Page 24 of The Veiling

“What’s happening?”

“I need to go now.”

“Where are you going?”

I grabbed my keys off the nightstand and my phone off the bed. “I have to make the announcement now.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

I hurried for the door. “I have to go. This can’t wait. Donottell security.”

Ghost of My Past

“And you’re sure you won’t air this until morning?” I asked the producer and cameraman.

“Anything you need, Mr. Greco. I got you,” the producer, Maddox, assured me.

“We’re ready when you are,” Joel, the cameraman, patted the large, professional studio’s camera.

They paused, staring at me.

“What?”

They exchanged a glance before Joel waved a hand at my attire. “Are you not changing clothes? I’ve never seen you so,” he darted his gaze around my outfit, “casual? I dunno.”

“I don’t have time or care about what I look like.”

“Alrighty then,” Brow cocked, Maddox shrugged a shoulder. “We have the place to ourselves, so on your mark.”

I ran my fingers through my hair as I took a seat at the news station’s desk, closing my eyes for a moment before the cameraman began to count backwards.

“Five, four, three—” He held up two fingers, one finger, then pointed at me.

“Good evening, everyone. I wasn’t going to do this in the middle of the night, but after word began to spread about my fiancée, I was left with no choice.”

The studio lights messed with my mind. They were hot. I felt blinded by the brightness shining in my face. I could no longer see anything other than the silhouettes of the two acquaintances in the otherwise dark room and a small red light where the camera was. Focusing only on the camera, I continued.

“As reported by multiple sources, Isabelle Ayala is, in fact, missing. In order to bring her home safely to me, I’m offering a five-million-dollar reward to the person whose information leads us to her. My team is diligently working on finding her and have a few strong leads,” I lied in case Felipe, Jesse, or whoever took Isabelle, were watching. “Please, if you know anything, contact the number on your screen. Thank you. I will stop at nothing until she is back where she belongs.”

The moment the camera was off, I stood. “Thank you, guys.”

They approached me, coming to a stop in front of me.

“We’ll add the number in editing,” Maddox informed me, “but we won’t edit what you said.”

“I understand why you’re doing this, but shit’s going to hit the fan,” Joel added.

“Shit hit the fan the moment she was kidnapped.” Without another word, I turned to leave the studio.

Once in my car, I repeated the call in my head once again. My mind raced as I racked my brain, trying to piece the puzzle together. Random calls providing cryptic information were common in my world. Usually, they came from people who knew too much and did not want to get involved.

“Ghost of my past.” I stared down at my phone screen, scrolling through my contacts, browsing for anyone I no longer spoke to. Unfortunately, I was too good at removing people from my life entirely when I no longer had communication with them. “The blood was not on my hands.”

Thinking there might be clues at the mansion, I decided to drive there to go through my office, looking for any hints. The sound of my phone ringing through the car’s speakers startled me.

“Noah,” I respired, sending his call to voicemail.

As I drove to my main-home, I continued to run through a mental list of every person I knew. My phone was blowing up with text message notifications before it finally rang again. Thinking it might have been about Isabelle and not my disappearance, I stupidly chose to answer.

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