I head straight for my phone, pull it off the charging dock, immediately swipe to Alexi’s number, and hit dial, tensing my whole body and holding my breath as I put it to my ear.

It rings out for what seems like an eternity, then goes straight to his answerphone, and I try again.

Two, three, four, five times in a row with mounting panic as each one trails off and then goes to his voicemail. I take a heavy breath and shake myself. Instead, I pull up Mico’s number and try him ...