As we galloped to the next location, my stomach sank, not only because Noah was missing, but also because this woman who’d only known him for a couple of days had a better idea of what he liked to do than I did.
No, that wasn’t true. I knew Noah. Just not this new version of him.
And was it such a bad thing for him to be finding comfort with Nina? She was clearly good at her job. When Noah opted to speak to me beyond “yes” or “no” since we’d boarded, it was always about the fun stuff they were doing together. He didn’t normally attach himself to someone so quickly.
“So how does one lose a six-year-old?” Nina asked me as we headed up the back staff staircase they’d used with the kids.
I gripped the handrail a little tighter; there was judgment in her voice that rubbed me the wrong way.
“He slipped out of the room while I was on a call with the marketing team,” I fired back at her, because what exactly was she suggesting?
“Ah, of course,” she said, climbing the steps faster.
I took them two at a time to catch up to her. “What doesthatmean?”
She shot me a look out of the corner of her eye then reached for the door handle before I could. “You run an empire. I guess work has to come first.”
I slammed the door shut and turned to face her, blocking access so that the two of us were trapped in the empty stairwell. I was worried about Noah, but now angry as hell too. “Hold on. I’ll have you know that my son comes first, no matter what.”
I expected her to cower a little since I was practically breathing fire, but Nina stood her ground and stared back at me silently, her eyes scanning my face.
It looked like she was holding back from saying something.
“Well, okay then,” she finally replied. “Let’s go find him.”
I wrenched the door open and walked through it without holding it for her. My phone rang.
“Mike, any news?”
“Negative, but we’ve checked footage from, uh, the most pressing areas of concern, and everything has been clear for the past hour.”
That meant he’d checked the bridge, bow, stern, and deck cameras that pointed toward the water. I dropped my head and let out a sigh. “Okay, thank you.”
“We also haven’t seen him show up on any of the other floors. Stair and elevator footage is clear as well. Though…I hate to bring this up now, but the cameras on the passenger decks aren’t really angled with someone of Noah’s height in mind. There are blind spots. Noah might’ve slipped by without being recorded.”
“Damnit,” I muttered. “Okay, so that means there’s a chance he’s still on my floor, somewhere.”
I hung up abruptly and took off down the hall at a jog.
“What happened?” Nina called after me.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said over my shoulder.
I didn’t need her help. I didn’t want it either. Not when the implication of what she’d said earlier made it clear that Nina thought I was an unfit parent.
I had enough doubts of my own, thanks. I didn’t need someone else piling on.
I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t realize she was trailing me until I hit our floor. I fished my keycard out of my pocket to check if he’d magically reappeared in our suite.
“Wait.”
I paused to look at Nina.
“I heard something. Down here.”
She ran to a supply room door that was usually locked and pulled it open.
“Noah,” she exclaimed and dropped to her knees in the doorway.
