Page 78 of Created in Chaos

“If you need proof, we’re about to see it on video.” I stomp over to the UTV and climb in, barely waiting for Nox to get in his seat before speeding away.

Lev is waiting in the security room with the footage already on the big screen when I walk in. “Let’s see it,” I demand, half convinced he must be mistaken but unable to voice my doubt.

“I found some earlier footage,” he says, and I see Nova walking along a path. A smile lights up her face before she puts her phone up to her ear. The grin slips within a heartbeat.

“Is there audio on this?”

“No, the only cameras we have with audio are near the house and the gate,” Lev answers.

“Do we have anyone who can tell me what she’s saying?”

“I’m already working on that, but it’s not foolproof, and she’s moving around a lot, so we may not catch everything.”

“I want your best guess.”

“You two would probably be the best to judge since you know her. Roll it back to sixteen thirty-two,” he tells someone seated at the desk. “I’m pretty sure she’s asking for proof here. See that? What proof.” Lev looks at me for verification.

I can read the same words, but without the sound, I can’t be positive.

“Yes,” Nox says eagerly. “Look at the way her lips purse, just like when she calls you pretty. I want to see the rest.”

I think I pick up a few more words, but she does a lot of listening, and like Lev said, she moved around the entire time, almost like she was pacing, but I can clearly read her final words. “Fuck off,” the three of us say in unison as Nova jerks the phone down to her side.

“She must have been mad. She only curses when you really piss her off,” Nox chimes in.

“Maybe you don’t know her as well as you think you do,” I snap back.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. We know her. If she left, it was because she didn’t think she had any other choice.” It pisses me off to hear Nox defend her so easily, even though I want to do the same, but I don’t have the balls to do it, because it looks like she fucking played us.

“Was it Alden who called her?” Lev asks, reminding me that I haven’t checked her call log yet.

I make quick work of unlocking her phone again and reciting the number on the screen, prompting Lev to jot the number down on a pad. “I’ll have Morozov put a reverse search on this.”

While he’s talking, I scan through the tiny list of recent calls, not seeing the number or any number other than ours, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have deleted it, except then I think about how she hasn’t been away from me or Nox much. I don’t think she would have even had the opportunity to have secret conversations with anyone. Her texts show a little more activity, but again, they are mostly from us bugging her with stupid shit while she was in class the last few days, and then the message from the school about classes being canceled.

“There’s no way to hear the call?” I ask, even though I know the answer.

“No, we didn’t have a tap on her phone or the line that called her,” Lev indulges me while looking down at his phone. “The number is registered to Umbra Holdings. Morozov says there’s more than twenty numbers on the account, and none are assigned names.”

“There’s one way to find out.” I extend my hand to Nox, asking for his phone, since I destroyed mine. He places it in my open palm without hesitation.

I don’t bother trying to block my number before dialing the number now ingrained in my head.

“That took you longer than I expected. You gave her too long of a leash. We made that mistake too.” Astrid speaks as if we’re old friends. If she were in front of me, I would strangle her with my bare hands while she thrashed around like the dying snake she is.

The calmness I usually have no problem exuding fails me, so my voice is tight when I finally manage to speak. “Let me speak to her.”

“Sorry, but my granddaughter isn’t accepting calls from you.” She puts way too much ownership on my lamb. I find myself squeezing the phone, wishing it were Astrid. “In fact, I thought she made it very clear that she didn’t want to speak to or see either of you again when she left.”

“Then let her tell me that herself,” I demand, knowing I have no power to make her obey.

“She’s not available at the moment. I think she mentioned showering the scum off her.”

“Your head games won’t work with me, old woman.”

The Umbra matriarch laughs softly. “No? Too bad. I was actually doing you a service. It would have been easier for you if you hated her, but you soon will. You can only watch the person you love with someone else for so long before that adoration turns to loathing.” The malice in her tone makes me think she has personal experience in the matter.

“Do you really want to make an enemy of me, Astrid?”

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