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“Weird how?” Q prompts. I recognize the energy in his voice, almost frantic. His whole world has been turned upside down, and all he wants is to find out this was all a misunderstanding.
“I don’t know. Don’t listen to me.” She waves a hand, shaking her head. “He was just being sort of weird, but then a lot of people treat me weird around here. I was probably being paranoid.”
Xander ends his call. “The guards are going to his room now. I told them to bring him here.” Every time he looks at his son, his jaw tightens. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
Q only shakes his head. “No offense, Brittney, but you’re wrong about this one. There’s no way.”
“I hope you’re right. I’d love nothing more than to be wrong about this.”
Yet she doesn’t believe she is. She looks and sounds like someone stuck watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion, aware of what’s coming and unable to do anything about it.
Xander’s phone rings. “Yes?” His head snaps in the direction of Quinton’s, his eyes burning into them. “Fine. If he’s not in his room, he’s somewhere else. Go by my room, and check on my wife and daughter. Then find Ren. I want the entire premises searched!”
“We can look, too,” Delilah offers.
I shut her down immediately. “Absolutely not. Not until we know for sure what’s happening here. Because if he is behind this, and he knows he’s being searched for—”
“Don’t talk that way,” Quinton snaps.
“Until we know the facts,” I insist. “Unless you’d like both girls to go together in search of him. Maybe they’ll find him. Who knows?” When his face falls, and his eyes lower, I know he gets the message. He’s not willing to risk his wife, which tells me he knows there’s a possibility of this being true. None of us have to understand it for it to be true.
It’s a tense five minutes that unspool into fifteen. The temperature in the apartment feels as though it’s dropped since we arrived. Brittney apologizes more than once, though we all assure her there’s nothing to apologize for. I don’t particularly enjoy being tracked without my knowing about it, but if it means putting an end to these attacks, it seems like a worthwhile sacrifice.
“Wait a minute,” Aspen whispers, snapping her fingers. “If they can’t find him, maybe you can. Can you track him, see where he is?”
“I can try, but it would only work if his phone is on—and if he’s on the premises. Outside of Corium, there’s not much I can do.”
After a half dozen calls with various security team members, Xander slides his phone into his pocket. I know what he’s going to say before he opens his mouth, and it leaves me wanting more than ever to protect what’s mine. There was a predator in our midst, and we overlooked him.
“You don’t have to bother trying to track him,” Xander murmurs. “The entire security team has searched every inch of the premises. Castle, dorms, all classrooms, and even outside the walls.” He offers his son an apologetic shrug. “Ren’s not here. He’s gone.”
