“I don’t have any voice messages, and the last time I received a text from you was—” I paused to check the messages, “—when you congratulated me on the job.”
“That’s weird because I’ve texted you at least ten times since then. Nori told me to stop bugging you, and that you were probably busy, so I didn’t make a big deal out of it.”
“I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe I dropped it one too many times. Don’t worry about it, I’m getting it replaced today.”
“Sounds good, but hey, I gotta go. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“And Kiyah?”
“What’s up?”
“Keep your eyes peeled.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m siding a little with Noid Nori here. Mr. Branson is giving off weird energy. If he makes you uncomfortable, then come back home. You can stay with me and Nori.”
“Noid Nori?”
“You know how paranoid she gets,” she explained.
“Good thing she took out her hearing aids, huh?”
“Good thing. Anyway, it’s good catching up with you. Also, call Kieran. He said something about visiting you, and the estate was locked up like Fort Knox. He was turned away.”
“Todd does take security seriously.”
“I can tell. In most of the photos, you all are surrounded by his goons, but can you really blame him after what happened to his wife?”
“I guess not.”
We said our goodbyes, and I received an alert that my spa appointment was in fifteen minutes. At the last minute, I decided to ditch my phone. What would have been the point if it had been on the fritz?
As I was leaving, a thought came to me.
Why wasn’t I informed that Kieran attempted to visit me?
Chapter Thirty-Three
Thaddeus
“Where. Is. She?” I shouted. With each word, my fist connected with Sutton’s bloodied face. I released him, and he choked and sputtered on his blood.
“I-I don’t know, sir.”
I glared at him through narrowed eyes and wondered if it was possible to be so fucking stupid.
I grabbed him by his collar, jerked him up, and shoved my watch in his face. “What time is it?”
Blood trickled from the cut above his eyebrow, forcing him to blink it away as he squinted at the timepiece.
“It’s 10:26, sir.”
“That’s right, Sutton. It’s 10:26 at night, and my woman is M.I.A. I told you not to let her out of your fucking sight.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Branson. I escorted her to the spa as you instructed. The lady at the front desk told me that Kiyah would be finished with her services between 4:00 and 5:00. But when I returned at 3:30, she was gone.”