The Herd(23)

“Has anyone talked to her?” I pressed.

Katie made a combo laugh-scoff. “Breathe, Hana. If everyone reacted this way every time I was twenty minutes late…”

“It’s just not like her. Who heard from her last?”

“I think I got an email from her this morning,” Mikki offered, pulling out her phone. One by one, we all checked. “An email at ten fifty-four. She just said, ‘Let’s discuss tomorrow.’?”

“She texted me right before one. Just said, ‘Okay,’?” I added.

“I haven’t heard from her, but”—Katie shrugged—“she was busy preparing for tonight, right?”

“What do you think happened? Was she in an accident?” Mikki said what I’d been thinking, the only reasonable explanation I could come up with. Why hadn’t anyone contacted one of us? Didn’t she have ID on her? Had it just happened—oh God, was she mangled, critical, barely recognizable as Eleanor?

My phone rang and I almost laughed at my histrionics—that had to be Eleanor, sprinting down Sixth Avenue after getting caught in traffic…

But it was the Herd’s front desk. “I just talked to Aria. Eleanor had a four o’clock appointment but didn’t show. Didn’t cancel it either.”

“Okay. Where was it supposed to be? The appointment?”

“Eleanor’s apartment. Aria said it’s happened a couple times before, where Eleanor changes her plans and forgets to cancel, and she still pays the full amount plus the cancellation fee, so Aria wasn’t too concerned.”

“So she rang the doorbell and no one answered?”

“Right, that’s what she said.”

I thanked her and relayed the update. Again, my mind whipped up an image: Eleanor’s body crumpled on her kitchen floor, blue from choking on a grape or bloodied from a sudden fall or perfect-looking, normal, the outside hiding the hemorrhage streaking blood across her brain…

“Okay, so she said Eleanor’s been flaky before.” Katie crossed her arms, still determinedly unconcerned.

“Who has Daniel’s number?” Mikki asked.

I whipped up a finger, then turned on the speaker as I dialed.

“Hello? Hana?”

“Daniel, I’m with Mikki. Is Eleanor with you?”

“What? No, I’m on my way to Hielo right now. From work.” A siren wailed in the background. “It hasn’t started yet, has it?”

“Did you talk to Eleanor today?” Katie broke in. Silence, so she added, “This is Katie.”

“No, I was planning to see her at the event.”

“Do you know where she is?” I said.

“She isn’t with you?” Like it was dawning on him: “Wait, where is she then?”

“Daniel, can you track her phone?” Katie asked. “Like, with location services?”

“That won’t work,” I cut in. “She told me last week she wasn’t going to turn on location services on her new one. Better to maintain her privacy, and she pointed out that it didn’t do her any good with the last phone.”

Katie looked confused and Mikki said, “Huh?” right as Daniel said, “How do we find her then?”

Shoot—Katie and Mikki hadn’t heard about the stolen phone and subsequent photo debacle. I pretended I hadn’t heard them. “Have the cab take you home—see if she’s left a note or anything. Let us know.”

I could feel the night careening out of my control, black ice beneath the tires. I kept seeing it: Eleanor’s body by the side of the road. “Her Gaze interview is supposed to start, like, now,” I announced.

Mikki frowned. “We should cancel it, right?”

I squeezed my eyes closed. What Would Eleanor Do? “The timing is—we need to make the announcement now because we’re already so close to the end of the year. Something with stocks, the trading calendar.”

Mikki squared her shoulders. “Hana, I swear to God, if you don’t tell us what the hell this announcement is all about—”

“Titan is acquiring the Herd.” I took in their blank stares and sighed. “It’s huge news. Unprecedented. The world’s largest technology company is buying the Herd.”

Two seconds, three. Katie frowned. “Wait, what? Eleanor’s giving up the company?”

“No, she’s retaining control. But it’ll mean we can grow and expand in mind-blowing ways. We can—”

“Hana, stop.” Mikki flung out her palm. “We don’t know where Eleanor is. This isn’t—this doesn’t matter at all.”

“I’m just trying to think. It does matter to her, I know it does.” I chewed on my lip. “She said that with filing laws, we need to announce today in order to have enough trading days before the end of the year. It’s already down to the wire, and she’s very concerned about bad press.” UGLY CUNTS, the graffiti I’d miraculously kept hidden from the news vultures. “She won’t be happy if the New York Times’ headline is, like, ‘Herd Cancels Buzzed-About Event Minutes Before It Starts.’?”

“You know what also won’t look good?” Katie snapped. “?‘Herd Founder Goes MIA; Organization Holds Event Anyway.’?” Mikki nodded and pointed at her, jabbing her hand in agreement.