Chapter 8 #2
“Planes, trains, and automobiles,” Jaxon answered, meaning he’d also checked taxi services such as Uber.
Alexander rolled his eyes. “She’s far too independent for her own good.”
“She believes she’s a worthy opponent for a dangerous thug.” I thought about the conversation we’d shared at the club. She’d said nothing to me during the last couple of hours. Not a word.
“We need to find her. With Sinclair and Montgomery headed to Miami, and the men in the club murdered, we have a situation we need to keep under control. Having my sister AWOL is going to prove even more dangerous.”
The moment anyone got wind of who she was, they could easily use her as a family weakness. What the hell had she been thinking? A moment of guilt hit me. What if she’d left because I’d pushed her too hard? Fuck me. “Where do I come in?”
Jaxon’s eyebrows arched as he walked closer. “You found her before, Donatello. You can do so again.”
My laugh sounded bitter. “I found her in this city. She could be anywhere. You’re quite right in that she’ll go to any length to disguise her intentions, including by use of changing her identity.
She has the methods and means, including money.
I can guarantee you she set up separate accounts, including several overseas that would provide her with enough money to live lavishly off the radar for the rest of her life.
Given her weaponry skills, she’ll be able to muscle her way out of dangerous situations without a hitch. ”
“Wow. You know her better than I thought,” Jaxon stated with a hint of surprise.
“Just like I do about every member of the Prince family. That’s part of being protection detail.” I spoke the truth. Then why was every muscle tensing?
I glanced from one to the other. They were listening to me intently.
“Continue,” Alexander commanded.
“She speaks seven languages fluently. And with her level of intelligence, she could outsmart any man from any walk of life from scientist to mercenary. She has friends in various countries. I know because of a conversation we had two years ago.” A rare drunken conversation, at least on her part.
I’d had to take her home and she’d expounded on her attributes.
As if I didn’t know how talented she was.
“Don’t get me started on what she knows about vehicles either. She’s a walking, talking encyclopedia.”
Both men allowed a smile, Alexander the one walking toward me.
“Seven languages? I thought she knew five,” Jaxon said.
“Rosetta Stone. When she’s bored, she uses the program to learn another language.” I rubbed my eyes. Where in the world could she have gone? “Did you ask your lovely wife if she had an idea?” Emmeline and Anastasia were still close, even though the ballerina had married Jaxon.
Jaxon sighed. “She was shocked hearing the news.”
“How did you know she was missing?” I asked, curious.
“I tried calling her to let her know you’d been hurt. When she didn’t call back, I went by her house. I found this.”
Jaxon knew I would lay down my life for her. I took her phone from his hand, chuckling slightly. “Smart girl. She’d know her whereabouts could be discovered.”
The three of us remained quiet for a full minute.
“Well, it would seem you know Emmeline better than anyone, including her family. Which is why beginning now, your sole responsibility is to find my sister very much safe and alive. I won’t accept anything less.
You have the full weight of all our contacts at your disposal, cash, and the smaller of the two jets along with a pilot.
I don’t care what rocks you turn over, how many people you need to eliminate or piss off.
You can take as many men with you as you want. You will find her.”
I took a deep breath, wincing when I did. And not from the pain in my ribs.
“Keep the phone,” Jaxon suggested. “Maybe there’s something on it that will help you locate her. Before you ask, I have no idea about the passcode.”
That I could determine easily enough.
I shifted my attention to Jaxon, who nodded. After taking another deep breath, I thought about what I’d need. “Emmeline will see an army coming a thousand miles away and shift deeper undercover. If you want her found, you’ll need to allow me to do it my way.”
Alexander cocked his head. “Which is?”
“Alone.”
Now the two of them studied each other as if questioning either my sanity or my abilities. Jaxon knew what I was capable of. I’d saved his life on several occasions.
“Alright. Have it your way, but find her, Donatello. She’s our baby sister. She’s doesn’t deserve to fall prey to one of our predators.”
“Restrain her if necessary,” Jaxon added. “She won’t come with you willingly.”
“Oh, she’ll come with me.” And I would have no issue restraining her. In fact, she deserved nothing less.
“I told you he was the right man for the job, Alex.”
I wanted to tell him he should be more worried about anyone who dared try to cross her, but I refrained.
Poking the bear wasn’t in anyone’s best interest.
“I’ll find her, Mr. Prince.” And when I did, she would learn her behavior wasn’t acceptable.
* * *
I’d learned a long time ago that people weren’t as clever as they believed themselves to be.
They always left clues about where they’d gone or where they’d been.
From matchbooks to cocktail napkins, bottles of wine to cigarette butts, they could be found.
