, it felt way too dead for this time.

I stepped out of the car after grabbing my phone and walked up to the entrance. The rain hit a little harder now, soaking into my shoulders as I reached for the handle.

Locked.

I leaned forward, pressing my hands against the glass as I tried to see inside. It was dark, but not empty. I could make out movement near the back. Someone was there, mopping the floor.

”Hey,” I called, tapping the glass. ”Hey!”

The person inside looked up, noticed me, and after a moment, walked over. He leaned the mop against a table and unlocked the door.

”Sorry, man,” he said as he opened it slightly. ”We’re closed. Come back another time.”

”No, no,” I said quickly. ”I’m looking for my friend. Ivy.”

He frowned. ”I don’t know who that is. I’m not good with names or faces.”

”Shit...” I muttered, rubbing my forehead. ”What happened here?”

”Fight broke out,” he said. ”Two people got into it. Cops showed up, then they found cocaine in the men’s bathroom. So yeah, we shut down early.”

”Great,” I sighed. I pulled out my phone and opened Ivy’s profile, turning the screen toward him. ”Can you at least tell me if you saw her?”

He leaned closer, squinting at the picture. After a second, his expression shifted.

”Oh, yeah,” he said. ”I’ve seen her. One of the customers recognized her too.”

”How?”

He shrugged. ”Something about that psycho guy... Chance? Chase? His girlfriend, right?.”

I clenched my jaw slightly. ”Right.”

”Anyway,” he continued, ”that customer and this girl got into a fight. Then... Ivy, right? Her friend stepped in, broke it up. After that, they both left in a taxi.”

”A taxi?” I asked. ”Did you see where they went?”

He shook his head. ”No, but I heard her friend saying Ivy could crash at her place.”

”That’s it?” I asked.

”That’s all I got.”

I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my wet hair. ”Alright. Thanks.”

”No problem, man,” he said. ”Hope you find her.”

”Yeah,” I muttered, stepping back from the door.

The rain kept falling as I stood there for a second, staring at the ground.

Taxi. Friend. Somewhere else.

”Damn it...”

With no option left, I just grabbed my cigarette and lit one, standing under the weak cover of the club’s entrance while the rain kept pouring down. The streetlights reflected off the wet asphalt, stretching long yellow lines across the road. Every passing car sent a thin spray of water toward the sidewalks, and the cold was starting to creep through my jacket.

Where would she have gone?

Her friend offered her a place to stay, she accepted, and then apparently she never even made it there. That meant she changed direction somewhere in between. But why? And more importantly, where?

”In her state...” I muttered under my breath, exhaling smoke. ”Where the hell would you go, Ivy?”

I pulled my phone out and dialed her number again, more out of desperation than hope. The ringtone echoed in my ear, stretching longer than it needed to, each second dragging my patience thinner.

No answer.

I clenched my jaw and lowered the phone, staring at the ground for a second before letting out a quiet, frustrated breath.

”Ah... figures.”