“What does the report say? I know her aunt is still rotting in a Turkish prison,” he spat out.
“Reported missing by her cousin,” Ares said.
Xander thumped his fist on the table, calling the team on Harper. “Get Erik and Janette in here.”
His worst fear was here, and Xander wanted to run out of the building, find Harper, and take her somewhere no one would find them.
He shouldn’t have let her out of his sight for a moment.
His call went unanswered, so he tried Harper’s cell again, and it clicked right over to voice mail. He texted her, shoved his phone back into his pocket, cold sweat breaking out across his shoulder blades. When Marrock started taking an interest in Harper, that’s when he let down his guard. And he shouldn’t have.
He knew she was feeling caged in, however, glided the cage, but he should have done something, anything besides allowing the door to be opened.
Xander marched from the conference room, right out the front doors of Axis Management, onto the streets, as if he could tell where Harper was by breathing the outside air. Taking out his phone, he pressed redial so fast he knew he could break it. “Come on, Angel,” he said as it rang and clicked over to voice mail again.
“Xander, wait!” Ares called behind him.
Striding back into the building, he jabbed at the elevator button and Ares caught up to him. “Can’t find Harper anywhere.”
When the doors open he strode down the hall, right past Viv. He loomed over Gardenia’s desk.
Her face paled.
“Tell me where Harper is,” he demanded.
She swallowed hard, and her hands shook.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled out a chair and sat down. “She isn’t answering her calls, Gardenia, and I’m worried about her. I have some urgent information I need to share with her.”
Gardenia chewed on her lip.
“Tell me.” Xander put as much dominance as he could in his tone.
“I know she was upset. You’re a good friend, Gardenia. I’m glad she went to you.” Xander tried to soften his words. “Where did she go today. Do you know?”
“She had an audition this morning.” Gardenia’s big eyes met his. “They called her back.”
“Who called her back?” Ares asked.
“The TV people, fromCanada’s Best Dancer. She made it into the call-backs, which means she’s probably going to be on the show. She’s very good. Maybe she didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to ask for time off. Kayleigh and I told her she had to go for it because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, you know?”
Fury wound around Xander’s heart, and he took a deep breath.
“This was her second audition?” Ares asked. He was scrolling on his phone.
“Yeah. She had the first one a few weeks ago.”
“Xander, look.” Ares showed Xander a clip on his phone for the showCanada’s Best Dancer, it was a promotion clip. There, a red leotard, with her head thrown back, was Harper, centre stage in a group.
“That’s where that picture came from,” Xander said.
He turned away from Gardenia’s desk, marching down the hall.Fuck, Angel. You should have told me.
But of course, she hadn’t because he would never have let her go to the audition. The more he tried to hold onto women, the more they escaped him and got in trouble. Xander cursed, punching in the security detail’s number again. He called Carli, telling her to meet him at the front.
“Let me know what’s happening,” Ares called after him as Xander leaped into the car.
“Cali, get us to the theatre.”
