Page 70 of Off Limits (Alpha Billionaire)

“I really couldn’t say. We haven’t paid a visit to her yet today.” Mrs. Coleson was very precise in her schedule of Max. I didn’t know when, or how often, they visited with Mother.

“Has Max had lunch yet?”

“I ate macaroni and cheeses,” he answered.

“And you like that?” I asked.

“It’s my favorite.”

“Good to know,” I said.

A chime sounded, and Mrs. Coleson stood and announced, “It’s nap time.”

Max pouted in my arms. I kissed his head and set him down. “Be a good boy. Have a good nap, and I will be home later.”

Reluctantly, he walked back to where she was holding her hand out to him.

“You haven’t seen Jessica at all today?” I asked one more time for confirmation.

She shook her head and then turned her attention to Max. I left and headed downstairs. In the kitchen, my cook, Lori, was doing some kind of meal prep with earbuds in. I caught her attention.

“Oh, hi. Haven’t seen you for a while. Did you need something? A special request?” Lori asked.

“Have you seen Jessica?” I asked.

Lori blinked a few times and looked perplexed. “Now that you mention it, I don’t even think she had breakfast sent up. Is she ready for lunch?”

“No, I’m trying to find her. No one seems to know where she is.”

“Maybe she’s out on the deck. She was up and walking around yesterday. Maybe she’s feeling better. She’s not with your mother, is she?”

I shrugged. “That’s next.”

I left and walked down the hall to Mother’s rooms. I knocked. Clara opened the door a crack.

“Your mother is asleep.”

“Asleep? So, Jessica is not in there?” I asked.

“Why would she be here? She can barely walk. Your mother had a good visit with her yesterday out in the living room, but Jessica was having a hard time when she had to return upstairs. Could barely move and was crying, her feet hurt so bad. I’ll give her points for not making a fuss about it, though. She was hurting pretty bad and tears were running down her face, but she soldiered up those stars with the help of that nurse. She’s a fighter, she is.”

I stared at Clara for a moment. She never spoke kindly about Jessica. I’d have to find out what that was all about, but it was good to hear. Maybe they had finally found common ground.

“Yeah, she is. I can’t seem to find her,” I confessed.

“I heard. The other staff have been muttering about her. I take it the nurse showed up and they discovered Jessica is gone and no one knows anything.”

“I’ll let you rest while Mother is asleep,” I said before walking away. Jessica wasn’t in the house. I didn’t remember seeing her car in the drive.

I pulled out my phone and reread Jessica’s messages from this morning. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She had a knack for texting me right when I was in the middle of needing to focus.

I sent a quick text.Where are you?

I sat in one of the side chairs of the living room and watched my phone, waiting for her to respond. I don’t know how long I stared at my phone before I remembered that after the incident with Ryan, I added Jessica to my devices list. I opened the tracker app on my phone.

There was a blue dot for my phone, but nothing indicating a second phone. I hit the icon for Jessica’s phone, and the map jumped. She was not here. I had to zoom out the map before I could see where she had gone. She was at the mouth of Carmel Valley.

It took a few moments before comprehension kicked in. She was at the same hotel where she had taken Max. But why? My gut clenched. The last time she had been there, well, I didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to dwell on things that didn’t happen, but I was still concerned.

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