The thought of going to the Anchorage and facing his family made him so angry he didn’t know what to do with it.

Then the word EMERGENCY in his mother’s text made him tap the family group chat open.

Drop what you’re doing and come home. It’s Esha. She’s disappeared.

WHEN VANSH’S CAB pulled up under the porte cochere of the Anchorage, the driveway was clogged with cars. He ran into the house and found the family upstairs in the sitting room of Esha and Aji’s suite.

Aji was red eyed and Ma was sobbing into a tissue. Ma never cried.

“Where’s Esha? What happened?” Vansh’s heart was thudding so hard he could barely breathe.

“She’s . . . she’s gone,” Ma sobbed.

Only Ma, Aji, and Nisha were there, with Ram sleeping in his cradle. Where was everyone else?

“Gone?” Vansh ran into Esha’s room. Her bright white bed was unmade, with pillows strewn all around.

“She’s not in her room. We’ve looked all over the house. The rest of the family is combing the estate but we can’t find her. It’s been four hours. The longest she ever walks is two hours,” Nisha said, face leached of color. “Aji went into her room to check on her while she was resting after her walk and found pillows arranged under her sheets.”

“Pillows?” Did that mean Esha had run away? Why?

“She’s been acting so different these past few months,” Aji said. “Then her post-walk naps kept getting longer and longer. Now she’s gone.”

Vansh sat down next to his grandmother and put his arm around her. It was true Esha had been acting differently, but Vansh couldn’t imagine her leaving them without a word.

And there were no signs of forced entry.

“Has anyone been through the security cameras?” Vansh asked.

“Yes, there’s no sign of her. The only person who was here on the estate today was Sid Dashwood,” Nisha said. “Yash and India tried to reach him to see if he’d seen anything, but he’s not answering his phone.”

“Yeah, Sid’s not great at keeping his phone on. He was probably here to get some shots of birds.” But discomfort prickled inside Vansh. “Let me try him.”

He called Sid. Sid didn’t answer but he texted immediately. Esha is with me. We’re back. Just hold down the fort for another few minutes.

“Shit.”

“What?” Nisha, Ma, and Aji said in one voice.

“I don’t even know where to start. But she’s fine. She’s home.”

Before they could respond to that, Esha emerged up the stairs and ran to Aji. “You’re crying? Aji! I’m fine. I’m sorry. Don’t cry.”

Aji grabbed Esha and her sobs intensified. “Where were you? I almost died of worry.” She kissed Esha all over her face.