A frown crossed his face. That couldn't be good. "Go ahead." He took the folder his aide extended.
"We don't know much yet, but we do know that he left the country in the middle of the night a couple of days ago. He didn't tell anyone, and it seems like he may have taken somethingimportant with him, though we don't know what and can't be certain just yet."
Enzo had no doubt there was already an investigation being opened and that no stone would be left unturned until answers were found.
13
It was the first time Victoria had been called to Enzo's office for an urgent meeting.
Her aide hadn't used the word urgent, but she had told Victoria to drop what she was doing and go straight to the king's office.
She chose to go through the main entrance rather than the side one. The aide in the outer office stood and bowed her direction before telling her she could go inside.
Once there, she quickly scanned the room to find Enzo, one of his aides - she didn't know his name - as well as the head of public relations and head of security, along with one of his aides.
Everyone stood from their spot around the conference table. Enzo motioned her toward the empty seat next to him. As she took her seat, so did everyone else.
"What's going on?" She looked from one to the other before landing on her husband. "Is everything okay? Did the announcement cause a stir?"
"We delayed the announcement until this evening, ma'am." The PR woman answered. "For now we have another issue to deal with. I'll let the others explain that."
Cap rested his forearms on the table. "When was the last time you spoke with him, ma'am?"
Victoria looked at the rest of them again. "Um, a few days ago? We had a history lesson, and he told me he'd let me know when the next one was, but I haven't heard from him since. Has something happened to him?"
"We're gathering information at this point," Cap continued. "Did he give any indication that he might not be contacting you for longer than a day or two?"
Victoria wracked her brain. "He was having a conversation in Italian the last time I was there. I didn't understand all of it, but it seemed like there was an issue at an event coming up. I don't know what event or even what kind of event. He was off that whole lesson, just... not himself. Looking back, I think he may have been preoccupied for a couple of days before that, but not nearly to the same extent."
Cap shared a look with his assistant. "Thank you, ma'am."
A shiver of alarm went through her. "Is there anything I need to be concerned about?"
"Not at this time, ma'am. Should something change, we will let you know anything you need to know as soon as we can."
She noticed what he didn't say. They wouldn't tell her anything and everything. They would tell her what they thought she needed to know when they thought she needed to know it.
Not much different than Southern Santiero.
She hadn't liked it then and didn't like it now.
It was one of the biggest reasons she'd left.
Of course Cap had kept tabs on her, she knew that much. She'd sent postcards and holiday or birthday cards, but no real contact with anyone in her family until she returned for her eldest brother's wedding. But, somehow, she’d still known he had people watching her. Fortunately, she'd never had any incidents that would require interference by them.
"Thank you for joining us, ma'am. We appreciate you taking time out of your day to answer those questions."
Victoria knew she was being dismissed without actually being dismissed. Technically, probably only Enzo could do that, but it was clear that Cap was ready for her to leave.
As she stood, so did everyone else.
Enzo walked her to the side door that led directly into her office. "Thank you for your help." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you at dinner."
Once back in her own office with the door closed securely behind her, Victoria turned to stare at it, contemplating the meeting she'd very briefly been a part of. Did any of them know what event the historian had been talking about? Was it something to legitimately be concerned about? Couldn't it have just been an event the late queen had planned before her passing? Or something equally innocuous?
Though possible, she knew it was unlikely. His attitude and reactions weren't of the sort that would lend itself to that explanation.
Doing her best to shove it out of her mind for the moment, Victoria went to her desk and pulled up the plans for the state dinner with the rest of the Commonwealth of Dellisole, all four countries of the Sargasso Sea, and other dignitaries, including her family.
