Page 101 of Wicked Duty
“No. Let’s just go.”
“I’m authorized to take you back to Mr. Kavanagh’s residence.”
“Wonderful.” Because my mood’s completely shot, everything I say comes out tinged with tension.
I follow Ryan to the hotel’s garage, where we climb into Callum’s Range Rover so Ryan can drive me back to Callum’s apartment. How did Callum get to the Gallagher estate? He left us his vehicle and took a cab? Did he run back home to grab his motorcycle?
Imagining Callum riding the subway almost pulls a laugh from me.
I let myself into Callum’s apartment using the all-access key he tossed at me this morning. The small biometric device allows me to bypass his in-depth security measures.
Ryan exits the elevator but doesn’t follow me past the foyer. Instead, he retrieves his phone. He’s probably calling Callum to update him on our location and inform him that the entire promotional shoot got called off for the afternoon.
I head straight for my room. Before I change clothes, though, I check on the crypto wallet. During the move from the hotel to Callum’s place, I grew nervous about leaving the drive unattended at the bottom of my makeup bag in the show’sdressing room and swapped that hiding spot for the inside of a rolled up t-shirt, which I stashed in my suitcase’s torn lining.
When I grab my bag, a familiar sense of déjà vu douses me from head to toe.
The same feeling I experienced at my apartment when I realized someone had sifted through my things.
My clothes shifted positions from this morning. For one, that blue blouse is on the left side when I know I placed it on the right.
My pulse stutters as I lift the bottom lining. An ice block forms in my gut.
The t-shirt’s gone.
A frantic search confirms that the wallet’s missing too.
I stand frozen, mind racing.
The crypto wallet was here when we left this morning. And now it’s gone.
After what happened last night, I almost told Callum about the wallet, but I didn’t want to mix him up in my drama. He left before I had the chance anyway.
Could one of Viktor’s men have broken in and stolen it?
Sharp needles prick my skin as I survey the room. Nothing else appears out of place, and Callum eats, sleeps, and craps security measures. Someone breaking into his home the way they did mine seems highly unlikely. Impossible, even.
But if Viktor or one of his men didn’t take the wallet, then who did?
My mind dashes through possibilities, each more improbable than the next.
Except for one.
A memory from last night surfaces. In the middle of packing up at the hotel, I decided to take a quick two-minute shower. I turned the water on and then remembered that I’d already packed my razor. Leaving the water running, I padded out of thebathroom and found Callum rummaging through my bag. He claimed he was helping, but in retrospect, I realize he avoided my eyes when he said it.
The insidious possibility hollows out my lungs.
What if Callum rifled through my things and stole the wallet?
I lift my hand, as if warding off the thought. No. He wouldn’t do that. He didn’t even know about the wallet.
But try as I might, my mind can’t summon any other feasible explanation.
Sick dread snakes through my limbs. I don’t want to believe Callum would double-cross me like this. Before I jump to conclusions, I should talk to him.
Maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe a logical explanation exists that doesn’t involve Callum misleading me this entire time.
