By the time midnight rolled around, the auction had long since ended and most of the guests had left. Only a few of us remained, mainly family.
Deciding there was no reason for me to hang around any longer, I walked over to Snapper and Saffron. “Hey. I just wanted to say congratulations again. Tonight was incredible.”
“Thanks.” My brother’s eyes scrunched when he looked into mine. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Just—” I paused. “I’m really happy for you both. The way you brought all that together, the wine, the auction, everything.”
“We couldn’t have done it without you,” said Saffron. “Without everyone.”
I was about to argue and say I didn’t do much when Baron approached.
“Sorry to interrupt, but, Kick, have you heard from Isabel?” he asked.
“No, not since I took her to the airport a few days ago. Why?”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“Your villa in Italy. I assumed you knew. Is something wrong?”
Baron’s face went pale. “She never arrived.”
“What?” I asked as a feeling of dread washed over me.
“I’ve been unable to reach her, so I contacted the caretaker this morning. She isn’t there.” He sounded controlled, but anger simmered underneath. He leveled a look he was well-known for at me. All intimidation. “Where is she?”
I shook my head while my mind raced. “No idea. Like I said, I dropped her off at the airport. That’s the last I saw or heard from her.” While I hoped I sounded nonchalant about it, I was anything but.
Baron’s jaw clenched. “If you hear from her, you’ll let me know immediately.”
It wasn’t a question.
He walked away before I could respond.
I felt the world tilt sideways.
If Isabel never arrived in Italy, it either meant something had happened to her or she’d lied. To me and to her father.
“Kick? What’s going on?” Snapper asked.
“I’m not sure, but I’ve had a bad feeling since I watched Isabel walk into the airport terminal.”
Both his and Saffron’s eyes opened wide. “What are you thinking?” my brother asked.
“I have a request.”
Snapper nodded, picking up on where I was headed without my needing to say it. He whispered something in Saffron’s ear. She nodded, hugged me, then went to talk to her parents.
“Los Caballeros?” he asked.
“Yes. And without theViejos.”
“Understood.”
I arrivedat the Los Caballeros wine caves just before noon on January first and made my way through the rarely used corridor before entering the secret meeting room.
My brothers were already there—Brix, Cru, Bit, and Snapper. Ridge and his brother, Dalton, had come up from his place on See Canyon Road, Beau and Press Barrett were in town because of last night’s auction, and Zin Oliver stood talking to them.
“Isabel Van Orr is missing,” Brix said, getting straight to it after everyone took their seat. “Baron has no idea where she is. As far as he knows, she got on a plane to Italy and disappeared.”
