Sighing, I rubbed my temples with my fingers, a headache settling in nice and tight.
The sad thing was, I did understand why he was so determined to look after her. Aside from the fact that he'd been responsible for her for the past thirteen years, she was all the family he had left. Also, for all intents and purposes, Isadora was
an adult, but she was sweet and naïve, not the best combination to have when roaming the city streets alone. Granted, she could probably thank her brother for that, since Ash had sheltered her to the point that she had no idea what real life was like.
Caught up in my thoughts, I startled slightly when the lieutenant said my name.
“I’m sorry?”
Green arched a brow. “I was wondering if you might have any idea where Isadora might have gone.”
Blinking at the unexpected question, I shook my head. “No, I'm sorry. I've only been working for her for a week.”
“What is it you do exactly?” Green asked as she pulled a notebook from inside her bag.
A deep pulse of envy went through me at the sight of that bag. It was a rich shade of purple, a Michael Kors bag, so out of my price range for now. I would have thought it would be too pricey for a cop, too, but what did I know?
“I’m her assistant.” Dragging my gaze away from the bag, I looked back at Lieutenant Green.
“And you assist with…?”
“Everything?” I offered her a half-hearted smile and shrugged.
“And when did you last see Miss Lang?”
“About an hour before we were told she was missing. I was working with her and she said she needed a bit of a break, so she left the room.”
“Did she do that often?”
I shrugged. “I've only been with her for a week and she's done it twice. She leaves for a bit and then comes back. I had no reason to believe she wasn't going to do the same thing, so I waited. Mr. Lang came home and the two of us were…talking when we got the news.” If Green noticed my slight hesitation on the word, she didn't say anything.
“What sort of person is she?” Green asked.
From the corner of my eye, I glanced toward Ash, but he had risen and walked back to his position at the window. It was like he expected her to just come walking up Fifth Avenue, even though it was coming up on eleven o’clock. I hadn't realized it was that late.
Ash was probably going to throw me out of here soon enough, and when he heard what I had to say, it would probably be sooner rather than later, but I knew the best thing to do with cops was be honest.
That settled it in my mind.
“I love working with Isadora. She’s a sweet girl. She’s bright, determined, and she’s got a good heart. But I have to be honest.”
I saw Ash turning towards me, but I didn’t let myself look over at him. What was the point?
“The girl could get distracted on her way to the bathroom, even if her bladder was about to bust.” I knew Ash was staring at me and I felt a blush start in my cheeks, but I kept going. “She starts projects and stops two minutes later. She’ll look for her phone while it’s in her hand. She’ll look for her jacket while she’s wearing it. She composes emails and half-way through, she forgets what she’s writing about. The girl is like the energizer bunny on speed.”
Both Ash and Green were staring at me now.
I twisted my fingers together. “The fact of the matter is, I’m surprised she can make it down the stairs without somebody reminding her that she needs to eat breakfast. She’s so focused on what she
wants
to do she forgets about what she
needs
to do.”
Ash was glaring at me.
I ignored him.
“And what does she want to do?” Green asked curiously.
“Save the world.” I smiled now, a strange little lurch of protectiveness settling inside me. “Isadora Lang is probably the most flighty woman I have ever met in my life, but she hired me because she knows it, and she wants big things. With her passion, the world better look out. Because she just might change it. Whether the world wants it or not.”
I heard a sharp intake of air and dared to glance over at Ash.
I was prepared for his fury.
But the look he was giving me was something I couldn't quite place, but that made me more nervous than I liked.
Flushing, I shoved myself to my feet. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you much.”
Green gave me a strange look. “Oh, you told me quite a bit.”
Forcing a smile, I excused myself and left the room. I needed some water and some air.
***
When I came back nearly thirty minutes later, it was to find Ash shouting at Green.
Green didn’t look concerned.
She stood there listening with her hands crossed in front of her, her head cocked to one side as she listened. There was an expression on her face that seemed to say she found this whole thing terribly fascinating. But not compelling – as in, she wasn’t compelled to go and investigate anything just yet.
“I’m very sorry, Mr. Lang. But the fact he’s a meat packer doesn’t give credence to anything.”
Ash’s eyes narrowed and he shoved a finger into Green’s face. His entire face was flushed. “If anything happens to my sister because of your lack of action–”
Shit.
Pasting a smile on my face, I shoved between them and put my hands on Ash's chest. I had a feeling that if I tried to touch Green, I'd end up in handcuffs. “This isn't going to help find Isadora.” I kept my voice soft, even.
A muscle jumped in his cheek, but he let me ease him back a couple steps.
“I’ll look into it,” Green said. “That’s all I can promise. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Lang, Miss Gallagher.”
I had the feeling the lieutenant decided to take advantage of my showing up to vacate the room.
Once she did, Ash’s eyes narrowed in on me.
My heart lurched and I had to fight the urge to back up a pace. I had no reason to. I hadn’t done anything.
“How could you let this happen?”
“I…” I sucked in a breath and then let the question go through my head once more. Yes, he had just said what I thought. I managed to keep my voice even. “How could I let what happen?”
“You were supposed to take care of her!”
“I’m supposed to help her!” I countered, the statement coming out from between clenched teeth. I had to remind myself that he was worried about his sister.
“And you show it by letting her get kidnapped!” His roar echoed around the room and I couldn’t control my flinch.
