Page 62 of Betrayed in Blood
“Brother,” Lyra called. “You must save me from these women. They’re making me drink most of this pitcher by myself.” She giggled. “I think Ginger made this one even stronger than the last.”
Was she drunk? He strode toward the group, giving Cressa and Ginger a quick glance, but they were busy trying to hold in their laughter. His sister’s eyes were clear, so not drunk, just pleasantly relaxed. Considering her mercurial emotions after Hamilton left, this seemed a positive direction.
“You mentioned trouble in your text. This doesn’t seem like trouble.” Devon placed his fists on his hips as he looked down on them.
“That’s because Lyra said to wait for you, so we moved on to other issues.” Ginger hiccupped, which created a new round of laughter from the women.
Sergi picked up a nearby pitcher of water and filled three empty glasses. “Drink up and eat. We don’t have time for your games.”
Devon had to give him credit. It was good advice, but he’d learned that giving orders to women when not on a mission didn’t typically work. And it proved to be the case this time.
In defiance, and only something Cressa would have the nerve to do in Sergi’s face, she pushed the glass of water aside and refilled their margarita glasses. Then she took a long swallow. Her gaze was a bit glassy, but she set the glass down without a pause and gave him and Sergi stern looks.
“We’re in our scheduled happy hour. It’s not my fault or theirs—” she waved an unsteady arm at Ginger and Lyra, “—that I got a strange text.” She searched the coffee table, then between the cushions on the couch, before finding her phone in her lap. “Oh, here it is.” She held out her phone. “Go ahead, read it.” She turned her focus on Sergi while Devon read the text.
“It says Rasmussen is in trouble and needs my help.” She leaned back, both arms outstretched on the back of the couch as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
Sergi took the phone to read the short text that matched Cressa’s words. His brows scrunched. “I’ll get Cressa a new phone for her contacts. We’ll keep this one to work from.”
Cressa sat up. “What does that mean?”
Devon answered the question. “It means your phone is compromised. We don’t know who sent this message, and while Sergi will try to get the information, it’s quite likely it was sent from a burner phone. But we might get lucky. Either way, your phone is no longer safe. No one should be able to track it, but it would best if you let your contacts know you have a new number.” Devon hated what he had to say next, but Cressa had to know it was for the best. “Everyone except your mother. If she contacts you, it needs to be on this phone. At least until we know what’s going on.”
“Does anyone know about Rasmussen other than your mother, Devon, or the cadre?” Sergi asked.
Cressa gave it a second before she shook her head. “No, we already considered that.”
Devon sat next to Cressa on the sofa while Sergi leaned against the fireplace mantel. “Sergi hasn’t had time to check on April, but this is now a high priority. Have you tried contacting your mother?”
Cressa shook her head. “I wanted to wait for your guidance on this. I really don’t know what could be happening.”
“Could it be another dreamwalker?” Ginger asked.
“How would they get her number?” Lyra asked.
“Let’s ask Colantha anyway,” Devon answered. “Perhaps she might have some insight into this.” Devon would have expected Colantha to have said something if she’d heard news of Rasmussen, but the woman wasn’t always forthcoming.
“Should she answer the message?” Ginger asked.
“It’s been a couple of hours since they sent it.” Sergi handed Cressa the phone then returned to lean on the mantel. “It’s not inconceivable that she might not have read the message yet.”
“Or they think she’s called in the troops like we’ve done,” Ginger responded.
Sergi shrugged. “If they know anything about Cressa, they should know she’d find this suspicious. Or perhaps it’s someone who believes she’d do something rash.”
“If it’s April, she might believe that.” Cressa nibbled on a strawberry tart. “We haven’t spoken since I first moved to the manor, and whenever the topic was Christopher, I did tend to react before thinking.” She gave Sergi a wink. “I’d like to think I’ve learned some patience.”
Sergi grunted but didn’t respond.
“We might as well see what they want,” Devon said. “We don’t have enough to go on. It won’t take Sergi long to see if he can trace the number. When can you have a detailed background on April completed?”
“I have the preliminary information from Cressa’s original background check and when April was seen at her apartment, but there’s not much there. I’ll dig deeper, but if I don’t discover anything interesting by the end of tomorrow, there’s nothing to find. At this point, any additional information can only help. I agree she should respond.” Sergi scratched his chin. “I find it interesting that Cressa recently reached out to her mother, was worried about the call, and a couple of days later received this message.”
Devon had found the timing curious as well. “Get an update from Bella on what’s happening at the house.”
Cressa leaned forward. “Is she monitoring Christopher’s house?”
He gave her a long look. She didn’t consider it her mother’s house. But Underwood’s murder wasn’t that long ago. “I put her on the detail as soon as you mentioned your concern.”
