“Of course. Talk later.”
I hang up and slide the phone back into my pocket before heading out of the security room and back upstairs.
I turn toward Victoria’s room without thinking. When I get there, her bedroom door is open, but the room is empty. I stepinside and glance around. Her bed is neatly made, but other than that, there is no sign of her, or that she was ever there.
I stand in the middle of the room, jaw clenched. Where is she?
Unease settles in my gut.
Could she have left?
No.
There’s no way.
But . . .
Nope.
She’s got to be somewhere, and I’ll find her.
I turn on my heel and head back the way I came, down the stairs, and straight back into the security room.
“Dom.” At the sound of my voice, he turns his head and meets my stare.
“Yeah?”
“Pull interior and exterior feeds,” I order. “Last twenty minutes. I want eyes on Victoria.”
No questions asked. Dom reaches forward, and his fingers type furiously on the keyboard.
He checks every angle of the estate. Inside and out. There’s no way she could have escaped, but I just don’t like not knowing where she is.
Which is a huge problem in itself . . . but I can’t think about that now. The need to find her is stronger than my need to evaluate my obsession with my wife.
“There,” Dom says, freezing the video and pointing.
Victoria appears on the screen, moving through the hall.
Something is off about her.
She seems slower than usual. And one of her hands skims the wall. Almost like she’s bracing herself.
Then she turns left.
“The library.”
I’m already gone before Dom can say anything else, sprinting down the hall until I reach the library. The doors are open when I reach them. I step inside and see that she’s standing near the shelves, one hand braced against a ladder, the other holding a book she hasn’t opened.
She looks up when I enter but doesn’t speak. Something is off with her.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
She turns fully, and my chest tightens.
Her skin is pale. Too pale. The sharpness I’m used to, the fire in her eyes, is dulled.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she says. “I have a headache. Thought I’d grab a book before lying down.”
