Page 76 of Mile High Baby

On the end of the line, Samantha gasped.

"If you hear from her, tell her to call her father or me. And you call us as well."

"Yes, absolutely."

I handed the woman working near me the note, telling her to pull up the companies and find out about their drivers who picked up at Samantha’s home. “Can you find out about surveillance cameras in that area as well?”

With that assigned, I rushed from the building, arranging my own ride with one of our men, and headed to Henry’s. The minute the car stopped, I bounded out and up the steps.

Knightly opened it as if he were waiting for me. "He's in a state, Mr. Sterling. Have you found her yet?" His concern was more than just as an employee. He clearly saw Victoria as family.

"I haven’t found her yet, but we’re looking."

I entered Henry's office. When he saw me walk in he rushed over, gripping my forearms. It'd been the same response Victoria had when she thought something had happened to her father.

"Tell me you found her."

"Not yet. We do know that she went over to see Samantha.”

Henry’s brows drew together. "Samantha?" He gave his head a quick shake. "Oh, yes. I forgot she's back in town."

"According to Samantha, she left around five."

Henry's arm jerked up as he checked his watch. He looked at me, his expression stricken. "It doesn't take more than an hour to get from the Layton house to here."

"I know. But we have to stay calm—”

“We have to be out looking for her."

"We are. You need to stay here and keep yourself together in case you get a call or we hear from her. Alright?"

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and my first instinct was to ignore it because I needed to focus on Henry and Victoria. But of course, I pulled it out of my pocket in case it was Victoria or news about her.

I looked at the caller ID, but the number was blocked. A sense of dread filled my chest as I poked the button "Who is this?"

"Alex Sterling, long time no talk."

My gaze shot to Henry as I recognized George Pitney’s voice.

"I have something you want."

A new sort of unease spread through my belly. Why was Pitney calling me if he had Victoria? Did he know about us?

"And you have something I want."

Strangely, I had a tiny sense of relief that only one of my worst fears was coming true. Pitney wanted something I had, not to blackmail me.

“What’s that?” I asked, stepping back and turning away from Henry. I needed to focus and couldn’t do that with Henry’s agitation radiating around me.

“My niece and her nitwit husband.”

“Who?” I decided to play dumb.

“Don’t fuck with me, Sterling.” The words came out heated, followed by an intake of breath like he was regaining control. “I know you met with my niece. She seemed to take a shine to you.”

That explained how my picture with Aimee ended up on a gossip website. “She was worried about her husband disappearing and wanted Saint Security’s help,” I lied.

“Let’s not play games. I have Banion’s daughter. I’m willing to give her back in exchange for my niece and her husband.”