Page 76 of The Woman

I ignore his comment, sitting perched on the edge of my home office desk. “That sweep thing you mentioned. Can you tell me anything else about it?”

“What?”

“Do you know what they’re called or where I could find them?”

I have no doubt my grandfather would know, but he would be far more suspicious and ask questions, only adding to the stress of the situation and making it worse. And in the end, he’d be less likely to give me the information I need.

It’s silent for a moment before I hear a door close through the line and then the sound of his chair squeaking. “What the fuck, Phoenix? You’ve practically been MIA since you got your woman, and now you call asking about a sweep?”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I suck in a deep breath. “I just need to know.”

“I don’t know, man. I only ever heard them saying it was happening more, not who they are or anything.”

Fuck. My eyes close, and my hopes of finding her diminish rapidly. I’m probably too late as it is. What if she’s already been changed? What if something happened and she didn’t make it? A heavy weight settles over me at the thought. I click on the video again, pausing it when I can still see her smiling face.

No. I can’t accept that. I have to believe that there is time for me to work something out, whether it be emptying my bank account or breaking in there myself.

“What is this about?” Edison asks, his tone concerned.

I could probably tell him the truth, and he wouldn’t say anything. He’s never let me down before and has always had my back. But I don’t want to put him in that position, force him to keep my secrets, and possibly get into trouble for it. As it is, I may still face the consequences for keeping her when I knew what she was.

I’ve instructed Thomas to play stupid and deny any knowledge of it if asked. He’s simply my assistant with no important family connections. Edison, on the other hand . . .

“Nothing,” I lie, swallowing thickly and pushing to my feet. “I was going to see if I could set up a meeting with them about designing one of their locations. I thought it would be a good business move.”

“Oh.” He chuckles lightly. “For fuck’s sake, it’s always about your career with you. Poor Avery must get neglected a lot, although I think your total aversion to her has changed along the way.” A fucking ache begins in my chest at the mention of her name, and I ball my free hand into a fist. “Anyway, if they’ve done a sweep of your building before, I’m sure they probably have their name somewhere.”

Shit. I didn’t even think of that.

“Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Wait,” he says just as I’m about to hang up. “How about we meet up at O’Malleys for a drink tonight? Catch up a bit. It’s been a while.”

The mention of O’Malleys has my mind swinging to Jonah, and my teeth grind together. If it wasn’t the sweep, then I have a strong suspicion that he would have been the one to report her.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” I reply, walking out to the living room window and looking out at the city. “There are a few things I need to do.”

I hang up, then dial the number to the front desk.

“Mr. Carsen,” Jay, one of the newer and younger employees, answers the phone. “What can I do for you, sir?”

I lean my forehead against the cool glass of the window. “Was there a sweep of this building done today, looking for WOUNs?”

“Uh, um,” he stutters. “I’m not sure if I’m supposed to talk about those things at all.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “I just need a yes or no answer, Jay. Or do I need to speak to your boss?”

“No,” he quickly blurts. “There were no sweeps. Not here. There hasn’t been any for a while.”

I fill my lungs with air and slowly release. If there were no sweeps, that means she was definitely reported.

“Do you have a name or address for them?” I ask, opening my eyes again to stare down at the street far below.

“No. I know for sure they don’t keep that information here. Maybe in security, but I’m not sure.”

Security won’t give me that information. They take the privacy of those who live here or anyone employed here very seriously, and that would absolutely include these people even if they aren’t directly employed.

“Thanks.” I hang up before he can reply and immediately dial Thomas.

---