Page 47 of Wicked and Bound

What the fuck was happening to him? To them?

As they retreated from the ballroom, he caught their reflection in a wall of mirrors—him in his dark cloak, her practically naked and disheveled, both of them marked by the passion they’d shared. Christ, they looked as if they belonged here.

And that terrified him more than any threat from Gray or his goons.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Forty-eight hours later, Nash’s sat phone buzzed as he watched Haisley pretend to read by the window. Despite her supposed focus on the book, her shoulders tensed at the sound. No doubt she was wondering if it was news about the investigation.

“Jasper King here.” He kept his voice casual and reminded himself to watch his words.

“Got news about the Benedict case.” Hunter’s voice crackled through the encryption. “Get this. The body of the woman found in the burned-out Benedict house? Not Mila.”

Nash’s pulse quickened, but he forced himself to sound bored. “You sure?”

If George hadn’t offed his wife before turning the gun on himself…then who had he killed? And why?

From the moment he’d heard about the conveniently timed murder-suicide, he’d thought the situation seemed sus. Now his gut told him it was even sketchier than he’d believed.

“Dental records confirmed it. Police also pulled the Benedicts’ video doorbell footage and interviewed neighbors. The woman who died with George Benedict? She’s taller than Mila. Our working theory now is the body recovered at thescene might be the mistress, Caroline Walsh. She’s still missing. They’re pulling her dental records to confirm.”

Nash’s mind raced. He needed to tell Haisley, but with Gray having been so suspicious of him, he couldn’t risk taking her to the shower or the beach for another “private moment.” It would have to wait.

“Sounds like a plan. Timeline?” Nash glanced Haisley’s way. She turned another page, maintaining her facade of disinterest, but her fingers tightened on her book. She was hanging on every word.

“Probably a week or two. Since I heard the news, I’ve been asking myself a question: if Mila isn’t dead, where did she go? Until about an hour ago, we had no idea. Then, we ran across the parking lot cam of a business down the street. It captured footage of Mila leaving the Benedict Land Development building the night you and Haisley broke in. Are you sitting?”

Nash braced himself on the arm of the sofa beside Haisley. “Close enough.”

“She was abducted. Dragged into an alley about a block from her car and thrown into a brown conversion van. No one has seen her since.”

Holy shit. Mila had become a victim, too? That was a twist he hadn’t seen coming.

Was she taken on her husband’s orders? Surely, he’d been dead by then. If George hadn’t been guilty…who else would want her out of the way? Had she seen or heard something the night of the break-in? She’d been so rattled…

Where was she now? If she’d been abducted by the same assholes as Haisley, surely they’d brought her to the Velvet Cove…

His questions—and their implications—were like a broadside blow. His head reeled. This development suggested GeorgeBenedict hadn’t been the mastermind behind all these disappearances, but merely another piece of the puzzle.

“You don’t say. Anyone following up? If not, heads should roll,” he drawled, doing his best to make it sound like a business issue.

“FBI is getting involved,” Hunter assured. “They’ll probably take point soon. Have you encountered Mila on the island at all?”

“No.”

“She wasn’t up for sale during the auction. Where could she be?”

“Not sure. Maybe the next one?”

“Maybe. Any chance Haisley has seen her?”

“I haven’t heard that, but I’ll ask around and let you know.”

“Do that—ASAP. I’m itchy. This thing is bigger than anyone realized. I mean, that footage Kane sent after last night’s party… That shit is mind-blowing. And explosive as hell.”

“Yep.” Nash kept his tone businesslike. “I was a bit surprised myself. Probably shouldn’t have been, but…”

“We’re running facial recognition, but yeah. The implications…” Hunter blew out a breath. “Half those faces could destabilize governments if what Kane captured got out. Think one of them could be Black Velvet, trying to blend in?”

---