Page 43 of Isabelle’s Forbidden Love

The door was ajar, and Samson charged inside. “Can you check my daughter’s cell phone to see if she made any calls.” He felt his fangs ready to descend again.

“Eddie?” Thomas asked, while feverishly typing away on his keyboard.

“I’m on it.” Eddie tossed him an encouraging look. “Just a sec.”

Samson blew out a heavy breath, letting the air rush out through his nostrils with an audible woosh. He didn’t know what he’d do if Isabelle had warned Orlando. Would she betray her family for a killer? For a brutal killer like Orlando? He felt his pulse throb at his temples, and his vision become tinted in red. He was close to losing it.

“No calls, no text messages since she left your office,” Eddie confirmed.

A sigh of relief bubbled up from his chest, and he gave Eddie a grateful nod.

“Where the fuck is Orlando hiding?”

Thomas suddenly shifted in his chair and looked up. “I just picked up a signal from Orlando’s cell phone.”

“Where is he?”

“SFO.” Then Thomas looked back at the screen. “The signal was only there for about a minute. It’s gone again.”

“Cooper, Benjamin, you’re with me,” he called out into the hallway. “We’re going to the airport. Eddie, divert Gabriel and the others to SFO.” Samson was glad to be able to have something actionable. “They’re closer than we are. And Thomas, check Orlando’s credit cards. See if he bought a flight ticket, and where to.”

“On it.”

“And keep an eye on Isabelle. I want to know where she went. Track her cell, and keep me posted.”

He was annoyed with himself. He should have never let her leave like this. He should have insisted that she stay at HQ, far enough away from Orlando. But he knew just as well that Isabelle would have hated him for treating her like a prisoner, even if he only meant to keep her safe and not make another mistake on top of the one she’d already made: to sleep with Orlando. How had he not seen this coming?

For how long had this been going on? How could he not have noticed this? Orlando had never shown any interest in Isabelle, or in any other woman for that matter. Apparently, his disinterested front had been a fake façade behind which he hid his true nature. And Isabelle had fallen for it. His only daughter had been lured in by a stone-cold killer.

“I’ll drive,” Cooper volunteered when they reached the garage. He hopped into one of the black-out vans, and Samson and Benjamin jumped in.

As they shot out of the garage and into traffic, Samson could barely keep his anger under control. He was glad that Cooper was driving, because his mind was somewhere else. He’d raised Isabelle to be a balanced, intelligent young woman with a fierce sense for right and wrong. And Scanguards had trained her in everything a good bodyguard, investigator, and leader should know. She’d never in her life disappointed him. She’d always been his precious baby. In his eyes, she’d never done anything wrong. She was level-headed and brave, and he was proud of her. But what he’d seen tonight was different: she’d been stubborn and angry, like a lioness who wanted to protect her cub. Or a vampire who protected her mate. The very thought that she could have mated with Orlando in secret sent a shockwave through his body.

No, no, she wouldn’t do that. Isabelle wasn’t impulsive, not like her brother Grayson. From him, Samson had always expected something reckless like that, but Isabelle was different. Isabelle had inherited her mother’s brain: she analyzed everything and was impartial when it came to the conclusions she drew.

Oh God, Delilah. He hadn’t even told her yet what Isabelle had gotten involved in. This wasn’t the right time to tell her about it. He needed to hold her in his arms before he could tell her, preferably after Orlando was locked up in one of Scanguards’ underground cells, so Delilah wouldn’t have to worry about their daughter the way he worried right now. Then Delilah could simply slip into her role as mother and comfort her daughter after she realized that she’d fallen for the wrong man, and help her get over it.

Samson blinked and looked at the sign indicating the next exits. They were nearly at the airport when Samson’s cell rang. “Thomas? You’re on speaker.”

“Orlando bought a ticket to Montreal on Canadian Airlines. The flight is scheduled to leave in ten minutes. They’ve probably already closed the plane’s door.”

Samson slammed his fist on the dashboard. “Fuck!” His brain worked overtime. There had to be something he could do. “We’ve gotta stop the plane from taking off.”

“Call in a bomb threat?” Benjamin asked from behind him.

“No,” Thomas said quickly. “We can always catch him when he lands. Our jet can be there quicker.”

“If he’s even on the flight,” Cooper mused from the driver’s seat.

Samson shot him a look. “Go on.”

“Don’t you find it weird that Thomas picked up his cell signal at the airport, when before that his cell was most likely switched off. So, why switch it on, when he got to the airport? Why give us a hint about where he disappeared to?”

“Did you hear that, Thomas?” Samson asked. “Can you check if Orlando boarded the plane?”

“I’m on it. I’ll call you back.”

“We’re still going to the airport?” Benjamin asked.