Page 101 of Devil's Riches

19

Nate

I toredown the coastal highway, leaving every other car in my dust. For the second time this evening, my destination was the Paxton estate.

Edward had gone out of his way to set up a whole narrative about Alexis leaving and going back to her dorm, but I knew it was bullshit now. Everything that came out of that twisted old prick’s mouth was a dirty lie.

I needed to stay on him. Wherever he went, Alexis was bound to be.

The birthday party was still in full swing at the estate when I arrived. To my chagrin, the maid who was in charge of answering the door told me that Edward wasn’t there anymore. She said he’d left to attend an emergency house call for a friend who had a sick grandchild. That was obviously a lie he’d told her to cover where he really went, but she clearly didn’t know the truth, and I couldn’t get blood out of a stone.

I asked her if I could wait for him inside, but by that stage she knew I wasn’t an invited party guest, so she was reluctant to let me in. She told me Edward would probably be back soon, and I should just wait and come back to see him later.

So I did. I went back to my car and waited.

I sat there for hours, watching the horizon for a pair of headlights to appear in the darkness. But they never did. Cars left the estate as the party began to wind down, but none arrived.

At some point the lack of sleep I’d endured over the last week or so began to catch up with me. One minute I was staring at the road, bleary-eyed and blinking rapidly to stave off the crushing feeling of bone-tiredness, and the next I was peeling my eyelids open to see the sun peeking over the horizon, spilling fire over the gray clouds scudding through the sky.

“Fuck!” I sat bolt upright and looked at my watch. It was just before seven a.m. I’d passed out for three and a half hours.

Anything could’ve happened in those hours.

Cursing myself, I jumped out of the car and ran up to the Paxton gate, which was closed now. I pressed on the buzzer next to it. A moment later, a polite female voice answered the intercom. I told her I needed to speak to Edward, and she went away to check if that was possible. A few minutes later, the gate opened for me with a loud grinding sound.

I strode up to the front door and forced my lips into a courteous smile as the maid let me in. She wasn’t the same one from last night. She was short with red hair and a bubbly British accent, and she clearly had no idea who I was.

“You caught Mr. Paxton just in time. He was about to head off to an appointment,” she said with a smile as she waved me through the foyer to a sitting room.

Edward was already in there, clipping cufflinks in place on his shirtsleeves. “Nice to see you again, Nate,” he said, raising a brow. “I have a feeling this isn’t a social visit, though, judging by the early hour.”

I squared my jaw and looked him right in the eye. “No, it’s not. I’m worried about Alexis.”

“Has something happened?”

“Yeah. She didn’t come home last night,” I said. “I thought she might’ve come back here after she realized she left her watch here.”

Edward averted his eyes. “No, she didn’t come back here.”

“Are you sure? I figured she might’ve found a room upstairs and crashed there because it was so late. Maybe you didn’t notice because of the party.”

He smiled. “I’m sure the staff would’ve noticed when they did their morning dusting. But maybe I’m wrong. Feel free to look around if you want to double-check,” he said, waving a casual hand around the room.

Shit.That meant Alexis really wasn’t here. If she was, there was no way he’d offer to let me look around. Not unless he had some sort of secret dungeon hidden beneath the mansion.

I forced another affable smile so he wouldn’t get suspicious. “No, that’s okay,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “I’m just worried because I haven’t heard from her at all, and her phone is off. It’s not like her to do this.”

“Did you check her dorm like I suggested last night?” he asked, thick gray brows meeting in the middle of his lined forehead. “I’m sure that’s where she said she was going.”

“Yeah, I checked. She wasn’t there.”

Edward affected a worried expression. “How strange. I hope she’s all right,” he said. He cocked his head. “What about her apartment in the city?”

“I checked there too. She wasn’t there, and Sascha told me they didn’t leave here together.”

He nodded and straightened his tie. “That’s right. Alexis left shortly after her sister.”

“Didn’t you say you called your driver to take them where they wanted to go?”

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