“Morning to you too, sunshine.”
Wrong move. Now I understand why she calls him a little bitch.
“You have three seconds to tell me where she is before I lose my patience.”
“Uh, so grumpy.” But the stupid words don’t match the shift in the tone.
Alex’s voice has lost its edge now.
I keep my voice calm, but he’s testing me. “She’s disappeared, and if you don’t tell me where she is, I’ll assume you’ve got something to do with it.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Speak now.”
“I mean it. She’ll gut me.”
His voice isn’t cocky now, just nervous. However, I cannot shake the feeling that it’s also familiar. It could be that I’d heard while I was with her, but it doesn’t click.
“I asked you a question. You have ten seconds to stop bullshitting me and start answering me if your life still matters to you.”
“She’s in Toronto.”
How convenient, on the other side of the motherfucking continent. “Doing what?”
“A simple job. She didn’t want you to know because?—”
“Because she’s pissed at me. I’m aware.”
“Doctor, she just acts crazy sometimes.”
That does sound like her, but how dare this piece of shit call my ember crazy? Seems like Victoria will need a new middleman.
“How long has she been gone?”
“She left this morning. Should be back tomorrow.”
“I’m expecting all the details in the next two minutes. And don’t fucking tell her if you still cherish your life.”
The café where she was supposed to wait is almost empty, but there is no sign of my Victoria. Did the stupid one tell her?
I dial Alex, and something tells me he already knows he is in trouble.
“She was there,” he says quickly. “I had my eyes on her until 9:48. Then I lost her.”
“How can you lose a person?”
Alex swallows loudly enough that I can hear it through the phone. “She said she was going to the last seen point. She was pissed. She doesn’t like it when things don’t follow the plan.”
“And now?”
“She stopped answering about two minutes ago.”
“Where. Is. She?” I don’t even bother pretending I am calm, and I don’t give two flying fucks if the people walking around me get scared.
“I’m sending the?—”
“Don’t.”