Marcus changes cameras again when she disappears from view, but when she walks up to the street, she’s just… gone.
“Where is she?” I ask, desperation bleeding through my words. The screen flashes with a few different camera views, but she’s not there.
Fuck, Grace, what are you doing?
There’s a small sliver of relief that nobody took her, but the thought of her out on the streets by herself at this time of night,for the second time,kills me.
“That’s it. Grace doesn’t come back into view of any of our cameras once she leaves the parking garage. Sorry,” Marcus says.
“Show me when she came back. I want to see it,” I say. Marcus studies me for a moment, but then he spins back to the monitor and starts typing on the keyboard.
The monitor changes to show a camera from the lobby. A minute passes where nothing happens, but as I open my mouth to say something, someone bursts through the lobby doors.Grace. She rushes straight for the lift, but not even ten seconds later, a man charges through the door. Clearly panicked, Grace keeps pressing the button for the lift, and my blood boils when the man makes a beeline straight for her. Before reaching her, though, Marcus enters the frame, putting himself between them, followed by the concierge. There’s lots of yelling, not that we can hear it, and Marcus goes as far as planting his hand on the man’s chest to hold him back.
Even if she had gotten a taxi or whatever back to the apartment building, the warehouse isn’t exactly close to any main roads. And it’s not like she could’ve called for one because she doesn’t have a fucking phone. I would have already called her if she did. And if she didn’t answer, I’d track the damn thing. How far did she have to run?
The urge to punch Easton again rushes through me, but I send him a glare instead. Fighting right now isn’t going to help find her. He doesn’t look at me, but from the tightening of his jaw, he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
As I turn back to the monitor, I see Marcus hand something to the fucker who had been chasing Grace, likely money. After a couple more waves of his arms, he leaves, whilst Grace throws herself into the now open lift.
“She’s lucky she made it into the building before he caught up to her.”Mason’s words from earlier play over in my head, and a lump forms in my throat. After trying to clear it, I say, “Thank you, Marcus, for stepping in. Let me know how much it was, and I’ll reimburse you.”
“That’s not necessary, Mr. Reed. I was just doing my job,” he says, but something tells me paying off rogue taxi drivers isn’t part of his job description.
“Thank you, Marcus. And thank you for calling me,” Mason says, but the look he gives me tells me just how pissed off he is.
“Of course.” Marcus dips his head at him, but it makes me think of something I didn’t consider before.
“Why did you call Mason… and not me?” I ask, dread settling in my stomach.
Marcus glances at Mason before clearing his throat. “She… ah… she asked us not to call you, Mr. Reed.”
His words slam into me like a freight train, confirming what I already thought. She’s runningfrom me.
“Something still didn’t feel right, though, so I called Mason, as I know they’re close,” Marcus continues, glancing between Mason and me.
“Thank you,” Mason says again, and we leave the security office. I head straight for my car without looking at the other two men. Regardless of whether Grace wants me or not, I’m not leaving her out there alone. I don’t bother taking the lift. Instead, I go straight for the stairs, ripping the door open, and head down until I exit into the parking garage.
“Sebastian, wait,” Mason says from behind me. I can’t wait around anymore. Ineedto find her, so I ignore him and keep going.
“Sebastian!” Mason says again as I reach my car.
“What!” I yell, spinning to face him and Easton, who’s right beside him.
“You need to calm down,” he says, giving me a stern look that reminds me all too much of my father, which only messes with my head more. “You’re not thinking.”
“I’m thinking I need to find Grace. That’s all that matters,” I grit out.
“Do you have any idea where she would have gone?”
I wrack my brain for an answer, but it only highlights how much I don’t know about her. “Her apartment,” I say. It’s the only place I can think of.
“No,” Easton says, and it’s the first word he’s spoken since we left the penthouse. “She only had a few more days on the rent when we—” He stops mid-sentence, glancing at Mason. “She doesn’t have an apartment to go back to.” His expression is as stony as ever, but his words lack some of the bite from earlier.
“Okay, you need to tell me what’s going on right now,” Mason demands, but we don’t have time for this shit now. Reaching into my pocket, I go for my keys. I don’t care if I don’t have a destination. Nothing is going to keep me here right now. My hand comes up empty, so I reach into my other pocket, but still nothing.
“Fuck!” I slap the roof of my car. When I changed clothes, I must have left my keys in the pocket of my other pants.
“Start talking,” Mason says, glancing between Easton and me.