What on earth was going on?
'This is my floor.' Lexi's voice broke Kira's trance. 'I'm running late. Bye!'
"Bye.' Kira watched Lexi bound towards her old office.
Less than two weeks ago, she would be stepping off the lift with Lexi, both sprinting to clock
in at the last second.
How things had changed.
The lift stopped on the 48th floor.
A woman in a grey pantsuit stopped her in her path. 'Miss, do you have an appointment??
Kira recognised the woman as one of Austyn's secretaries. 'Uh, no, but I need to see Aus-1 mean, Mr McCarthy."
Andrea gave Kira a discreet once-over.
The girl's face looked familiar.
'I'm afraid I can't let you in without an appointment."
'But I've been here before,' Kira held back her growing impatience. 'Mr McCarthy brought me to his office some time ago. I remember seeing you back then. Surely, you remember me?" That jogged Andrea's memory.
Right, the president's mysterious lunch date.
No wonder her face looked familiar.
Still, it was Andrea's job to gatekeep. 'May know what this is about?'
Kira bit her bottom lip.
What could she say?
That she was here to confront the president about his alleg That he hadn't been home for two days and she was worried?
infidelity?
I've Brought Austyn's Body
When Andrea didn't get an answer, she said, 'Sorry, I can't let you in. Besides, Mr McCarthy is not in the office right now. You won't be able to see him
'Do you
know who is?" Kira asked.
anyway."
'I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to divulge that information."
'So you know but you won't tell me?"
Andrea just smiled politely.
Kira fidgeted.Text content © .
If she told the secretary she was Austyn's wife, would she get laughed out of the office?
The secretary was either going to think she was deluded, or ask why she didn't know her. husband's whereabouts.
'What about Kai, Kai Scott? Is he at the office?"
'I'm sorry, no.'
Kira wrung her hands.
Their conversation was starting to draw attention.
Two more secretaries hovered nearby, eavesdropping openly.
Kira calculated the odds of her pushing past them and nixed the idea.
Besides, there was no point for the secretary to lie to her.
Kira mumbled a 'thank you' and left.
She came out of the office building with heavy legs and a heavier heart.
Purely out of habit, she called Austyn's number again.
Same busy signal.
Kai had not replied to her message, either.
Kira stood on the sidewalk and felt disorientated
What was her next stop?
Right, the police station.
She patted her head.
The cogs in her brain had ground to a halt, the result of a severe lack of sleep.
She'd skipped both dinner and breakfast and was now running on fumes.
She had so many things to do.
She couldn't collapse right now.
She couldn't panic.
Kira ran through the list of to-dos in her mind
She had to call Luca and Jesse.
They were Austyn's best friends.
They had to know where he was
There was also Damian Matthews, but she didn't have his number.
What if they didn't have the answer, either?
She might have to talk to Liam, though she really didn't want to.
But he gave her the room number for Deborah's ward.
He had to know what was going on
A man's scarred face suddenly flashed through Kira's mind.
Santoro kidnapped her to get to Austyn.
He escaped from the warehouse and was on the run ever since.
The police conducted a manhunt but couldn't find him.
What if he was back in Stamford?
What if he staged a second kidnapping and took Austyn?
Kira's heart started thumping out of control.
And Deborah.
What about that mysterious phone call Kira overheard in the restaurant?
Was Deborah planning something nefarious?
Did she take Austyn away?
But she was his ex-girlfriend.
She wanted Austyn's love, not his life, right?
She wouldn't hurt Austyn, right?
Kira could no longer
stand still
She had to find Luca and ask for his help.
He was a police captain.
He must know how to track down Austyn.
She started walking/and had to stop immediately when black dots swam in front of her eyes.
She found a bench, sat down and waited for the dizzy spell to pass.
She buried her head in her lap.
'Austyn, where the hell are you?
***
At the same time, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Deborah made a call.
She waited with bated breath.
When the call was picked up, she said as calmly as she could manage, 'Mr Santoro, I've brought Austyn's body. Where do you want to meet?'
The silence on the line lasted for so long, she thought he'd hung up.
When Santoro finally spoke, his voice somehow managed to sound both grating like a crow's caw and frightening like a snake's hiss. 'I don't believe you." 'But I sent you the photo of Austyn's corpse!'
'Let's run through this again."
Deborah gripped her phone and sucked in a deep breath. 'Okay."