The Tyrant's Wife

344  Unexpected scheme (3)

Evan had only come rushing to check out the situation when he heard about Desmond and Zaria's sudden return and quickly joined in the search. He didn't expect to find something so soon and it infuriated him as well.

"Nothing good ever comes out of Angela appearing anywhere. She's a jinx on legs."

"What was she doing at the school?" Zaria asked. "When was this? More importantly, why didn't anyone say anything about it?"

"Yesterday." He answered. "Laia didn't say much. In fact, she didn't even tell anyone she saw Angela until her father asked if she knew where Rosaly could have gone."

"Do you think we can ask her about it?" She asked, even though she knew she was clawing at straws. There was no way Laia would know much more than she had already let on.

As expected, Evan's answer wasn't in the least bit consoling. "I don't think she would know much. She has a bad impression on Angela. She would run away from her."

"Are we going to believe a four-year-old? You know kids get traumatized by shocking experiences. Maybe what she thought she saw is a result of something bad Angela did before?" Zeus speculated, glancing up from his laptop.

"I don't think so." She tried to remember everything she could about Laia and it didn't seem possible for her to say something she wasn't sure of. If it was anything remotely close to a traumatic reaction, it would have come up much sooner.

But the kind of suspicion she had when she pinned together Angela's appearance and the nature of Rosaly's disappearance made her wince. "Do you think Rosaly went away willingly?" She asked Desmond.

"Why would you think so?"

"Angela is her biological mother, after all. All she needs to do is call her over and Rosaly will want to go willingly." She didn't admit it but the thought of it made her wince.

He brought her close to him, knowing how she felt about it. "She is a horrible mother. Rosaly chose us. The court chose us and she knows that too."

"But she also misses her." She argued. "And she thinks the court wants her to stay away from her mother." That was not easier to think about either but it made a horrifying amount of sense when she said it out aloud. Angela was as manipulative as a fox. She could say anything to get her way and she had witnessed that in the past. Who even let her into the school compound anyway?

"Maybe Angela had her sneak out. It may be hard for someone to enter the bathroom stall and sneak her out under someone's watchful gaze but a child sneaking through the door undetected is something that can easily happen. Besides, Angela was at her school. Maybe they talked."

"Maybe they didn't. We don't know anything for certain." Zeus shot her another reminder.

Desmond agreed with him. "The teachers would have notified us if they saw Angela. She must have been pretty sneaky to go undetected and talk to her."

When he said it like that, it became less reassuring and more worrying. There were two possibilities here; that Angela met Rosaly undetected, or that Rosaly's disappearance had nothing to do with Angela and they were dealing with someone they didn't know. He suddenly didn't know which was the lesser evil.

Zeus leapt off his chair out of the blue and punched the air, nearly scaring the crap out of Natalie who was sitting beside him. She glanced over at the endless codes on his screen. "Did you find anything?"

"Still trying to compare the footage for anything out of place." He tapped a key and a series of footages showed up. "Anything, A weak link…hello, weak link." His face softened into a full on smile when he saw what he was looking for.

"See this woman?" He tilted his laptop for everyone to see, and they inched closer to see the woman he was pointing at.

"That's not Angela." Evan remarked.

"I know, dumbass. I wouldn't mistake that woman for anyone. But she didn't enter the restaurant through the door in any of the footage I checked. Unless she has some of that teleportation ability, she has been here for a while."

"When did she get in?" Evan asked the question on everyone's minds.

"Still trying to figure it out. But at least we know what she is doing." He sat back down. "Skeleton, find out who she is while I figure out when she came in."

Skeleton gave him the flip. "Are you ordering your lap dog?"

"Just fucking, do it." Zeus glared at him and got back to work.

At least they were a step closer.

____

While the guys tried to find the woman from the footage, Zaria was deep in thought as she rubbed her arms. As if magically, a coat appeared on her shoulders.

She pulled it around herself and let herself lean into the embrace of the man who had brought it.

"This isn't how I imagined our first week of marriage would be." She blew out a breath. "We haven't even settled into life yet and we have lost our daughter."

"Someone stole her from us." He corrected her. "Someone who's about to lose nine fingers." But he got the point. He didn't expect this either.

Worry was written all over her face. Nothing would happen to her, right?

It had not even been a week since she vowed to protect Rosaly with her life, yet she had slipped from her fingers. If anything happened to Rosaly, she would never be able to forgive herself.

That was what she was thinking about when Desmond's phone rang. She whipped her head around at him and saw the understanding that flashed in her mirror in his eyes.

This was it. The ransom call.

It was menacing, eerie, and unpredictable, knowing that whoever was calling must be Rosaly's kidnapper. They hated that it confirmed their fears, that their daughter had been snatched away.

Yet at the same time, it was a relief. Finally, they would know what they had to do to get her back. It was much better than running around in circles like dogs chasing their tails.

If it was the kidnappers calling, that is.

For all they knew, it could be a hospital or worse.

He took his phone out of his pocket and a glance at the unknown number confirmed it. He answered the call stiffly, not knowing what to expect but hoping it was the call for the ransom. It was a much-preferred alternative than the hospital…or worse.

"It's been a long time, Desmond." Was all the person on the other end said.

Zaria peeked into the living area and when she caught a clear view of Zeus, she dug into Desmond's coat pockets for anything she could use to get his attention. Finding his wallet, she assessed its weight and tossed it downstairs to her brother.

He winced when the flying wallet hit him in the back and looked up. He nodded when Zaria pointed at Desmond's phone.

It was time to find out what the kidnapper wanted…as well as his location.

She finished her nonverbal communication with Zeus and returned just in time to hear the man ask, "to what extent would you go for your little Princess?"

______

AN

The Tyrant's Wife is ending soon! Check out my latest book, Falling for the wicked Boss