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“I forgot to check on getting some food,” he told Gunner, and clapped the man on the shoulder as he stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
Their wing had a long hall full of bedrooms, but he was fairly certain Nita was down a floor. He jogged down the stairs.
He rounded the corner and opened the first bedroom door he came to. Dark and empty. He continued down the hall, opening and closing doors until he got to one that had a light on.
It, too, was empty, but a clatter and tinkle of bells made him look around the door. There, on a hanger, was a clump of gauzy material and the draped chains and bells of Nita’s costume.
“Nita?” he called out, but could already tell she wasn’t there. That didn’t stop him from looking in the luxurious marble bathroom or the huge walk-in closet.
It was when he was looking under the bed, on his hands and knees, that he was convinced he was losing his mind. Or something else, a little closer to the middle of his chest.
He didn’t know if it was that thought or the fear of not knowing where Nita was that made him break out in a sweat.
“Hey, boss?” squawked Kit’s voice from his phone.
“Go,” he replied tersely, getting to his feet.
“We’ve got someone outside the fence, northwest quadrant of the property,” Kit said.
“Details,” he demanded, feeling his pulse rise as he walked into the hallway. He was pulled in several directions. Find Nita, was top of mind. But having her missing and an intruder nearby also got his heart beating. Last, it went against everything in him to abandon his job to Gunner upstairs.
“Dark clothes, taller than average height, walking away from camera C3,” Kit recited.
“Anything else you could tell me? Was he looking around? Was he carrying anything?” he asked, walking to the stairs.
Ryder had his team install cameras only where the engagement guests would be. The ones at the front gate would only pick up this guy if he got to the street, took a left, and walked a few hundred feet past the main gate.
“Negative. Just looked like he was out for a walk. But he walked right along the fence. You wanted me to report everything, so there it is,” Kit finished.
“Nothing on any of the other cameras?”
“Nothing.”
“And the guy is out of camera range now?”
“Yup. I’ll keep monitoring and let you know if he shows up anywhere else.”
“Roger. Thanks,” Ryder said, and shoved his phone into his back pocket.
His head was telling him to get his ass back to his post, but something else was telling him to check out the rest of the villa to find Nita.
He changed direction, spinning to march to the stairs leading to the main floor. He pulled out his phone on the way.
You okay?he texted Nita as he strode down the long hallway to the stairs. The message remained sent and not read as he set foot on the marble floor of the main floor.
“Great,” he muttered, trying to recall the layout of the place. The main floor of the sprawling building alone was over 7,000 square feet.
He stopped thinking and started opening doors.
32
Everything’s fine, just tired,Nita replied to Ryder after ignoring his text for several minutes. After a thought, she added,Talk later?He replied with a thumbs up.
She hesitated then put their text thread on mute. He’d obviously seen her leave camera range. He’d probably think she’d gone back to her room and would get back to focusing on the engagement. The last thing she needed was for him to be distracted by her.
She stood at the back service entrance of the Spanish Villa mansion, her heart pounding in her chest. Raindrops pelted the ground outside and Nita paused, her mind racing.
She had dressed for the work and had taken the underground tunnel, leaving her coat in the apartment. Now that she had to go out in the weather to meet Jackal, her tight skirt and high heels were problematic. With a sigh, she ducked back into the villa.
