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“My girlfriend has disappeared and I have to go find her.”
“But—”
Mark put his hands on Mary’s shoulders. “I know you don’t adapt to change very well, Mary, but I need you to do this for me.” He paused, searching Mary’s terrified expression. “You know Rafael’s a bastard.”
She nodded slowly.
“He’s a lot worse than you can imagine, and if you can pull this off, you’re going to be concertmistress from now on. You have to find it inside yourself to do it. You’re an amazing musician, Mary. You’ve sat in Rafael’s shadow for too long. Now’s your chance to shine.”
She stared at him and he could see the conflict in her eyes. How much of her anxiety was Alvarez-induced?
Finally, she inhaled, lifted her chin, and bit her lip. “Okay.”
Mark pulled her in for a hard hug. “You’ll do great.”
Maestro Holden appeared at that moment and Mark explained why he couldn’t finish the concert. Maestro stared at him. “You can’t be serious. Mary can’t—”
“Mary can.” Mark frowned. “If what I think happened is really what’s going on, Mary’s going to be your concertmistress soon. She’s incredibly talented. Show her off.”
Mark left the two musicians staring as he quickly packed his violin and nodded to David. “Let’s go.”
They hurried out the back of the theater and hailed a cab to Mark’s hotel, which was closer to the theater than David’s. While in the taxi, Mark’s phone buzzed. “It’s Chase,” he told David and answered. “What did you find out?”
“Seth can be there in about three hours. He wasn’t out in the middle of nowhere like I thought he was.”
“Three hours?”
“Less than, if he can find a chopper and knows exactly where he’s going. It would take me over six to get to you. While you’re waiting for him, you’ll need to figure out where she is. Corey should be texting you some addresses to check out in a few minutes.”
Mark pressed his lips together and nodded. He was no super spy, but for Emily, he’d do what he could. His dad had taught him a few skills that could come in useful. “I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will. Call me if you have any questions. Seth will call you when he lands in LA.”
They hung up and Mark stared at David. “I guess we’re going to play spy tonight. We’re gonna need a vehicle.”
“We need to stop by my hotel after we finish at yours. I have something that will help.”
“What?”
David lowered his voice. “I have a gun in my hotel room.”
“You do?”
“Don’t travel without one.”
“Well, that’ll be helpful.”
Fifty
Emily rubbedher wrists and walked around the room, trying to figure out how to escape. She contemplated the window. Though she was on the second floor, it was only a little over a story down to the ground, as the cabin was built into a hill.
She tentatively pushed at the window and it budged. Her heart leaped in her chest and she hurried to the closet, praying there were clothes in there. Running around the forest in only her blood-stained bra didn’t seem safe. She ignored the sticky blood on her back as she threw open the closet door.
It was empty. “No!” she whimpered.
She glanced back at the window and bit her lip.
Someone knocked on the door. “You in the shower yet?” A deep voice called. The man they’d called Jarrod.
