Page 5 of Born Wicked
“You let me know as soon as we get wind of his location,” Jon says. His tone is hard, and I hear his hands curl into fists. “I’d like to have a few words with that man.”
“Me too,” I say, recalling Archer King’s prophesy.Before the summer solstice, you will hate the man you love most.
He was right. But his timeline was way off. I came to hate Sebastian before the end of the year, just days after thewintersolstice.
“Paging Dr. Doe,” a voice calls over the speakers overhead. “Paging Dr. Doe to the office.”
I raise Elena’s hand to my lips and press a kiss to the back of her knuckles. “I’m going to fix this, I promise.” I’ve said the words dozens of times now, and I intend to keep my promise.
Jon and I take the elevator back downstairs, and with my mind on everything else I have to deal with, I head to my office.
And stop in the doorway abruptly, because the last person I expect to be waiting for me is a woman in a very official looking police uniform.
“How can I help you?” I ask, instantly on high alert. Jon and I step inside my office, Jon shutting the door behind us.
“Dr. Doe, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says, though her expression says otherwise. “My name is Teresa Day. I’m the newly appointed Superintendent of Police here in Chicago.”
Shit.
I shake her extended hand, trying to compose my poker face.
“Nice to meet you,” I say, but my words don’t come out genuine. “Uh, this is my… cousin, Jon Bonny.”
Jon’s poker face is a lot better than mine. He doesn’t lose character at me calling him my cousin. What the hell was I supposed to do? Say the man, who looks a whole lot like me, but only looks a few years older than me, is my father?
Jon shakes Superintendent Day’s hand. “Pleasure.”
She studies him closely, completely shameless as she stares at his scars.
“I recommend closely watching your back when visiting Glasgow,” Jon says. His tone hardens, and he says the words completely deadpan, calling her out for staring.
She makes the smallest noise of acknowledgment before her eyes slowly slide back over to mine. “I’m told you recently took over as director of this hospital?”
“It’s an interim position,” I answer, feeling a sense of dread at where this is heading.
“From my understanding, the owner and official director, Dr. Sebastian Vincent is your fiancé, correct?” she asks. There’s something piercing about this woman’s eyes. They’re an accusation and trial all on their own.
“He was,” I answer, wracking my brain if I know a lawyer.
“Was,” she says, as just a hint of a smile pulls in the corners of her mouth.
“I broke it off about a month ago,” I clarify as I fold my arms over my chest.
She lets out this littlehmmsound. Her eyes drop down the length of me and then rise back up. “Yourformerfiancé has been reported as missing. Why was it not you who reported it?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. This could get bad, very, very fast. “Because things ended badly between us, and he took off.”
“So, Dr. Vincent is missing,” Superintendent Day says as she stands straight, hands behind her back. “Which appears to be out of character for him. Things ended badly between the two of you. And somehow you, his former fiancée, are here, seemingly in charge of his hospital.”
Shit. How do I explain this?
“Just because the man’s throwing a massive tantrum doesn’t mean Dr. Doe deserves to be questioned,” Jon speaks up. There’s a dangerous edge to his voice, one I can tell could tip over into explosive anger any moment. “Juliet is just cleaning up the mess the man abandoned.”
“There are simply some question marks involved here, Mr. Bonny,” Teresa says. “There are concerned parties who say Dr. Vincent wouldn’t simply disappear and shirk his duties. Therehavebeen reports of an extremely bad break up between he and Dr. Doe. And here I find her in control of his very profitable hospital.”
“Do I need a lawyer?” I ask, my tone cold.
“Why would you jump to that, Dr. Doe?” she asks, a coldness in her eyes and a smile pulling on her lips. “I’m simply investigating the disappearance of one of Chicago’s upstanding citizens. As his former fiancée, one would assume you might still care. At least enough to answer a few questions.”