Page 22 of Escaping the King
“How long have they been gone?”Nick asked, and I heard what sounded like clothing rustling.
I breathed out and back in.“No clue.I was sleeping until twenty minutes ago.”
A door closed and Nick said, “You're worried.”
A forced laugh blew out from between my lips.“Obviously.”
I walked back to the kitchen and looked around again.Something felt—off.
“I'm assuming she took her car?”
I nodded, even though he couldn't see me.“Yeah.It's gone.”
He exhaled.“Good.I'll check the tracker on it.”
I shut my eyes and thanked the Heavens above that Nick was as protective as he was.And it made sense that he'd do that.After nearly losing Eve to a group of kidnappers, I could see why he took the extra precaution.“Great fucking thinking.I forgot you insisted on installing those in all the cars.”
A minute later, I heard Eve's voice through the phone.“Hi, honey,” she said in a quiet, caring voice.“I checked the house and looked outside for her car.I didn't find her.And I've tried messaging and calling.No answer, yet.”
Yet.
Yet.
“Thanks, Eve.I appreciate you doing all that.Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”
All I heard was a sigh and then a long, “Hmm.”She was thinking hard about it.Eve loved Giselle.And she'd known her the longest out of any of us.
“Not that I can think of.Unless Dani was maybe having trouble with jetlag?The twins were up every half-hour last night.We hardly got any sleep.If Dani was up fussing, I could see Giselle taking her out for a ride to get her back to sleep again.Or to keep her quiet so you could sleep?”
Her words sparked a bit of hope in my brain.But it still didn't sound like something Giselle would do.
She knew I didn't mind if Dani was cranky or sick.I never complained about the noise.
“Yeah, you might be right,” I told Eve, even though I didn't think any of her suggestions were right.
“We'll find her, Carlo.Don't worry, okay?”
Next, I heard Nick's voice in the background.“Hand me the phone, my dear.”
A slight shuffling later, and Nick was back.“I can't find her car.”
My blood stopped circulating in my veins.“What the fuck do you mean you can't find her car?”
He cleared his throat.“I mean, there's no signal showing up from her tracker.”
My chin fell to my chest, and I asked, “Tell me exactly what that means.”I needed him to spell it out for me.
“I'm pretty fucking baffled by it, to tell you the truth.These are state of the art.Not built to screw up and quit.And it's not as though it's been on her car for that long.It shouldn't be malfunctioning.But anything's possible, I suppose.”
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
“I'm about to lose my shit,” I told my best friend the truth.I felt like punching a wall or two right now.
“Don't do that—” Nick said before he was interrupted by his wife.
