18. Lev
My first indication that something is wrong is when she doesn’t answer my phone call.
When the next three attempts also go unanswered, I feel a strange sensation begin to form in the pit of my gut.
I tell myself she’s probably left her phone on charge and has forgotten about it. But my instincts have never let me down before, and right now, they’re letting me know something is wrong.
I call Enya. If there is one person in my household who will know where Brooke is, it is her. But Enya is at the hospital and hasn’t seen her. So I call Maria, my housekeeper, and ask her to look for Brooke in her room. While I wait for her call me back, I leave the office, climb into my car, and head for home with a skid of tires and a gut-wrenching knowledge that something is wrong.
During the drive, I call my head of security. There is an impenetrable wall of security around my home. There is no way anyone could make it in without any of my men seeing them. And if Brooke had decided to leave she would need to leave in a car.
“She definitely hasn’t taken a vehicle, Pakhan,” says Pierce, my head of security. “And no one without clearance has been inside the estate walls.”
“You’re certain?”
“I’d stake my life on it, sir.”
His life might very well be at stake if anything has happened to Brooke.
“Look for her,” I demand before hanging up.
I try Brooke again, but again, frustratingly there is no answer.
Maria calls me back. She sounds worried, which does nothing but pour fuel on the growing unease in my gut.
“I’m sorry, Pakhan. But I couldn’t find her anywhere.”
She’s gone.
I storm through our bedroom and into the bathroom, but she’s not there.
She’s not fucking anywhere.
I run a frustrated hand through my hair. My heart is racing, but it’s nothing compared to the rising panic in my gut.
Has someone taken her?
I’m about to leave the room when I see an envelope leaning up against the lamp on the bedside table. I rip it open to find a note inside.
If you love your baby, you’ll let us go. Your world is not our world. I’m sorry.
Panic turns to relief.
Relief turns to anger.
She’s left me.
She’s taken my baby and run.
Inside the envelope is the credit card I gave her and her engagement ring. Seeing the ring is like a hammer hitting me in the chest.
I crumple the paper in my hand as my chest tightens with the knowledge that she’s run away from me.
She’s scared.
But I thought we were on the same page. That despite the horrors of my world, we had become something more than the deal to keep Wilson alive. More than a fake arrangement. I thought we had built something real. But clearly, I was wrong, and fuck, getting slammed in the balls would hurt less than this.
My phone rings. It’s Feliks.
I don’t give him a chance to speak as I answer. “Brooke’s gone. Do you know where she is?”
“No. Fuck. Are you sure?”
I tell him about the note.
“How did she leave without any of the guards seeing her?”
“Good fucking question,” I growl just as my head of security walks in.
“Alright, I’ll do some digging and see if I can find out anything.”
I hang up and glare at Pierce. “I want a list of names of everyone who has come in and out of the estate today.”
“Already got it. Other than my security team, there was only one visitor to the estate today.”
“Who?”
“Joe, the food delivery guy.”