I take out my gun and scan the hallways, opening the doors to every room I near.
“Adeline!” I call her name again, trying not to sound upset, but it’s no use.
Approaching her bedroom door, I barge inside and am met with nothingness. The sheets on her bed are gone, save for the fitted one, and there’s no trace of her in the bathroom suite either.
I continue checking all the rooms on the upper level before I force myself to call in reinforcements.
“Get me all the footage on the road cameras for the past hour,” I command. “And I want clear-ass pictures of the license plate from every car that drove by this week.”
“Right away, sir.”
The pain in my chest is unbearable—all too familiar to the pain I felt when I lost every member of my family on the same night. And if the past is truly prologue, I’ll never come close to getting over it.
“The garden grounds and guest grounds are clear, sir.”
“What about the pool?”
“We’re checking now.”
Unwilling to take their word without checking myself, I wander through the grounds myself, but there’s nothing.
I call Adeline.
No ring. Straight to voicemail.
Autumn, next.
Same.
Thinking of where else they could be, I head down the tree-lined exit of the estate, where the underground wine cellar stands.
When I’m halfway there, I spot a soft light flickering in the distance. Following it, I notice that it’s coming from a guest villa I stopped using years ago.
Drawing my gun, I move closer and closer, until I’m staring right at the light’s source: a standing candle near the window.
Since its mountain of wax is blocking my view, I move to the side of the villa and peer through the window.
The pain in my chest dissolves, settling into relief.
Adeline is leaning against Autumn’s shoulder, smiling as they stare at something in a book. They’re bundled together in the sheets from Adeline’s bed, completely clueless about the havoc their run to safety has caused.
Seeing them together is a glimpse of something I wish I could give to Adeline forever, but… at the rate things are going, that may be something that never comes true.
“You can call off the search,” I call Warner. “I found them.”
“Copy, sir. Will you be joining me in your office at the estate now?”
“No,” I say. “I’ll let you know when I’m en route.”
“But… You were followed by four cars at a distance tonight,” he says.
“I’m aware.” I keep staring through the window. “Two black BMWs, a white Elantra, and a grey Audi.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Were they FBI or men with Banks?”
“I don’t know.”
