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He opened the door, and barely got a chance to demand an explanation before a silver-blonde woman in her sixties came storming into the room. She stood there and looked around before rounding on Jason, hands on her hips.
“Where is she?”
“Excuse me, who are you?”
“I asked the question first.”
“And you’re the one who just barged into my office without any explanation or invitation,” Jason shot back. “So I get to ask the questions. Now who are you?”
“Honestly, men.” She rolled her eyes. “They never listen. I was told that my daughter was coming up here, and I wanted to see her.”
Jason stared. “You’re Elena’s mother?”
“Yes, I am. And I demand to speak to her. She won’t answer my calls, and I haven’t heard anything from her in months. I want to be sure she’s okay.”
So this was Jessica Henry, Elena’s liability of a mother. Elena had spoken about her plenty of times, and he understood completely her reasons as to why she needed to have a distant relationship with the woman. Jason didn’t want to think about how he felt whenever Elena spoke about Jessica wanting her daughter to marry and have children as soon as possible. He didn’t like thinking about Elena with someone else.
He was oddly possessive over her, a realization that unnerved him.
“Your daughter is fine, Ms. Henry.”
“How do I know that?” Jessica snapped. “She won’t speak to me.”
“So you came all the way here to find out if she was okay?”
“I thought she might have gotten into trouble. What if she was dead?” The woman’s arms were flapping around. “In the middle of nowhere, you can’t be too sure what’s going on. She could have been missing for weeks and nobody knew.”
“She’s not dead, and she’s not missing. We’re very busy with work.” Jason gestured towards the door. “And, if you don’t mind, I’m kindly asking you to leave.”
Jessica lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m staying.”
“Ms. Henry, this is my private office. I don’t know why you thought it was a good idea to barge in here, but you need to leave. You can wait in the lobby for Elena, and I’ll call her to let her know.”
“How do I know you’re doing that if I’m out of the room?”
Jason folded his arms. “Look, you can either do as I request, or I can call security and have you escorted out. Then you won’t be able to see your daughter on the premises.”
“Then call security,” Jessica declared. “I’m here to see my stubborn daughter. Getting me to leave isn’t going to work.”
Jason could see that. The woman wasn’t going to budge. How was he going to explain away Elena in the bathroom?
Just as he was thinking how to get Jessica to leave, he heard a loud bang come from the bathroom. Both of them jumped, and Jessica turned towards the bathroom.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know.” Jason could guess, though. “Stay here.”
He went over to the door and knocked. There was no answer. Jason knocked again, biting back the urge to say Elena’s name. Again, there was nothing.
What was going on in there?
Jason tried the door, surprised to find that it was unlocked. Strange, surely Elena would have locked herself in? Jason entered, and almost tripped over Elena’s feet.
What he saw made him go cold. Elena was on the floor, her head dangerously close to the edge of the shower. Her eyes were cold, and she was looking pale.
Jason had never felt so scared as he did looking at her right then.
CHAPTER18
