Page 51 of Castle's Cards

“All right, no problem. I’ll lend you the marketing specialist for the club. She’s excellent at what she does.” Court grabs a sheet of paper and starts writing down the details for me. I look down at my phone to check the time and realize that my table has already been back at play for ten minutes.

“I may have lost my spot by now.” Then I shrug and grin mischievously. “Oh, well. I’ll just have to see if Addy can find me a seat at another table.”

Court blinks and shakes his head.

“She didn’t tell you? She’s gone home.”

I frown. Why would she go home?

“Why?”

Court shrugs.

“Didn’t say why. Just said that it was an emergency. Her sister was here, too.”

“Izzy?”

“Yeah, the kid.”

I look down at my phone. If she left the club early then it must be for a good reason. I’m just surprised she wouldn’t say anything to me before she left. It must have been something really bad.

“I’m going to go check on her.”

“But you’re still in tonight’s tourney and have a ton of chips!” Court cries.

“Just hold them for me. I’ll be back if I can. Something is obviously wrong if she’s left like this. I can’t let her face it alone.”

Court studies me for a minute before nodding.

“I understand. Let me know if everything is all right and if there’s anything I can do to help.”

I nod and leave his office. On the way out I decide to pick up my chips and drop them at the bar.

“Drinks for everyone on me,” I nod to the bartender. Court probably won’t be happy about that. But I paid for the chips, and if I want to buy the entire club a round, he can’t complain about that. The money still goes to him.

When I pull up in front of Addy’s apartment all the lights are off. Addy’s room doesn’t face this direction, though, so hopefully she’s not gone to sleep yet. I grab my phone from the passenger seat and dial Addy’s number again. She hasn’t answered the past few times, but maybe this time she’ll pick up.

If she doesn’t I’ll just have to go to the door. After a few rings the call goes straight to voicemail. I sigh before getting out of the car. I approach the door slowly, for some reason feeling uneasy about the whole thing.

When I knock on Addy’s front door, I don’t hear anything inside. If their car wasn’t in the parking lot I wouldn't even know they’re home. I’m about to knock again when I hear someone shuffling inside. The door unlocks and then opens, revealing Izzy.

“Hey, Izzy. Is Addy around?” I ask. When I focus on Izzy I realize how upset she is.

“Whoa. Are you okay?”

Izzy swallows before shaking her head.

“No. I’m not okay. Addy’s here, but I don’t know if she’ll want to talk to you. She’s really upset right now.”

A million theories run through my mind at this moment. It must be really bad. Did their dad die? Maybe their mom is coming back and taking Izzy against the wishes of both girls. Panic swells within me and I frown as I plead with Izzy.

“Please. I’m really worried about her.”

Izzy looks behind her down the hallway as if she expects Addy to come walking in at any moment. She sighs before looking at me and nodding.

“Okay. Wait here. Or… I guess you can wait in the living room.”

Izzy steps aside so I can come in and take a seat on the couch. There’s a blanket wrapped around the top, and I briefly wonder if Izzy was curled up on the couch before answering the door. If that’s the case, why’d it take so long for her to answer the door?

---