Chapter 47
Grace has disappeared.
Call me when you read this.
Message from Henry to Logan
Ethan
I reached the Asterdam villa in record time.
I’d dropped Rose off at Grace’s parents’ place on the way so she could give them more context about the letters.
I’d given her a brief summary of what Grace and I had discovered.
It still struck me as incredibly naive that I hadn’t thought sooner that Claude might have something to do with Grace’s disappearance, but beating myself up over it wouldn’t help Grace.
If I wanted to save her, I would have to act.
Luckily, thanks to James, I knew the security code for the gate at the villa’s driveway.
I unlocked it and tore down the gravel drive to the very end.
My heart pounded wildly as I leapt out of the car and hurried up the steps to the front door.
The villa was dark, but that didn’t stop me from ringing the doorbell like a man possessed.
Again and again, I pressed the golden bell until a light came on behind the muslin glass of the front door, and it finally opened.
I found myself staring straight into the sleepy face of Mr. Jensen, the Asterdams’ butler. He blinked at me blearily. “Mr. Darlington, what are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to Mr. Asterdam,” I replied, pushing past him into the foyer without waiting for an invitation.
“Mr. Asterdam is already asleep.”
“Then wake him up!” If I’d known which of the countless doors led to his bedroom, I would have done it myself. I would have shaken him awake so violently he wouldn’t have known which way was up.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”
“I need to speak to him. Right now.”
Mr. Jensen’s smile looked strained now, and there was a glint of annoyance in his eyes. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait until sunrise.”
“No, it can’t! Wake him up!”
“Not necessary with all this noise,” a voice cut in.
I spun around to see Claude at the top of the stairs, tying a dark-red dressing gown at the waist.
A storm of rage and contempt erupted in my chest, emotions I usually reserved for my dad.
I charged up the stairs to Claude. I grabbed the collar of his dressing gown and slammed him against the nearest wall. “Where is she?”
Claude looked frightened. Good. He should be afraid, especially of what would happen to him if I discovered he’d hurt Grace. “What are you talking about?”
“I want to know where Grace is.”
“You mean the woman giving you a good time in my study yesterday?”
I pushed my face close to his. “Yes, Grace! Where is she?”
“How should I know?”
“You kidnapped her,” I snarled, gripping him even tighter. My hands shook. My whole body shook. “Tell me where she is!”
“What the hell are you talking about? Are you high?”
“We know you killed her sister.”
“I’ll call the police,” Mr. Jensen announced behind me.
“Please do. They can arrest this bastard,” I said.
Claude stared at me as if I’d completely lost my mind, but he couldn’t fool me. I knew the truth. The evidence of his crime was on my phone, and I couldn’t wait to share it with the world.
“What’s going on here?”
I glanced up and spotted James in the hallway. I hadn’t wanted him to find out like this. I would have preferred to break it to him gently in a calm moment, but it was too late for that now. “Your dad kidnapped Grace.”
“I did nothing of the kind!” Claude protested, struggling to free himself from my grip, but he was no match for me. “And I certainly haven’t killed anyone. What do you take me for?”
“I think you’re lying,” I replied. “We know you ran over Amy Claymore on the night of the Pearl Gala and then bribed the police into making the evidence disappear. Don’t you dare try to deny it. We found the illegal transfers for the bribe in your desk.”
Claude’s eyes widened. “You were snooping around in my study?”
I gave a grim smile. “Surprised, are you?”
“Please, let my dad go,” James said. “We can talk about this calmly.” He had moved closer and now placed a hand on my shoulder, his eyebrows tightly knitted together.
I didn’t want to let Claude go. I wanted to beat the truth out of him. But one look at my best friend’s face made me choose the sensible option. Besides, smashing his face in wouldn’t do anything to help Grace.
I loosened my grip and took a step back.
“Tell me where Grace is,” I demanded again, a little calmer this time, but no less urgent.
Claude pushed off the wall, putting some distance between us.
“I would if I could, Ethan. I promise. But I have no idea where your girlfriend is. Whatever you think you know about me—you’re wrong.
I never ran anyone over. And about the illegal transfers .
. .” He sighed and glanced at James. “It’s true that I bribed people.
But not to cover up a murder. It was to sort out a few issues involving Asterdam Fashion.
Not exactly legal, but that’s just how it is with big corporations. ”
I didn’t want to believe him, especially since that would mean I still had no clue where Grace was, but there was something in Claude’s tone that sounded genuine.
“What about the Rolls-Royce you sold at the beginning of this year?”
He frowned. “The car was over four years old. I sold it and got a newer model. Listen, Ethan, I was annoyed yesterday when I found you and your girlfriend apparently getting it on in my study during my wife’s birthday party, but that was all.
Once I’d kicked you out, that was the end of it for me.
I haven’t had time since yesterday to kidnap anyone. I spent the whole day with my family.”
I looked at James.
He nodded. “It’s true. We had brunch together this morning before golfing, and spent the evening playing board games. He was with us the entire time.”
I didn’t like it, but I had to admit it all sounded pretty convincing.
Perhaps Grace and I had been wrong, and Claude wasn’t the person we were looking for.
It also made sense, considering nothing had happened to me.
If he’d realised what Grace and I had been up to last night, surely he would have gone after me as well, not just her.
And the sold car and the bank transfers were suspicious, but apparently just a coincidence.
Which left me wondering who was actually behind Grace’s disappearance.
James must have seen the desperation on my face, because instead of being angry at me for lashing out at his dad and accusing him of being a murderer, he gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Do you want to go back to the beginning and tell us what happened with Grace?”
His compassionate question made the tears I’d been holding back all this time well up. “She’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“She was supposed to leave the hotel to go home this afternoon, but she never made it. No one has heard from her since,” I explained.
I told James briefly what Grace and I had been trying to uncover and that she had, as a result, received threatening letters she’d hidden from me.
“And now she’s gone, and no one knows where she is or whether she’s OK. ”
“Fuck,” James swore, pulling me into a hug.
“And you really thought it was me?” Claude asked from behind me.
I released James. “Yes. Everything pointed that way.”
He looked disappointed, as if he couldn’t quite believe we’d suspected him. And it was true that of all the filthy-rich snobs I knew, he was one of the more bearable ones. Sooner or later, I would have to deal with him and the documents Grace and I had found in his study, but now was not the time.
I had to find Grace. Wherever she was.