She’s not here. Has she found one of the secret passages?
Unlikely. I warned her that they were cramped, and the entrances aren’t immediately obvious, nor is there an entrance in my office.
Far more probable that she’s gone in search of my bedroom.
And that thought has me smiling even broader as I backtrack, spinning to leave the office.
But Butch blocks the doorway.
“She left.”
I stare at him dumbly. “Excuse me?”
“She left. Half hour or so ago.”
I dig my phone out of my pocket and find zero waiting messages from her. “What? Why?”
He shrugs.
“Did she say anything?”
“Looked like she was crying.”
I stare at him. “Crying?”
He nods, and my heart thumps ominously.
Did something happen to one of her brothers?
I dial Bea’s number, and it instantly diverts to voicemail.
I try again.
Same result.
My heart shudders, and the tinny taste of adrenaline floods my tongue.
I dial Daphne’s number.
She answers on the first ring. “Go fuck yourself in the ass with a rusty hanger.”
And then she hangs up.
Panic claws at my throat. I look at Butch again.
He shrugs again.
“Her brothers—” I start.
“No accidents reported tonight.”
I rub my chest over where an ominous feeling is growing.
If something happened to one of her brothers, she would have told me.
Something clearly didn’t happen to Daphne, because she answered and was quite angry.
Which suggests she’s angry withme.
