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Forcing myself to stop hyperventilating, I said, “Yeah, and it wouldn’t be the first time. When he gets in the zone, you could set off dynamite next to him, and he’d just think he needed to tweak an element in the spell he’s working on.” I took a long, deep breath and let it out slowly. “Though it might not hurt to have someone go to the office to check on him.”
“Rod’s on his way over there. He didn’t say anything to you about where he was going next?”
“No. He was talking about plans for tomorrow. I’d guess he’d be setting up for that tonight. Maybe he’s talking to his boss about that? He might not have taken his phone to the meeting.” Already, I felt a bit better. That explanation made perfect sense. It wasn’t even grasping at straws.
“Gemma and I will run over to his place to check, just in case.”
I was already reaching for my coat. “I’ll join you.”
“No! Remember? You’ve got other stuff you’re working on.”
I forced myself not to groan out loud. “Yeah, you’re right.” It would be a pity to blow the entire operation when we were on the verge of a breakthrough. I told myself that Owen was just meeting with Merlin and Sam to plan their battle strategy. We were panicking over nothing because we were all on edge right now. “But keep me posted and let me know if you hear anything.”
“Will do.”
After I ended the call, I went back to the window and peered out between the blinds. There was a different person standing in the same place as my previous follower, so I must have missed a shift change. His posture looked more bored than alert. The gargoyle on the roof hadn’t moved, but then that was what gargoyles were best at.
I resisted the urge to pace, mostly because I didn’t have the room for it and just one lap around the small apartment had left me with bruises. Instead, I sat on the sofa, the TV remote in one hand and my phone in the other. I was too restless to actually watch anything, so I flipped up and down the dial. The Collegium had sprung for the full cable package, so I had every channel that was available. I didn’t even realize that there were so many channels.
I wasn’t sure how much time passed before my phone rang again because I was forcing myself not to look at the clock. It was Marcia again. “He’s not at home, it doesn’t seem. At least, he’s not answering the door. Does he ever do that?”
“He has, but only when he was really, really upset about something. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood when I saw him, so I doubt he’s barricaded himself in to pout. Any word from Rod?”
“Not yet. That will take longer than us only going a few blocks.”
“Right, right. Of course.”
“I’m sure it’s just Rod worrying. You know what he’s like.”
Actually, I hadn’t thought of Rod as being the mother hen type, but then Owen was like a little brother to him, and he’d been charged since childhood with looking after Owen. “Let me know the moment you hear anything.”
More waiting ensued. I made it all the way around the channel dial, even through all the music channels. It was getting late, and I thought I ought to be getting ready for bed, but I wanted to be fully dressed in case I had to go out. Not that I was sure what I could do if I went out. The Collegium and Roger believed I’d broken up with Owen. I’d give myself away if I went running off to wait in an emergency room or to search for him, and there were people better at searching than I was.
One thing I worried was that he’d done something really crazy, like testing that beacon in the evening after Roger was gone, making sure it worked before they did the actual raid. What if he’d done that and was caught or got stuck? I imagined finding him hiding under my desk the next morning. It was a better mental image than all the worst-case scenarios that were flooding my brain.
Finally, my phone rang again, and this time it was Rod. “He didn’t say anything to you about what he planned?” he asked, skipping all pleasantries.
“No, just that he had big plans for tomorrow.”
“Yeah, we’d discussed that.”
“You didn’t have any prep work planned for tonight?”
“Not that he mentioned to me.”
“So, you didn’t find him at the office?”
“Nope. Sorry.”
“Have you checked at his folks’ place? He mentioned having something he wanted to talk to them about.”
I could practically hear the relief coming through my phone. “That didn’t even cross my mind. It’s a bit late to call there, but I’ll check in with them first thing in the morning.”
I tried to feel the same kind of relief, but I found too many holes in that explanation. I had a feeling I’d learn exactly what happened the next day, and the news wouldn’t be good.
*
I hadn’t heard from Rod by the time the car came to pick me up for work in the morning, and that meant I wouldn’t hear anything until the end of the day—unless I heard it from Roger. I’d be cut off from the rest of the world while I worked in London without actually being able to visit the city.
