Page 70 of Red

“Don’t!” she cried out. A sharp prick in her neck stopped any further protest, and her vision faded to black.

Chapter 25

“Erik.” Ian walked into Erik’s office with Ash Titon directly behind him.

Erik stood from his desk, interpreting Ash’s scowl to mean he wasn’t there for pleasantries or a social call. Ian stepped to the side while Ash moved forward.

“I got word this morning from my connection at the precinct,” Ash started. “I thought it better to bring this to you myself.” Ash handed over a manila envelope.

Erik peeled open the flap and retrieved the papers from within. His gaze swept over the report and then the next and the next.

“How’d you get this?” Erik passed the reports to Ian.

“When he dug into Melinda’s family history, he found the original arrest warrants. The track wasn’t hard to follow after that. He wasn’t cooperative at first, but after the accident, he took the deal.” Ash pulled out a chair from the desk and took a seat.

“And your man, he found the location?” Ian asked dropping the papers on the desk. His skepticism leaked through his question.

“Wasn’t hard once they found his mother.”

“The train she took up north? That was to meet with him,” Ian said.

“Yes.” Ash nodded.

“Do you think Melinda knows?” Ian asked.

Erik shook his head. She couldn’t keep something like that from him; he would have seen it on her face. “She doesn’t.”

“If I was able to get ahold of this information, anyone else with the same pull could, too.” Ash noted.

“Is Nico home with Melinda?” Erik asked, checking the time on his phone. Her appointment with the attorney should have been over by lunch, and it was already two in the afternoon.

“I didn’t see him,” Ian said.

Erik dialed Melinda’s phone and tapped his fingers on the desk while the rings piled up unanswered. When the voicemail picked up, he disconnected and dialed a second time. Again voicemail.

He moved on to Nico’s phone. Straight to voicemail.

“Ian, call Nico.” He dropped the phone on the desk. “He’s not answering me.”

Ian also tried. “Nothing.”

“Montgomery,” Erik’s attorney answered his cell.

“Is my wife still with you?” Erik asked, getting straight to it.

“She never came,” Montgomery said.

Erik’s fingers tightened around the phone, the pit of his stomach opened up and swallowed his lungs.

“Why didn’t you phone me?” Erik growled.

“Nico called and said she was busy. She’d reschedule.”

A sharp pain ripped through his chest, sending a chilled shiver down his spine.

“Everything okay?” Montgomery asked when Erik kept silent.

“Did Nico say anything else?”

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