CHAPTER 27
ZANDER’S PO.V
I paced the length of my hotel room as I anxiously waited for Lucas to return with the guards that he took to catch the man who killed my parents. The trackers and spies that we put on his trail tracked his movements through a few old contacts of his and as soon as we got a lead, I left the palace and came here.
I knew that if I directly went out to look for him, it would raise too much of an alarm and he would run off so I sent Lucas instead and anxiety chewed through me because I wanted to be the one to catch the son of a bitch.
I was still pacing anxiously when I heard a soft knock on my room door. I knew it was Camilla and I ignored it hoping she would go away but the door creaked open softly and she graciously made her way inside.
“It is extremely rude to not respond when someone knocks,” she said as she made herself comfortable at the edge of my bed. She saw I barely paid her any attention and she sighed, “Try not to worry too much Zander; we will catch this guy.
”
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Camilla has been a huge help during this time. Her family gave us all the resources we needed to be able to fully hunt this criminal down without question and they gave us their unwavering support. Our mothers were good friends and her parents were happy when I said I was going to catch the killer. Camilla could be anywhere right now but she chose to stay here with me and help. For that, I am eternally grateful.
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Even in hunting leather, she still managed to look pristine as she crossed her legs at the ankles and fiddled with the braid that she threw over her shoulder. She caught me looking at her and raised a brow pointedly.
“You look horrible Zander,” she deadpanned, “Have you even slept since we got here?”
I ignored her because the answer was no. “Is Lucas back?” I asked and she made a humming sound as she carefully looked at her nails.
“He came back a few minutes ago.” She said it so casually that it actually grated at my nerves and senses.
“Why didn’t you tell me? You knew that I was waiting for him.” I was by the door in an instant and making my way to the room we reserved for our meetings.
Camilla’s family owns the hotel and gave us the entire top floor so we could have the freedom and privacy to attend to our business without anyone eavesdropping or overhearing things they shouldn’t.
“I didn’t tell you because you worry too much,” she struggled to keep up with my long strides, “All I wanted was for you to relax.”
“I will relax when the man is behind bars,” I said as I stopped in front of the doors, “I would like to do this alone.”
She looked shocked by my request but she nodded, “Of course, I will order dinner in the meantime.”
I tried to read her expressions but she had always been good at hiding what she was feeling. But this time, I saw a flash of hurt and
annoyance in her eyes before she turned on her heels.
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I waited until she disappeared around the corner before I walked into the room. Lucas was sitting on the bed with his shirt off while another guard cleaned up a wound on his shoulder.
“It looks worse than it actually is,” he said, “besides, girls love a guy with scars.”
I shook my head at his horrible attempt at diffusing the situation, “What happened?”
His smile fell instantly and I knew that I wasn’t going to like whatever he was about to say. He told the guard to bandage his shoulder and he waited until the guard was out of the room before he spoke.
“They got away,” Those three words rang over and over again in my head but they somehow didn’t register.
“How did they manage to get away again?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted before reducing his voice to a whisper, “It was almost as if they knew that we were coming.”
“What do you mean?”
He swallowed and looked out the door to make sure no one was eavesdropping before he spoke, “Their fire was still warm as if it was recently put out. I would wager that they left barely an hour before we arrived. They booby trapped the entire place, that’s how I got hurt.”
“Who would tip them off? No one knew where you were going or who you were looking for.
”
“Someone knew,” he hesitated as if he wasn’t sure if he should be saying his next words, “Don’t you find it odd that Camilla just knew that your parents were killed and was willing to help?”
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I didn’t blame him for his thoughts. For a while I wondered why she was agreed to help me in the first place. I hated to think that she did it for her own nefarious gains. It was weird that she decided to tell me about the criminal at my mating ceremony and not at the dinner we had before.
Lucas took my silence as a sign to continue, “She could be doing this just so she can spend time with you and get back with you. She could have waited until after your ceremony but she came in and stopped it at the perfect moment. Doesn’t that sound suspicious to you?”
“Camilla would never do that.” He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off, “I know that you do not like her and you have a bad image of her already. There is nothing I can do to change that and even if there was, I would not try.”
“But trust that I know Camilla better than anyone else and I know what she is capable of. She might come across as vindictive and
manipulative but I assure you that she would never do something like this. She does not have the heart for it and she is helping us against all odds when she does not have to.”
He didn’t believe me but I didn’t care. I wasn’t in the business of changing people’s minds. As long as he doesn’t speak out against her again then we are fine.
“If she isn’t the one then we have a mole,” Lucas said finally. “And we need to find out who it is before they jeopardize the entire mission.”
“I will have someone look into it immediately.”
He opened his mouth to speak when my ringtone cut through the air. I hurried to fish it out of my pocket because I knew it had to be an emergency. I only took my personal line with me and the only people who have it are Lucas, Ender and Helena and I gave strict orders
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before I left that no one was to call me unless it was an emergency.
I looked at the caller ID and when I saw Ender’s name flash I was overcome with worry. With Helena, I can predict the situations that would require her to call me but with Ender it is a hit or miss. He could be calling for anything ranging from his missing Lego to breaking his legs.
“What is it?” I said as I picked it up.
He hesitated for a second before speaking, “I think there’s a problem.”
“What happened to you Ender?”
“It isn’t me,” he sighed before explaining, “I was playing in my room when Lyla spoke in my head the way you and Lucas do whenever you want to talk about things in front of me. She told me that she needed my help.”
“What did she need your help with?”
“I don’t know. She stopped talking right after that and I tried to talk to her but I don’t know if I’m doing it right or if she’s listening to me,” he lowered his voice as he added the last part, “She sounded really worried when she spoke to me and I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“No, and I asked Helena but she couldn’t find her either.”
“Thanks Ender, you’ve done the right thing.” I hung up the call and turned to Lucas who was watching me with confusion, “Lyla is missing.”
