I call the house. Mrs. Halloway answers, confused. She thought Mable was at the library as well.
“Already on it,” Tomas says before I can ask, pulling up the GPS tracker.
Jenson disabled it. I’ll kill him.
I storm out of my office, past Tomas calling after me, down to the lobby, where the guard looks up in alarm.
“Mable,” I demand. “When did she leave?”
“Sir, I didn’t see?—”
“Find the footage. Now!” I bark.
They scramble. I pace, phone in hand, trying her again. Nothing. Trying Jenson. Nothing. I order Tomas to put everyone on high alert at the airport and anywhere they could try to leave the country quickly.
Then I put a BOLO on Jenson’s vehicle so every police officer is on the lookout as well. I watch the footage of Mable runningfrom the building, then outside speaking with Jenson, the tears running down her cheeks ripping me to shreds.
My mom ends up showing up in the midst of all of this. My composure long gone, I threaten to fire the entire security team.
“You can follow the camera footage,” I say. “Track them through the footage.”
“Caldwell,” my mom says gently. “She left with Jenson.”
“He’s fired,” I grit out, but I get what she’s alluding to. If she’s with Jenson, she’s safe.
“You’re not firing him. He’s helping your future wife. She won’t allow it.” That catches me off guard. “Now do you want to tell me what you did to make her run?” Now she levels me with a glare, the same one that she’d give me as a child.
The tables have turned.
I tell her the CliffsNotes version. I was hoping to not have to let anyone know. To protect everyone. Cordelia was to simply disappear, but that’s no longer an option.
“I’m sorry,” my mother says. “I’m sure my actions have played a part in this.”
“We’ll talk about that all later. Right now, I need to find her.”
“Okay, then find her.” She stares up at me. “If anyone knows where she’d go, it would be you.”
“What if she’s leaving the country even as we speak?” I know I can eventually track her down, but that’s not good enough. I want her now.
“She’s not,” my mom says with utter confidence. “As much as Solaria already adores her, she adores them too.”
They love her; I fucking love her. It hits me hard when I realize I’ve never said those words to her. My family loves each other, but it’s not often said. My brother says it, but the rest of us don’t. Shit. I can’t fathom what she is thinking right now.
“Where would she go, Caldwell?” my mother asks. Then it hits me, the one place I hadn’t thought to call. I take off toward the door.
“Take my driver!” my mother calls after me. I do exactly that, hopping in the car, pulling out my phone, and telling the driver where to go.
The dress shop. It’s the place that she would feel safest at, knowing the women there will protect her.
When we make it to the dress shop, the windows are dark, a closed sign showing. I pound on the door anyway. I’ll give them a few more minutes before I break in. That will give the tabloids something to talk about.
The door finally jerks open. Natalie, the owner of the shop, stands there, arms crossed, blocking the entrance with her body. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
Too fucking bad. I’m going in one way or another, but I’m not trying to dig myself a bigger grave. As much as Natalie is pissing me off along with Jenson, I love that they all want to protect Mable.
“I’ll do anything.”
“Anything?” Her brows rise. “You hurt her.”
