I’ll have a look around in the morning when I’m fresh. So I switch off the kitchen light, double-check that the doors are locked, and make my way to the bedroom where I make the bed and lie down, wondering if Hazel had slept on this very bed years ago. If this was a safe house for her, too. And if that was Dad’s doing. If he’d helped her run away.

38

Santiago

"Boss, I need a word with you." Marco pokes his head into Ivy's room, and I grunt a response.

"Give me a hand with these, will you?" I shift the window cover, setting one piece aside.

Marco doesn't move. "I think you should come down here so we can talk."

I glance at him over my shoulder and frown at the strained expression on his face. My fucking nerves are already shot, and this isn't helping. The moment I left Judge's house, I sent ten of my best guards to the hospital to collect my wife early while I came home to prepare for her arrival. That was an hour ago. They should have given me a status update by now.

My gut sours, and I know Marco came to deliver bad news. What else could it be?

I turn back to the window, tugging at the piece that won't seem to budge. Much like me, it's stubborn. Unyielding.

"Fucking piece of shit." I growl, slamming against it in frustration. "I need your help, Marco."

"Boss, I really think you should come down here." He's quieter now. Uncertain how to handle me like this. I can't say I blame him.

I don't want to hear whatever it is he came to say. Maybe that's why I'm still prying at the window cover as if I can alter it. Avoid it.

"I have to get this out," I snarl. "Her room has to be ready when she gets home."

Silence. He doesn't bother to respond this time, and a cold chill moves over me when I release the cover and finally turn to him. I look down at him from the sill, a lead weight settling over my chest.

Marco shifts from one foot to the other. He clears his throat then stuffs his hands into his pockets. And finally, he delivers the news he doesn’t want to tell me.

"Sir, your wife slipped the guard and escaped the hospital. I've had my men out scouring the city for her from the moment I became aware, but she hasn't turned up anywhere. I waited to tell you because I had hoped we might find her."

My hands fall open at my sides. My breathing slows. And I stare at him, blank.

Several minutes pass. Maybe more. Marco stares back, his face growing more uncomfortable the longer I stand there, silent.