Page 48 of Stripped

Chapter 24

Damn it. He shouldn't have left her alone. The blue dot remained stationary, indicating that whoever took her at least wasn't on the move and had reached their destination for now. He pressed the button, calling Gabriel.

"Leaving already?" Gabriel asked. "I'll walk you out."

"Not yet. I need the address for these GPS coordinates. Fifty-five degrees north, three degrees west, and I need the phone number for Peter Brindy, the artist director of Scottish National Ballet."

"What's going on?"

"Primrose is missing. She's not at the safe house and doesn't have her phone on her."

"Give me a minute." Wraith waited, his mind wandering to all the possible explanations of where she could be. "The address is in Edinburgh. Four John's Place, near Leith links."

"Christ, that's known as a red-light district. It's a shady part of town." It was where lone, defeated women plied their trade at night, desperate for money, he thought to himself.

"Wraith, don't do anything yet. I'll text you the number and head over."

The screen on his phone lit up with Peter's information. He called the bastard.

"Hello," a voice answered.

"Peter Brindy?"

"This is he." Fucking prick.

"This is Robert Wraith. I was wondering if you've heard from Primrose today or seen her." Hopefully, the latter.

"No. I've been trying all day. She's about to lose her role in the ballet. She skipped out on rehearsal. The company is headed to Aberdeen for a performance."

"I think she's in trouble."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" At least he actually had the decency to sound concerned.

"I don't know. I think it might be connected to her grandfather's accident and the man who was at the premiere wearing the owl mask."

"Dear God. I was going to stop by her place. I'll head there now."

"No, don't. Her place was broken into the other night. She was staying at another location, but she's gone missing. I'm going to look for her, but I wanted to make sure she hadn't contacted you."

"Please keep me informed."

Wraith hung up. He pulled a duffle bag out of his closet, packing it with various guns and weapons, then changed his clothes. The part of Leith he was headed to was seedy and rundown, and he would stand out if he was seen walking around in a designer suit. He pulled on a pair of black tactical pants and a black, long-sleeved compression shirt, throwing a black hooded sweatshirt into the bag. There was a knock on the door and he went to open it.

Gabriel poked his blond head through the doorway, followed by the colonel. So much for the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing. Wraith pressed his lips tight together and glanced sharply at Gabriel.

The agent shrugged. "Before you go rogue and run off looking for Angus' granddaughter, we should come up with a plan," Gabriel explained.

"Sit down, Wraith," Alex said, looking displeased.

"We're wasting time." He zipped up the duffle and sat down harder than necessary on a small couch. "I need to go."

Alex raised a cautionary eyebrow. "On the contrary, charging in without a plan is careless. If you're not careful, I won't send you at all," the colonel clarified, his displeasure increasing. "It seems you're running on emotions, not logic, a dangerous choice, considering you're not supposed to develop feelings for clients."

"There are no feelings," he said a bit defensively. "I'm just afraid if we wait too long, whoever has her will take her to a different location."

"How do you know where she is?"

"I gave her two pills to take this morning. They were chipped, but the tracking device will only last for about another hour, so we're running out of time. I didn't trust her to stay put like I told her to; she's strong willed."

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