Andrew's fists pounded against the door, the force rattling the frame.
"Antonia!"
No answer.
He hit the door again, harder this time. His heart was racing, his mind a blur of panic and dread.
The moment he had heard the gunshots back at the casino, his instincts had screamed at him—something was wrong. He had rushed inside, searched every corner, shouted Ramona's name over and over again, but she was nowhere to be found.
Then he had come here.
If she wasn't at the casino and she wasn't picking up her phone… maybe she had made it home? Maybe she had somehow escaped whatever had happened back there?
Finally, the door yanked open.
Antonia stood there, her expression first irritated, then instantly shifting to concern at the sight of his face.
"Andrew? What the hell—?"
"Is she here?" His voice was rough, breathless. "Ramona—is she here?"
Antonia's brows furrowed. "What? No. I thought she was with you."
Andrew's stomach dropped.
No. No, no, no.
"She never came home?" His voice was barely a whisper.
Antonia shook her head. "No… Andrew, what's going on?"
Andrew felt like he couldn't breathe.
"She's missing."
Silence.
Antonia blinked, her face slack with disbelief. "What?"
"She's missing," he repeated, voice sharper now, his hands balling into fists. "She was at the casino. I was waiting outside for her, but then—I heard gunshots. When I went in, she was gone."
Antonia's face paled. "Gunshots?"
"Yes."
She took a step back, shaking her head. "No, no, that doesn't make sense. Ramona—she would've called. She would've found a way to—"
"I tried calling her." Andrew's voice cracked. "Her phone's off."
Antonia's breath hitched. "No…"
The weight of the situation crashed down between them, suffocating, pressing like a vice against their chests.
Andrew raked a hand through his hair, his entire body pulsing with adrenaline. He needed to do something—anything.
Antonia swallowed hard, eyes darting wildly around the room like she could somehow find an answer hidden in the walls. "Okay—okay, let's think—maybe she—maybe she just lost her phone and—"
"Antonia." His voice was harsh, cutting through her frantic rambling.
She looked at him, and for the first time, true fear bled into her gaze.
Something was wrong.
Something was really wrong.
Andrew exhaled sharply, trying to keep himself from spiraling. He needed to think. He needed to act.
"Okay," he said, his voice firm. "We need to figure out where she could be. We need—"
"To call the cops," Antonia blurted.
"No." Andrew shook his head immediately. "Not yet."
Antonia stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "What do you mean 'not yet'? Andrew, Ramona could be in serious danger! She could be hurt, or—"
"I know that!" he snapped, his voice raw with emotion. "But what if this isn't something the cops can fix? What if this is—bigger?"
Antonia hesitated, her lips pressing together.
She knew Ramona. She knew the kinds of stories she chased. The kind of people she investigated.
If she had disappeared… it wasn't by accident.
Andrew clenched his jaw. "The last thing she told me was that she had something big. She wouldn't tell me what it was, but—" He exhaled sharply. "What if this is because of her investigation? What if whoever she was looking into—took her?"
The words felt poisonous in his mouth, but the second he said them, they felt true.
Antonia's fingers trembled as she covered her mouth, her eyes glossy.
"Oh my God…"
A thick, suffocating silence stretched between them.
Andrew's chest heaved as he struggled to keep himself together. "I should've gone in sooner," he muttered, voice hollow. "I should've—"
"This isn't your fault," Antonia said, though her voice wavered. "This is whoever took her's fault."
Took her.
The reality of it slammed into both of them at once.
Someone had Ramona.
Someone had taken her.
Andrew's breathing became ragged, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He felt like he was going to explode, like he was going to lose his mind.
His eyes darted to Antonia's.
"We have to find her."
Antonia nodded, her hands gripping the edges of her sweater like she was trying to ground herself. "But how? Where do we even start?"
Andrew's mind raced.
Where? Where could she be? Who could have taken her?
Then, it hit him.
"The casino," he breathed.
Antonia frowned. "What?"
"I need to go back." His voice gained urgency. "I need to go back to the casino and ask around—see if anyone saw something."
Antonia hesitated. "Andrew, we don't even know who to ask—"
"I don't care," he growled. "Someone there had to have seen something. They had to."
Antonia opened her mouth like she wanted to argue, but then she saw the look on his face.
She swallowed hard.
"I'm coming with you."
"No," he said immediately. "It's too dangerous."
"I don't care." She squared her shoulders. "Ramona is my best friend. If you think I'm just going to sit here and wait for news, you're out of your mind."
Andrew hesitated for only a second before nodding.
They didn't have time to argue.
They needed to move.
Now.
Without another word, they turned and rushed out the door.