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I dug out my vid-phone, hit the Answer button, then said, voice holding a false note of cheer, “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.”
“And I certainly wasn’t expecting to call again so soon.” His voice was as grim as his expression.
The tension ratcheted up several notches. “I’m gathering there’s a problem?”
“You could say that.” His expression became grimmer—fiercer—though I hadn’t thought that was possible. “Jack’s gone missing.?
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Chapter 9
Surely to god Hunter wouldn’t have . . . not to Jack. Not to her own brother. I swallowed heavily and said, “What do you mean, he’s missing?”
“Missing as in out of contact and untraceable by any known method,” Rhoan growled. “Missing as in, we can’t find either him or his tracer signal fucking anywhere.”
Holy fuck, she had. Which meant she was even more insane than I’d figured.
“I’m gathering Hunter has been contacted and asked if she knew where he was?”
“Ringing her was the first thing I ordered when it came to my attention he was missing. She doesn’t deny that he was with her but says she has no idea where he is now.”
Thank god he’d asked someone else to ring her rather than confronting her himself. “And you believe her?”
He snorted. “No, but I have no evidence to the contrary, and I’m not fool enough to make any sort of accusation until I do.”
“Is there any security footage anywhere of him? Perhaps coming in or out of her office?”
“They didn’t meet in her office; he went to her house. There’s no security footage because Hunter had all cameras removed not too long ago.”
Meaning this step had been planned for a quite a while—and yet, knowing that didn’t make me feel any better. Jack had gone to see Hunter basically because I’d pushed; if he was dead, then in some ways it was my fault.
You cannot take the blame for the actions and choices of others, Azriel said. Jack’s decision to talk to Hunter stemmed from both his desire to keep the Directorate autonomous in the battle he knew was coming and his need to protect both your uncle and the other guardians. Your comments only confirmed what his next course of action should be.
Yeah, but he might still be alive if he hadn’t actually decided to go right away.
Given Hunter’s recent cleansing of council members who oppose her, that is a debatable point.
I guessed it was. It still didn’t make me feel any better, though. I returned my attention to Rhoan. “If Hunter has either killed Jack or simply contained him somewhere to take him out of action, she can’t be too far from making her move for total control. And that puts you in a very tenuous position.”
“A point I am well aware of, believe me.”
“Then you’re going to do the sensible thing?”
He snorted again. “You ask that, and you’ve known me how long?”
“I know, but Hunter is a bigger threat—”
“I will do my job,” he cut in, “and now that Jack has disappeared, that’s running the guardian division. The only reason I’m ringing you is to let you know what has happened. Be careful, Ris. If she’s done this, she could do anything.”
I wasn’t the one who needed to be wary. She still needed me to find the key. She didn’t need him, other than as a lever to ensure my good behavior.
“Trust me, I’m totally aware of what she’s capable of. Just make sure you watch your back.”
“I’m surrounded by people I trust at this very moment. You just make sure you’re doing the same. Don’t let Azriel leave your side.”
“I won’t,” I said.
“Good,” Rhoan said. “Ring me if anything happens.”
