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Stone had agreedto meet Reika for luncheon.
But as he checked his pocket watch and saw it was only half nine, he didn't care if it was hours too early. He needed to see her again. Whether for good or bad, he was slowly becoming addicted to her silliness and laughter. Something he'd lacked his entire life.
However, as soon as he reached the stairs leading down to the kitchen and related rooms for the servants, he ran into the housekeeper, Mrs. Green.
At her flushed cheeks and fear in her blue eyes, he went on high alert. "What's wrong, Mrs. Green?"
"It's Miss Hashimoto. She was taken."
His heart stopped beating a second. "What?"
The housekeeper wrung her hands. "There was a delivery, and she went to approve it, that's what Betsy told me. But no one's seen her since."
Doing his best to tamp down his panic—because if something happened to her, it'd kill a piece of him inside—Stone concentrated on ferreting out information. "Then how do you know she was taken?"
The housekeeper reached into her pocket, took out a handkerchief, and unfolded it. Inside were large chunks of black, shiny hair.
Hair that looked a lot like Reika's.
Only because of his years of working security for Leo could he calmly take the handkerchief from Mrs. Green and study it.
There wasn't any blood, which was a good sign. And it had been cut or sliced, not torn out. But he needed more information, lots more, to try and find her.
Because even if he had to tear apart the entire East End of London, he'd bloody well do it to find his fated bride. "What else do you know?"
"Well, one of the kitchen maids is also missing—Ida Smith. No one's seen her since breakfast." Mrs. Green held out a folded piece of paper. "And this was found on the ground too. It must have fallen behind one of the barrels near the door."
He took it and noted it was an invoice. Although the name of the shop wasn't one he'd ever heard of before, and Stone knew all of the merchants who dealt with the Fated Wheel. It was his job to investigate and ensure they were safe and reliable to do business with.
A fake merchant, a missing kitchen maid, and hacked off hair. His gut said he was missing something important, a vital piece that could tell him where to start looking, but what?
Just as he was about to ask Mrs. Green to move aside so he could interrogate the kitchen staff, the butler came up the stairs with a pale, blonde-haired maid in tow. She was one of the new ones, Meg, if he remembered right.
The butler nodded at him and said, "Meg here has something to tell you."
Stone did his best not to glare. "What is it?"
She swallowed. "I-I overheard something earlier. I was fetching some supplies for the cook in the small room furthest down the hall. But as soon as I heard Ida discussing what to do with Miss Hashimoto, I hid, afraid for my life."
Part of him wanted to roar that she could've stopped Reika's kidnapping. But then taking in the female, who couldn't be more than sixteen, his more rational side won out. "Merely tell us what you heard, Meg. That's all I care about."
She swallowed, looked at the housekeeper who gave her an encouraging nod, and then finally answered, "A male mentioned a gin delivery, and then Ida said something about Miss Hashimoto deserved to be punished for what she did to her aunt. I think she was related to the former cook, although I never met her, so I don't know nothing about her."
Ida had been one of the hastily hired kitchen maids. Despite Stone's warnings, Leo had waved aside doing the thorough investigations of each female, saying he needed a functioning kitchen for his gaming hell.
Stone clenched the fingers of one hand into a fist. If Reika was harmed or killed because of the rush, he might just have to challenge the Dark Lord himself.
He must've growled because Meg shrank into herself. Mrs. Green patted the girl's arm. "Stone won't hurt you, Meg. Is there anything else you heard or remember?"
"O-only that I heard a male voice and he mentioned others waiting outside. But that's it, Mrs. Green, I swear."
Once he nodded for the housekeeper to take Meg away, he turned toward the butler, Mr. Jameson. "I'll need some help searching the area beyond that door. Any half-vampires you can spare. If they find anything, I'll be interviewing some of the local runner lads, flower seller girls, and others working on the street who might've seen something."
The butler nodded. "I'll get it sorted right away."
Since Stone and Jameson had worked together for years, Stone didn't have to dictate that the butler should keep Leo in the loop.
