Chapter 25
P aige’s heart leapt in her chest. “You know where to find my mom?”
Drucinda tugged back one corner of her lips as she scuffed her shoe on the white tile. “I didn’t say that. I said I knew where to start. This isn’t going to be easy.”
Paige licked her lips, sinking to a seated position on the edge of the tub.
“Let’s find a way to work together, shall we?” Drucinda slid a lock of Paige’s hair behind her ear.
Paige slapped away her hand. “I’m not quite there yet.”
Drucinda arched an eyebrow and lifted a shoulder. “Fine. But we’ve got to come to terms in some way.” She twisted away from her. “I’ll give you a moment.”
The woman sauntered to the door and pulled it open before she flicked a glance back to Paige. “Just remember, I was your Auntie Dru before your Mum decided you’d be better with the angels. I held you even before your Mummy did. Although, after Devon.”
With a cheeky wink, she pulled the door closed, leaving Paige alone with her thoughts. Tears threatened again as a variety of emotions bubbled within her. Was there a chance she could find her mom?
She chewed on her lower lip while she fought another sobbing fit. Why did the hope have to come from her worst enemy?
A knock at the door pulled her from her rumination. Paige nudged her glasses up as she called out a shaky, “Yeah, I’m coming.”
The door inched open, and a teal head poked inside. “You okay? Drucinda said you were still upset.”
Warm tears spilled onto her cheeks again, out of both relief and upset. “I’m…okay,” she choked out, with a sob-laden hiccup in-between.
“Aww, Paige,” Dewey said as he flew into the room and landed on the tub next to her. “I’m sorry it had to be Drucinda who saved us.”
“It’s not that,” Paige said before she gave her nose another blow. “This whole business with my mom. Who do I trust? Who can I believe?”
Dewey tapped a claw on his chin. “Well, Drucinda has maintained her innocence this entire time. And even Ronnie believed she wasn’t guilty.”
Paige sniffed in a shaky breath. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“Ronnie knew them. She was assistant director when your mom was a librarian.”
“But she doesn’t know much,” Paige said.
“No, she was less involved than Drucinda, I guess. I mean, we could start with a call to her. I can grab an RP, and we can call her right now.”
Paige wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand. “Right, yeah, maybe that would help.”
“Sure thing. I’ll grab an RP, and we’ll call right now.”
Dewey disappeared from the room, then fluttered in moments later with the device in his paw. He tapped around on it before he settled on the edge of the tub next to Paige. She winced as she stared at her image on the video call.
“Ugh, I look terrible.”
“Yeah, you look pretty bad. Maybe she’ll just focus on the opulent bathroom. The French really did spare no expense,” Dewey said as he gaped at their surroundings while the line trilled.
“Drucinda expects only the best,” Paige said with a weak smile as the line continued to ring with no answer. “Maybe she’s not there.”
“It’ll ring to her home. I used the emergency line.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t–”
“Paige? Dewey?” a sleepy Ronnie answered a moment later.
A light bloomed to life, obliterating the screen for a moment before the highly shadowed face of Ronnie hovered on-screen.
“Hey, Ronnie, sorry to wake you.”
“What happened? Are you two okay? Did you save your village?”
“We did. We’re fine. Caleb, the Transylvanian, is dead, and we’re on the Paris library’s plane to Antarctica,” Dewey explained.
Ronnie slid a pair of glasses on and squinted at the screen. “Paige, have you been crying?”
“Yeah,” Paige said, with a wince. “But I’m okay. I’m not hurt.”
“Did you say you’re on Paris’s plane?”
“We are,” Dewey said, with a nod. “With Drucinda.”
Ronnie arched an eyebrow. “I assume this is the source of the tears. Did she do something to you? Do I need to send a retrieval team?”
“No,” Paige said with a shake of her head and sniffle, “she didn’t, and we’re continuing with the mission. But we needed some advice from you.”
“Okay,” Ronnie said.
Dewey shot a glance at Paige before he patted her shoulder. “Here’s the thing, Ronnie, you were around when Paige’s mom went missing. What happened?”
Ronnie pressed her lips into a thin line as she fidgeted with her pillow before leaning against it. “I’m not really sure. Something went wrong with a low-level asset retrieval. She used the asset and ended up in a coma for six months. When she woke up, she was…different.”
“Different how?” Paige asked.
“Paranoid, I guess is how I’d describe it. She didn’t trust the library. She had a huge fight with Higgins, and he suspended her.”
Paige adjusted her glasses. “What? She was suspended from the library?”
