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“Call her. She knows you, and it won’t raise too many alarm bells if you ask.”
“I don’t have her cell number.”
“Just sent it,” Kina calls from the kitchen doorway. My phone pings.
There’s no point raising complaints about a little thing called privacy. These two don’t seem to acknowledge the existence of the concept.
“Ask her if she talked to Lysander in the last forty-eight hours,” Bryce demands. “Is there any reason for him to leave town? If so, where did he go.”
I hesitate for a minute and watch Bryce’s nostrils flare.
“Do a periphery check, Kina,” he spits.
“Yes, sir,” Kina says with zero hesitation.
She goes out the garage and I hear her pull away. My eyes are trained on the man who assumes he can order me around like he does everyone else.
“Call her. Put her on speaker.”
“What would your mother say if she saw how rude you are right now? Not just to me. You practically barked at your employee.”
Mentioning Noeleen in order to shame Bryce is not my proudest moment. Someone has to remind him of manners.
“My mother would make me apologize. And I will, when you’re safe. That’s not the point. Make the damn phone call and put Judith on speaker.”
Bryce widens his stance and crosses his arms so his biceps are the size of toddler heads. I resolve to look from the neck up only. Pondering how those mountain shoulders would feel under my fingers is beyond inappropriate. The memory of his girth when I sat on his lap last night makes me want to fan myself.
I veer my eyes to the tapestry of seasonal colors outside the window. The bright red hues remind me of my own heated cheeks.
“Please.” His voice is gravelly, urging me to turn. He sounds so miserable, something inside me tugs.
My eyes stray no lower than his manly Adam’s apple. “Before I call her, you need to give me more information. Why the urgency?”
Bryce sighs and pulls a chair closer to me. His legs are so long, his knees graze my leg.
“People move in patterns that can be traced and processed by AI in a number of ways. When we buy groceries or go to a movie or pass a toll booth, we’re tracked. If you fly out of the country or buy gas out of state, there’s a digital footprint. Unless Lysander is an avid camper who’s in an isolated spot he drove to while avoiding major highways, something would show. Like I said, he’s disappeared.”
I’m affected by his serious tone. And although I haven’t thought of Lysander in a long time, we ended things amicably. I would feel bad if something happened to him.
“Do you think he’s OK?”
Bryce makes a weird noise. Did he just growl at me?
“Sure,” he says with narrowed eyes. “If his safety is what you’re worried about, let’s go with that.”
It doesn’t appear as if he’ll leave me alone until I reach out to Judith, so that’s what I do. Lysander’s personal assistant answers in two rings.
“Ana?”
“Hi, Judith. How are you?”
“You know how the grandkids keep me busy. And you?”
“Good, good. Um, would you happen to know where Lysander is?”
“At home, I think. He didn’t have much planned after canceling his meetings yesterday. You’ve tried his cell phone and he hasn’t answered? That’s surprising. I’m pretty sure you’re the one person he’d answer on the first ring.”
I wince at her words. “That’s, um, nice of you to say.”
