Page 6 of Wicked Royals
As much as I liked him, I wasn’t in the mood to listen to a wild conspiracy theory right now. Fortunately, I spotted a way out of the conversation almostimmediately.
“Shit! They’re cutting the cake already,” I said, craning my neck to look over at the table on the other side of the room. Two servers were in the process of slicing up my mother’s tiered birthday cake, and she was nowhere to beseen.
“What’s wrong? Did you want some?” Rowanasked.
I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. My mom wanted to be in here when they started serving it, because it’s her favorite type of cake. I even asked the servers to make sure she was standing right there when they cut it so she could have the firstpiece.”
Rowan whipped his head around. “I can’t see heranywhere.”
“Me neither. I actually haven’t seen her for a while,” I said, forehead puckering with confusion. My mother usually loved attention, so it was strange that she wasn’t front and center at her ownparty.
“I haven’t seen her either,” Rowan said. “Your dad’s gone too. I saw him heading to the bathroom ages ago, and I haven’t seen himsince.”
I sighed. “Oh, well. I better go find Mom before the whole cakedisappears.”
“Why don’t you take a slice with you just in case?” Rowansuggested.
“Good idea. I’ll see you later,okay?”
“Sure,” he said with a nod. Before I could walk away, he grabbed my arm and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Wait. I forgot to tell you. I think the secret society leader is going to kill PresidentRutherford.”
“What?”
“I don’t know how or when, exactly, but I think it’ll happensoon.”
“I’m sure the president will be fine, Rowan,” I said with a sympathetic smile. “I’ll talk to yousoon.”
He gave me a faint smile in return and dropped myarm.
I headed over to the cake to grab a plate for my mother. She was still nowhere to be seen, and no one I asked in the next five minutes seemed to have spoken to her recently either. A state senator from Connecticut was the last one to speak with her before she disappeared from the party, and that was over thirty minutesago.
I stepped out onto the large curved veranda of the Queen Anne-style mansion, wondering if my mother had simply decided to get some air. There were a few partygoers standing around enjoying a breeze as it skated through the area, but she wasn’t one ofthem.
With a sigh, I headed back inside and started checking the upstairsrooms.
My little brother Jared was fast asleep in his bedroom. I leaned down, kissed his soft forehead, and pulled the blankets up over him before quietly heading down the hall to the sitting room on the other side of the top floor. It was a circular room with a turret on top and wide windows wrapping around it, so it gave the best view of thegrounds.
I peered outside. Mom enjoyed evening walks in the gardens every so often, so I figured she might’ve taken a few favored guests out for a tour of theestate.
Even though it was late, the grounds were well-lit by wrought iron lamps hanging on vintage posts. From my spot at the window, I could see nearly every inch of the lawns along with the manicured hedges, trees, andgardens.
Right now, every garden was completelyunoccupied.
“Damn,” I muttered. “There goes thatidea.”
I looked down. Directly below me was a white wooden pergola with a curved top covered in climbing vines and purple flowers. There was a little gate on the other side of it, leading into the lengthy heated pool area that a previous VP had installed on the grounds. Two Secret Service agents were standing nextit.
“Bingo,” I whispered, lifting my gaze to the rest of the pool area. Mom was standing near the gazebo on the western end. It was so far away that I could only tell it was her by the color of her dress and the curvaceous shape of herbody.
She was with someone, but I couldn’t tell who it was no matter how much I squinted. All I could make out was a tall dark-haired man in a suit, and that wasn’t exactly helpful, considering half the guests at this party fitted thatdescription.
I briskly headed back downstairs and went outside. My Secret Service detail followed me out, but they didn’t ask what I was doing. As long as I remained on the grounds, they didn’tcare.
I walked through the pergola and stopped at the gate on the other side. My mother’s agents stepped right in front of it, blocking my way. “Sorry, Miss,” the shorter one said. “We can’t let youthrough.”
“It’s just me,” I said with a frown. “You know I’m not going to walk up to her and stab her with a poison-filledsyringe.”
“I know, but she asked to be left alone while she’s outhere.”
