40. CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY
M ICAH
“Carly?” I call out heading around the block. At first, I thought maybe she just went around the corner to do something or check something out. It’s a pretty quaint neighborhood so maybe she’s just taking in the scenery.
But I circle the block once and she’s nowhere to be found.
Odd.
The next thing I do, which I probably should have done in the first place, is to whip out my phone and call her. It rings through my phone but no one picks up. And then I realize that there’s a faint ringing coming from outside too. I walk slowly, following the tune down the street, where I turn the corner and see it.
Carly’s purse. It’s lying on the ground, vibrating from the ringing of her phone.
But Carly herself is nowhere in sight. She’s been taken.
Oh, God .
Instantly my heart begins pounding again, trying to pound out of my chest. Fear douses my entire body as I scream, “Carly!” and jog around like a madman, looking everywhere as though she’ll materialize out of thin air smiling at me, and somehow this will turn out to just be some kind of elaborate joke. She’ll pop up laughing that I fell for it.
But none of that happens. Only the silent streets of the Upper East Side, and a woman walking her poodle across the street, greet me.
Panic floods my thoughts and I try to breathe through it. I can’t panic now. I need to think. Someone has taken Carly and I need to find out who and why.
And then I need to completely destroy them.
I grab the purse from the ground and immediately storm back home. The whole time, a single phrase rings in my head.
I knew it.
I knew something bad was going to happen, maybe not today but sometime this week, or this month. I didn’t know what it would be, but there was this feeling this entire week at the pit of my stomach that Carly and I were being watched.
But I ignored it. I thought maybe I was just being paranoid and letting all of Amelia’s stories get to my head. I thought maybe I was just seeing ghosts where they weren’t.
But now I know how fucking wrong I was.
I storm into my home, startling both my father and grandfather, who were sitting at the living room engaged in a heated discussion. I also startle Elvira who was about to pour them some tea.
I fix my gaze on my grandfather. “Did you do this?”
“Excuse me?” His eyebrows furrowed.
“Carly. Did you fucking take her?” My voice booms across the entire room and the tension trembles in its wake. The two men share a puzzled look before turning back to me.
“Why would I take her?” he says. “And where would I take her?”
He looks genuinely confused and maybe old Micah would have believed him outright. But not this Micah. This Micah has his mind whirling with suspicion and doubt and so much fear and anger is choking out every other emotion.
“You didn’t want her to marry me. So you had her kidnapped, is that it?”
“Micah… did you just accuse me of kidnapping your fiancée?”
“Grandpa, I swear to God if you did–”
“I did not.” He looks so incensed that his face is totally red as he regards my father. “Has he lost his mind? What on earth does he take me for, some kind of Mafia don or something?”
“Micah, calm down.” My father stands holding both hands up as though to ward off my emotions. “Just take a breath. I don’t think your grandfather did anything to Carly.”
I ignore my dad and continue staring at my grandfather, and he stares back at me just as indignantly. And finally, I have to accept that I don’t think my grandfather did anything either.
After all, this all began in Laketown. And something tells me it’s about that damn pearl again, which is the reason Amelia got kidnapped in the first place.
And here I thought it was overkill that Declan still has so many bodyguards around even though the case happened months ago. Now I know that I should have done the same. And because I didn’t, Carly’s missing.
I take a deep breath through my nose and run my hands over my head.
And then my eyes open wide with a realization.
“You still have security cameras that overlook the street, don’t you?’ My grandfather is nothing if not paranoid, and he had three hundred sixty cameras installed on the deck to circle all around the front of the block. It should catch the park too.
He still looks annoyed at my accusation but he nods. “Yes, we still have the cameras.”
“Where can I access the footage?”
“You know where it is, Micah. It’s in the security room down the hall.”
I don’t say another word and jog across the vast living room. At the end of the hall, I open the door and startle the guard sitting there, watching the cameras.
“Move,” I order, and he obeys without a word.
I bend over to see the monitor better, identifying the camera that has the best view of the park. Then I maximize that on the screen and rewind it by minutes until Carly appears again. And when she does, my heart catches.
She’s talking to a man. I can’t see his face, only his back in a long, wool coat and a hat. He’s slender and bent, like someone elderly.
And Carly is gesturing and smiling like he’s familiar to her. Who on earth is he? She doesn’t know anyone in New York as far as I know, so it would have to be someone from Laketown. But who from Laketown would be in the Upper East Side?
Maybe Emma would know.
As I watch Carly and the man walk out of view, I immediately dial Declan’s number.
“Your timing is terrible as always, Micah.” Declan answers in a roughened voice, which gives me a hint as to what he’s doing. What I should be doing with Carly right now, if she weren’t missing.
“I don’t care,” I say tersely. “Someone took Carly.”
That gives him pause. “What do you mean someone took Carly? Who?”
“Well, if I knew, I wouldn’t be talking to you. Listen, I’m going to send you a video of her going off with some guy. It looks like she knew him. I need you and Emma to watch the video and tell me if you recognize him.”
“Um, okay, sure. But this is just… hang on, Emma, I’ll explain everything in a second. Micah, are you in New York?”
“Yes. At my grandfather’s home. They took her from the park. She followed him somewhere and now she’s missing.”
“Um… are you sure she’s not just busy? Maybe she’s helping him out.”
“Her purse and her bag were left behind. I’m about to call the police, Declan, but first I need to understand what we’re dealing with.”
Declan is quiet for a bit before sighing. “Okay. Send the video.”
I hang up and do just that, expecting he’s probably telling Emma what I just told him. Good. Maybe Emma knows more about what’s going on if it’s about that damn pearl. Heck, get Amelia on the case. She is more of a detective than anyone.
And then I wait in excruciating silence while I try not to think about what Carly might be going through right now.
Who the fuck took her? And why?
Why her and not me? If they wanted the damn pearl they could have just taken me and I would have given it to them. I’ll give it to them now if they ask. Whatever ransom they want for Carly, I’ll pay it. I just want her back.
But if they do anything to her, I will not rest until I destroy them all.