I jerked my spine straight as he came close enough to loom over me. He might've been worried, but it didn't give him the right to yell at me like that.
I glared up at him. “I was hired to be an assistant, you dumb ass. I wasn’t hired to be a prison guard or a babysitter. Maybe if you'd loosen the reins a bit, the cops wouldn't be so quick to say that she wanted to get away.”
Harsh flags of color appeared on his cheeks and he caught my wrist, jerking me forward. “Are you saying this is my fault?”
I twisted my wrist against his thumb, breaking his grip before stepping back and putting several feet between us. My voice was calm. “No. I’m not. But it sure as hell isn't mine, so why don't you back the fuck off.”
He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything else, I held up a hand.
I doubted anybody had ever dared to do that to him before and the shock of it stopped him.
“I’m going home,” I said coolly. “I hope Isadora comes home and this is all a misunderstanding, but I'm not going to stay here and let you yell at me for something that isn't my fault. If the cops want to talk to me again, they can contact me there. And you?” I gave him a tight smile. “You can kiss my ass.”
Chapter 2
Ash
The silence in the house was deafening.
I was still staring at the empty doorway a few minutes later when Beth appeared, shaking her hands, her lips compressed into a line so tight, they almost disappeared. The police had been talking to her in the hallway. She worked with Doug to run the household and had been with the family for nearly eight years. She'd also been the last person to see Isadora.
“Mr. Lang, I am so sorry–”
“Don’t.” Weary, I dropped down onto the couch and stared at nothing.
The sound of the door slamming was still echoing in my ears. I clenched my teeth, and not just because it was something that annoyed the hell out of me on my best days.
Isadora might've gotten away with slamming doors in the house because she didn't do it out of pique, but she was always in such a hurry to do everything. It was like it never occurred her that she didn’t get anywhere faster by not slamming a door.
Toni…she was just unprofessional, irritating, annoying…
And right.
That realization slammed into me with the force of a sledgehammer, and it was the only thing that stopped me from storming out the door and catching up with her. I already knew she wouldn’t have made it to the subway yet. It wasn’t like we had a stop right in front of the house and I knew she hadn't driven.
I could catch up with her, and I was tempted.
But only because I wanted to yell at her some more.
Yell, because that was the one thing that would take my mind of my worry.
“Maybe not the one thing,” I muttered.
Shit. I ran my hand through my hair.
What happened earlier had been a mistake, and not just because I’d been too distracted to pay attention to Isadora.
Maybe if you'd loosened the reins…
Toni’s voice was like an echo in the back of my head, but I brushed it off. She didn’t know shit about my family, didn’t know shit about me or my sister. She had no idea some of the things the two of us had dealt with growing up, or what it was like having so much money, that people saw dollar signs instead of people. What it was like to always have to question everyone's motives, wondering if they were only after money.
Although that didn’t seem to be the case with her.
“Mr. Lang.”
I turned at the sound of my name and saw Doug, the head of my household staff. His pale eyes were grim, and he looked behind him before moving deeper into the room. “Nothing.”
It wasn’t a question. Doug had been with my family for years, since before my parents died. I had vague memories of him taking me out to go Christmas shopping for my parents as a young teenager. That seemed a lifetime ago. He knew me well enough to know that if I’d learned something, the staff would have been made aware. They all adored my sister. Most of them barely tolerated me anymore.
Except Doug. He'd been the one to call me at college and tell me about the accident. It had been his voice consoling me when I started to cry in my dorm room, miles away. He'd been the one who'd watched Isadora the time it had taken me to drive home. He was the closest thing to extended family that Isadora and I had.
“Nothing.” I turned to the window and stared outside. “How did this happen?”
The question wasn't rhetorical and I wasn't asking some existential, meaning-of-life bullshit. I wanted to know the facts. How the hell had someone gotten into my house and taken my sister? Because that was the only logical explanation, no matter what Lieutenant Green thought.
“I’m working on it, Sir.” His voice was hard and flat and when I shot him a look, the troubled expression in his eyes was enough to make me glad I hadn’t snapped at him. If anyone was feeling Isadora's loss almost as much as I was, it was Doug.
“I want a list of all staff who was here today, even if they left before…” I paused for a moment, and then continued, “And call Ricin. I want him in here first thing in the morning. Whoever was on security today is getting fired.”
“I took the liberty of calling him already to inform him of what happened,” Doug said. “I told him I wasn't sure if you would want to do the firing yourself. He said that if you wanted him to do it, it wouldn't be a problem.”
That was good, at least. The last thing I wanted was my head of security trying to argue me out of firing his men. There was something else on my mind at the moment though and I needed to get it out there.
“The cops think she might have gone out to a club or taken a trip – tried to get away from me for a while.” It was hard to even get the words out.
To my surprise, Doug’s eyes slid away from mine.
I turned slowly and took a step toward him. “Doug?” There was a warning in the word.
“Sir.” He inclined his head. “Please keep in mind, you turned the running of the household over to Miss Isadora six months ago. That being the case, there have been a few times when she has…asked our help in taking some time away.”
I clenched my hands into fists and tried to control my temper. “And the bodyguards?” I asked.
“They were told that Miss Isadora would be staying in for the evening.”
“And my security team?” I had a feeling I was going to be firing a lot of people tomorrow.
“They saw only me leaving.” Doug met my eyes dead on, and I could see he was prepared for whatever I planned to do or say.