Alina stood with Cary, her gaze locked on the view outside the windows as if she could find Ireland by sight. She was speaking while Cary listened attentively, offering silent comfort. He, too, had a way of helping to manage situations. At times, it was difficult to remember that the fashion model had once been the troublemaker in the early days of their acquaintance. Gideon once hoped Eva would outgrow their friendship but had since come to trust and rely on Cary.
Boudreaux stood alone with his shoulder propped against the wall, separated from the group because he remained nearer to the door than the cluster of sofas. His hands were in his trouser pockets, and his foot tapped restlessly. His aggravation was nearly tangible. Backlit by the wall sconce behind him, his features looked almost gaunt. In fact, while the man’s formal attire was well-tailored, Boudreaux would wear it better with twenty to thirty more pounds on his tall frame.
Was he ailing? Was there a ticking clock he was racing against that would make him desperate?
That Ireland was so thoroughly mixed up with Boudreaux confounded Gideon. She knew what he did about the man, because she had been the first to ask Angus to investigate his background. To invite him to the masquerade… To parade a murdering felon on stage for all to see, including her father, whom Boudreaux was set on destroying… To plan on taking a trip with him over the weekend…
For Gideon, family was an obligation. He was committed to strengthening his emotional ties with them, but that was a work in progress. Ireland didn’t have the reservations he did. Family was important to her in a deeply personal way. For his sisterto know Boudreaux’s agenda and history, and choose the man anyway…
Had he misunderstood his sister so profoundly? Or had her family ties been frayed in some way? All of Eva’s past warnings and admonishments that he was handling Ireland wrong came back to haunt him.
Eva. The most important person in the room to him. His best friend, partner, and confidante. The one person he absolutely could not live without. He knew she understood his guilt, and because she loved him so deeply, she would take on his pain as her own. That she should feel any remorse for his failures pierced his heart.
His wife was not to blame for anything. Their relationship had thrust her into the public eye overnight. Her beauty and style kept her there, but he was the one who’d come into the marriage with an infamous father who’d ruined lives in a Ponzi scheme. And while she had her own business interests, she didn’t have the same level of ruthless rivals that he did.
A knock at his office door made voices fall silent, and everyone turned at once.
“Just a moment,” he called out, giving everyone in the room time to gather themselves. He squeezed Eva tightly before releasing her, pressing a grateful kiss to her temple. Then he moved away to answer the door. When he pulled it open, he was relieved to see that the police commissioner and mayor had arrived together. “Mary. Jim. Thanks for taking the time. We have a situation.”
“My daughter’s been kidnapped!” Elizabeth snapped. “That’s not asituation, Gideon. My god.”
His mouth tightened as he surveyed the vacant reception area outside his office for eavesdroppers before shutting the door. “It’s optimistic to hope we can avoid a media frenzy.”
The police commissioner pulled off her brightly painted mask. “What’s happened, Gideon?”
“You can see it here,” Victor said from the other side of the room, drawing everyone’s attention to where he stood on the business side of the desk. He replayed the video on the television. The tension in the room ratcheted impossibly higher.
“Can we make out the plate?” the commissioner asked, pulling her phone out of a metallic, clamshell-like handbag the same shade of gold as her gown. Her hair, too, had once been golden, but now the strands were woven liberally with silver.
“Yes,” Victor answered. “And we’ve passed the info along to the police.”
“How long ago did this happen?”
“Twenty minutes.”
The commissioner nodded as she swiped through her phone. “I’ll check on that BOLO.”
“One of the valets notified hotel security,” Gideon continued, “who’d already caught the incident on the CCTV and notified the police. My personal security team was informed, and we currently have a tracker on Ireland. We’re pursuing. They haven’t left Manhattan yet.”
“We’ll make sure they don’t.” The commissioner’s pale blue eyes turned steely as she lifted her phone to her ear. “I shouldn’t have to tell you that your team cannot engage with the abductors. Leave tactical to Major Crimes.”
The mayor stepped closer. “We obviously can’t have a standoff—or worse, a shootout—between civilians, Gideon.”
“Then the NYPD better catch up quick,” he retorted. “If there’s an opportunity to recover my sister, we’re not going to stand by and wait.”
“I understand how difficult this must be?—”
“Do you, Jim?”
Taking a deep breath, the mayor clasped his hands together and turned to the commissioner. “How are we doing on response, Mary?”
“We’re mobilized.” She glanced at Gideon. “How accurate is the tracker you mentioned?”
“Extremely,” he replied. “The app is one of mine.”
Victor rounded the desk with a small tablet in hand. “You can use this to follow the signal until they search her and ditch the phone. We’re quickly running out of time. As soon as possible, they’ll do what they can to blend in and disappear.”
Elizabeth made a sharp, pained noise.
