I sit back up and look at the painting. I’ve seen this one before, years and years ago. The image of a skinny little teenager crying in front of it pops into my head. It was some sort of meeting my father had and I was to watch and learn.
Carlos comes in, breaking my train of thought.
“She is not here, boss. I’m telling you, she left on foot.”
“Call Sasha. She should be on her trail if she is walking on the streets.”
I immediately bring out my phone and open the app I installed on her phone. She is only six blocks from here. I jump up and zoom in on the street, trying to get her location and it blips out. She’s gone. Like she was never even there!
“What the fuck?” I shout.
“Shhhhhh…this is a public place.” Some mall cop in a navy suit puts his head around the corner glaring at me.
I give him the finger and grab Carlos’ coat, dragging him back towards the employee's only door.
“She was here. I had her on the screen and then she was just gone. She disappeared off the planet.”
Carlos has Sasha on the phone; I grab it out of his hands.
“Where is she?” I demand.
Sasha’s tone is serious. “She left the museum, grabbed a coffee, and was just walking. I followed her at a distance like you said. I caught up to her after she went down the alley. She went into a grubby bookstore, but when I went in. She was gone.”
Damn it! “Okay, and then?”
Sasha’s voice shakes a bit. “I checked the alley, went around the building twice before I went back in, and asked if anyone had seen her, but she just disappeared.”
I lose my shit now. “What the fuck am I paying you for? For fuck’s sakes! It’s your only fucken job to follow and watch her.”
I slam my fist into the wall. If she’s hurt or someone kidnaps her, I’ll kill them all, but the worst thought makes my chest tight. She’s running away from me.
“Sit on that spot, you stay there till that fucken store closes. Monitor her locator. Call me if you see or hear anything.”
I go to throw the phone but Carlos grabs my hand in mid-air. “Easy there killer, that’s my phone.”
He lets go of my hand and puts his phone in his inside pocket.
“Come on, let's go see if Tink found her.”
“Tink?”
“Yeah Anna, she looked like an angry Tinker Bell, all pouty lips and squinty eyes.” He laughs, “Like she thinks she could actually kick someone’s ass with her weird koala bear climbing ninja moves.” He’s making karate chop moves in the air.
“She managed to get out of your hands now, didn’t she?”
He stops walking and glares at me.
“Yeah… think about that.” I raise my voice to a high, “Mr.Can-you-put-me-on-your-shoulder?” I bat my eyelashes at him.
“Fuck you, Alex.”
We push through the door and Anna is sitting at her desk, with the phone to her ear. She hangs up and tries again.
I walk around and lean on her desk. She looks up with tears in her eyes. “She’s not answering. Why won’t she answer?”
The grip on my chest gets tighter. I can see her not answering my calls, but Anna’s. That leaves me with a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach, especially after what I learned about her father today.
I move away from the desk, motioning for Carlos to follow.
