“Go on.” I didn’t need a life story. I needed to know why Edward was paler than a sheet.
“After Hannah and Mark boarded the plane, Wynn said he wanted to use the bathroom before the ride home…” He was silent for a beat, and I was about to punch the words out of him, but he finally continued. “He was in there awhile, so Francis went in to check on him but he wasn’t there.”
“Are you telling me you found out that Ridgeway arrived in Lamdera an hour ago—which you should have been notified by the people watching him in Crellesia that he got on a boat to this island—and now Wynn is missing?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Every person assigned to watch Ridgeway is fired, every one of them. The fact that you waited an hour to tell me this doesn’t bode well for your future, Edward.”
“I understand, Your Highness.”
I had to swallow down my anger. My beast wanted to come out and play, but I needed a cool head.
“What are you doing to find him?”
“We’ve accessed all the cameras in the airport, all the docks and streets.”
“How many entrances and exits are there to the bathroom?” I cocked my head.
“One, sir.”
“Then how did Francis miss Wynn or Ridgeway leaving?”
“I don’t know, Your Highness.”
I hummed. “Odd. I want to speak with Francis now.”
“He’s currently searching for Wynn?—”
“Now!” I roared. So much for my beast staying put.
“Yes, yes, Your Highness.” He turned and left the room.
“What’s all the yelling for?” My mother entered the study, her brow scrunched.
I let her know what was going on, to which she called my father, and within thirty minutes everyone was in the know. The study had turned into some sort of operation. There were screens up covering all the camera feeds from the airport to a rundown gas station on the other side of the island.
I watched one in particular. Wynn talking to Francis by the bathroom and him entering. Francis stood there without moving for a good minute when a blond woman approached him. It appeared as though she were asking him where her gate was. He turned to point out the direction but she didn’t leave. His back was to the bathroom and that was the moment I saw it.
“There!” Everyone turned as I pointed to the screen.
Wynn appeared to be out of it or drunk and another man in a baseball cap, hoodie, and dark pants was practically dragging him. Thirty seconds after they were out of sight, the woman left.
“Find that woman, Edward.” I spun and faced the room. “How does the partner of the heir to the throne, with a detail of security, and press constantly around, get kidnapped without anyone realizing it?”
“It’s absolutely a question we will get answers to, son.” My father squeezed my shoulder and usually I didn’t like anyone touching me minus Wynn, but for a flicker of a moment I appreciated it.
I was going to find Ridgeway and kill him slowly, painfully. I had no desire to inhale his last breath; I wanted to hear his screams as he died.
“Focus, Julian.” Grace was in front of me. “Don’t slip away. Not yet, anyway.”
She, like probably the rest of family, knew Ridgeway wasn’t walking away from this alive. I wouldn’t be surprised if my father had a plan B for setting Ridgeway up for Rona’s murder ready to go.
My family had always been afraid of me, shied away from me. Grace was always my favorite. But since Wynn, after the initial mess of our companionship, my mother and father had become warmer toward me. I saw how they enjoyed talking with Wynn. Even my brothers were more daring in the things they said to me.
“I have to find him.”
She nodded. “We will. He’s on this island, Julian. No way can he get off. All flights and boats have been grounded.”
