“I thought you had a meeting tonight over on the east dock?”
“Rebook it. Tell them an emergency has come up.”
“Boss, what can I do?” he called after me, as I walked toward the door.
“I’ll call you.”
I calledMila repeatedly while I sped home, but she never picked up. The house was completely dark on the inside when I let myself in.
“Mila?” I yelled as I walked through the house, turning on lights as I went. I ran upstairs to her room. To my room. Looking for any signs of struggle.
Nothing.
Down in the kitchen, there were no signs that either of us even lived in the house. I found one lone takeout container in the fridge and a single bottle of iced tea.
I was starting to feel real stress. How long had she been missing? I started searching, but I didn’t even know what to look for. I realized that I had no clue who Mila was, what her habits were, or if it was normal that she wasn’t home at this time of night.
What if they had her? What if the men who had taken those photos had her in their possession right now?
The thought of her suffering alone brought up so many dark emotions I was nearly blinded by them. I would eliminate anyone responsible for harming her. They would never recover. I would personally destroy anyone who laid a finger on her.
I called Maksim. “We’ve got a situation.”
“Talk to me, boss.”
At that moment, I heard the front door open. I watched, stunned, as Mila let herself in, carrying a knapsack on her back.
“False alarm,” I managed to say before hanging up.
Mila stopped short in the large front foyer when she noticed me standing in the hallway.
“Oh, hi.” Mila hesitated. “You’re home early.”
She was home and safe in front of me, but my fear was still there, burning and simmering below the surface, threatening to boil over. I had to work to push it down.
My words sounded unfairly angry. “Where the hell have you been?”
She looked baffled. “What’s going on?”
“I phoned you multiple times.”
She frowned and pulled out her phone. “I guess I had it on silent.”
Who in their right mind leaves their phone on silent?
My voice was terse. “Why would you do that?”
Her eyes were wide. “Because no one calls me.”
Her reasonable excuse only inflamed my annoyance. “I came home and you were gone. You never left a note. You never let me know where you were going.”
I couldn’t seem to stop myself from blaming her for something that wasn’t her fault.
For scaring me.
Her tone was more than salty. “Excuse me? I’ve barely seen you since we arrived in Canada. The only sign I know you’re alive is that there is sometimes a coffee mug in the sink. Why would I leave a note about where I was going when I know I’ll come home and be the only one who reads it?”
I hated that she was being more logical than me, so I switched gears, my tone still accusatory. “What’s in the bag?”
