Carter rubbed his jaw.
Zee’s stomach sank, knowing all these men had worked tirelessly through the night to try and find Ella.
“I can’t—“
He tried to get words out over the lump in his throat but it was like he’d swallowed a gumball.
“We’re here for you, Zee,” Xander said.
“I have run a background check on every member of Club Bandit,” Carter said, furiously tapping his laptop.
“The ones that aren’t in this room,” Nick Laurent said.
“Obviously,” Quinn said.
“Hey, you would complain if he didn’t do that check,” River said.
“Nobody’s complaining, man,” Logan said.
“As I was saying, I ran down every member from Club Bandit, including former members who didn’t renew their membership.Everyone came back clean.I then ran down all the board members of the charity and found nothing suspicious there.”
“There’s no way this was random,” Xander said.
Zee’s hands clenched into fists and the room suddenly felt cold.
He’d tried to convince himself that there was some logical explanation as to why Ella wasn’t here.
But nothing made sense.
His slave wouldn’t just run out on him, not without a word.
No matter how angry she’d been with him over the years, she never stomped out or slammed a door.
That wasn’t his Ella.
“He didn’t say it wasn’t,” River jumped in again.
Carter held up a hand.“Stop it.The security breaches started when you gained more popularity with your job, Zee.Just finished running down the staff you work with, and I don’t see any connections there.But the guys you attended the dinner with?Your rivals, I think I have something there.”
Zee’s tongue stuck to the back of his teeth and he remembered Ella telling him how uncomfortable Roger made her.
“I had them over for drinks after the university awards banquet.Ella never liked Roger Miller.Fuck, I should have listened to her.”
“Listening is always a good idea,” Erik mumbled.
“Not Roger Miller,” Carter said.“Nico Rodriguez.”
The room spun on Zee, blood roaring in his ears.
Nico, his best friend for years?The one who always cheered him on.
But his memories spat out the instances where Nico’s smile was strained.
How he stared at Zee’s trophy collection with jealousy that he couldn’t hide.
The little snarky remarks he made when he visited his office at the college.
“That medal should have been mine.”