“Temporarily,” Ronnie said, “but she took it really badly, and she left the library. She was investigating something, but neither she nor Drucinda would tell me what. The next time I saw her was right before she disappeared. I tried to help her. We wanted to put you in protective custody, but she wouldn’t have it.
She was going to follow up on a lead, and… you know the rest.”
“Is there any way she could be alive?” Dewey asked.
Ronnie’s forehead pinched together before she answered. “With the amount of blood found, I’m not sure. It seemed like a slam-dunk for murder, even without the body according to the prosecutor.”
Paige pressed her lips together, firming her resolve before she spoke again. “Ronnie, I trust you. And you’re the closest thing I have for information from that time. Even if you didn’t know the whole story, I need to know your honest opinion on this.”
“Okay,” Ronnie answered, with a nod.
“Do you think Drucinda killed my mom? Or had something to do with her disappearance?”
Ronnie sucked in a breath, puffing her lips out as she slowly slid her head back and forth. She flicked her gaze to her lap before she glanced back at the screen.
“Do you want my honest gut reaction?”
Paige nodded, her nostrils burning and a lump forming in her throat.
“Despite the evidence, I don’t think Drucinda killed her.”
Paige sucked in a deep breath and blinked away the tears that had welled in her eyes. “Thanks.”
Ronnie pressed her lips together again, offering her a nod. “I’m sorry, Paige. I can’t say much more than that. The evidence was…convincing, but I never really believed she did it. She was close to your mom. I know that’s not much help, but…”
“It’s okay, Ronnie. It’s actually a big help. If you think she’s innocent, maybe she is. She says she is. I just…I don’t know who or what to believe.”
“If you need to come home, Paige, just say the word. You don’t have to go after the ring.”
Paige shook her head. “I have to go after the ring. It’s my job. And honestly, I need something to focus on.”
“Okay. Good luck. Keep in touch, and let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do, Ronnie. Sorry for waking you.”
“No problem. Be safe.” Ronnie disappeared, and the screen turned black as the call ended.
Dewey pressed his lips together and flicked a glance at Paige. “Well? What do you think?”
Paige fingered the tissue in her hands, her thumb tracing circles across it. “I think…” She pressed her lips together as the lump formed again, and she struggled to swallow it down.
“Want to hear what I think? I’m always happy to air my opinion.”
Paige shot him a glance, lips curling on the edges despite herself as she caught sight of his cheeky grin with his purple tongue sticking out at her. “Sure.”
“I think we need to take the chance with Drucinda. We need to find the ring first. And secondly, if there’s any hope of figuring out what happened to your mom, or even finding your mom, Drucinda is our best resource.”
Paige sniffled and heaved a sigh. “You’re right.”
“Of course I am.”
“We need to hear Drucinda’s side of the story and use what we can to track what happened to my mom.”
Dewey nodded. “But we don’t have to do that until you’re ready. So, if you need some time, just say it. We’ll either tell Drucinda to stuff it until you’re ready to hear it or hide in this very posh bathroom until we land.”
Paige chuckled as she wiped the final few tears away from her cheeks. “I don’t want to hide in here.”
Dewey nodded and wrapped his arms around her neck.
Paige pulled him into an embrace as she let her frayed nerves settle. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“You sure?”
Paige nodded and rose, pushing down her leggings. “Yep, let’s go see what Drucinda has to say before we land.”
“Sounds great, partner.” Dewey fluttered up and landed on her shoulder.
She checked her reflection in the mirror and winced. “Yikes!” Her porcelain skin sported red blotches, and her nose beamed in a bright cherry color. Red rimmed her swollen, puffy eyes.
“You’ve looked worse,” Dewey said, patting her head. “Like the time I turned you purple.”
“I think I preferred the purple.”
“Okay, fine,” he said as she pulled the door open and stepped into the hall, “when I poisoned you earlier with the berries and you literally looked awful. Way worse than this.”
“True. I guess it doesn’t matter how I look, what’s important is saving the world and my mom.”
“Exactly. Who cares if you look like Rudolph? It doesn’t matter.”
Paige wrinkled her sore nose, fluttering her eyelashes. “You really have a way of making a girl feel great.”
“I know,” he said as they pushed into the cabin. “I’m a real–” His voice cut off, and his eyes went wide. He curled his paws into fists as he stared straight ahead. “Thorn!”
The dwarf dragon lounged in one of the leather seats, sipping a cocktail. He arched an eyebrow as he lowered the glass. “Hello, Dew.”
“I thought we were rid of you.”
“No, just taking a refreshing nap before we hit the Arctic.”
Dewey fluttered into the air and jabbed a claw at the other dragon. “It’s the Ant arctic, dummy.”