In the case of the lovely yet mischievous Emmeline, her attempt at hiding her second persona was likely going to be more difficult for me to find, but I would.
How many times had I hunted before? In truth, my skills were akin to being a mercenary, utilized several times by the Prince family.
I stood inside Emmeline’s house, drinking in the atmosphere.
While I’d been in her home before, a lovely three-story she’d painstakingly renovated to her classic eclectic style, I’d never been past the living room and kitchen.
This time, I headed into her bedroom first. She hadn’t been in a hurry leaving, which meant nothing had scared her.
That also meant she’d planned this. Now my guess was she just needed some space, perhaps unknowing that I’d been attacked. When there was one attempt made, there were usually more, which was why the family was so concerned.
Emmeline was a fascinating woman, including her choice of literature.
There was everything from a few classics to romance novels, a couple of travel books and several thrillers; the one that captured my attention was on voodoo and hoodoo.
She’d spent some time telling me about the difference, including use of gris-gris in casting spells.
There were a few others sprinkled in, all relating to conjuring or witchcraft.
While she’d never seemed particularly religious, her belief in the art of dark magic likely terrified most men who dared entire her home.
A slight chuckle left my throat. To say she was a handful was far too mild of a term.
I went through her things, confirming she’d planned the escape. There was no obvious choice of clothing, whether cold or warm weather. Besides, if she was smart, she’d purchase an entirely new wardrobe wherever she’d gone.
She’d left her laptop on her desk. And as suspected, there was a long passcode to get into it. I hoped I could find it somewhere in her desk. I didn’t. But I kept looking, searching through every drawer and piece of furniture.
I even checked the kitchen cabinets.
Finding absolutely nothing including bank statements or other financial information, I sat down on her couch. There were no hidden compartments inside, nothing but a few boxes of Christmas ornaments in the attic.
The woman had been damn good with her getaway.
In the quiet, I took my time enjoying her art and the stunning modern lighting fixtures.
Then it finally came to me that she had an attached apartment downstairs.
I’d forgotten all about that. Anastasia had stayed in the location for a few weeks after moving to New Orleans.
What were the odds Emmeline had hidden a few personal items somewhere in the small space?
Why not check to see if I was right?
While there was a separate entrance for the location, given she currently didn’t have a tenant, the door between the units was unlocked.
There was some furniture but little else, which made it easy to go through everything.
When I was standing in the luxurious bathroom, staring into the mirror, an odd piece of molding captured my attention. With a laugh I turned around, studying it for a few seconds.
She had been in a hurry when she’d last been inside the hidden compartment.
A single twist of the molding, a push in the panel, and I opened a safe space. The location was cleverly designed; unless you knew what you were looking for, you’d never locate the hidden compartment.
Inside were financials. With a quick look through them, I realized I’d underestimated the girl. She was worth even more money than I’d expected. While the discovery was interesting, the money trail meant nothing at this point. I was searching for a single thing.
While there was a fifty-fifty chance I’d find what I was looking for, when I did, I felt somewhat vindicated.
A grin lingered on my face as I returned to her office, sitting down at her computer.
The passcode worked perfectly, allowing me into aspects of her private life.
I knew exactly what I was looking for, finding her passwords for every social media account, even though she’d tried to hide them from the rest of the world.
Given the girl was brilliantly manipulative, when I confirmed she’d wiped her search history, I grinned like a kid. One of the computer experts could be brought in and he’d find out the last searches made within minutes.
But this was so much more fun, like putting together pieces of a delicious little puzzle. Not long after beginning my search, I realized there were so many things I didn’t know about her. I even had access to her Kindle library, which highlighted her various tastes in literature.
Including dark romances.
Stalker romances.
She had no idea that several of her fantasies were about to come true.
Still laughing, I shifted in the chair, realizing my cock was aching like a son of a bitch. She had a way of doing that to me.
A dark chuckle slipped past my lips as I shifted through her social media pages. Several were dedicated to business, amazing photographs of the various shops in Indulgence. But the personal pages were something special.
They told a tale of a woman searching for the right man. A powerful man who knew how to handle a ruthless woman.
Something else to keep in the back of my mind.
A puzzle was quickly being filled with shapes and blocks. A few photographs put everything together. She’d narrowed down her destination choices to four. All in different corners of the world.
The feisty, beautiful, and difficult woman had left a trail of breadcrumbs, daring anyone to try to find her.
I shifted from one social account to another, also using what information I had to put a name together.
After writing a few choices down on a piece of paper, I pretended like I was solving an anagram.
Armed with enough information, or so I hoped, I pulled out my phone and made a call. “Yes, I’d like to check and see if my wife was onboard one of your flights.”