Chapter Ten.
He found Lillian at the front desk, poring over the electronic guest book. "At what point," Phin demanded quietly, "were you going to tell me that Abigail Montgomery and Naomi Ishikawa are related?"
His mother"s eyes narrowed. Flicked up to him. "So it"s true?"
"I"m asking you."
"And I was hoping you could tell me," she admitted with a small, tired frown.
Phin braced one hip against the desk. Around him, the soothing melody of harps and flutes did nothing to ease the tension ratcheting through him. One part worry, concern. One part blind l.u.s.t.
All of it Naomi.
He raked his fingers through his hair. "I saw them side by side-"
"Phin!"
"She caught me by surprise," he admitted dryly. "If there"s one thing I"m learning, it"s that Naomi is going to be exactly where you don"t want her."
"Oh, no." Lillian"s expert makeup couldn"t hide the circles under her eyes, or the flinch that set lines around her mouth. "What happened?"
He reached over, smoothed back a tendril of golden hair over her ear. "Naomi looks a little like her," he admitted. "And Abigail set her off badly just by being there, but-"
How did he explain it? How did he wrap his head around the fact that the two women seemed to have such different reactions to each other?
Anger, fury in one. And pain. Phin knew that Naomi would be so much more livid if she"d known how much he saw in that raw, unguarded moment. When her violet eyes had filled with so much rage. So much hurt.
"Mrs. Montgomery didn"t seem to recognize her," he finally said. "Nothing. Not a flicker."
"That poor child." Lillian rubbed at her forehead. "I can"t imagine what she must be feeling. Maybe Gemma-"
"Don"t," he cautioned swiftly. "Don"t bring it up, don"t let on. Whatever is going on there, whatever relationship those two have-or don"t have-it"s obvious that Naomi doesn"t want anyone to know."
For a long, harp-accompanied moment, Lillian studied her son"s gaze. The set of his face, which he knew was tense. He couldn"t help it. Even his smile felt stiff as he shook his head. "Just trust me on this one."
"I do, my love." But she cupped his chin in her palm, lifting his face to the light. Her hazel eyes were no less sharp, for all her fatigue. "You"re in trouble, aren"t you?"
G.o.d, yes. "Of course not, Mother. I"m just making you aware that your potential problem is most definitely a reality." And falling hard and fast for a woman whose entire makeup seemed to consist of complications.
She arched a single, shaped eyebrow. "And?"
Phin"s smile went crooked. "And," he added, spreading his palms on the counter s.p.a.ce, "admiring how pretty your suit is today."
"Flattery, my son," Lillian said crisply, "will get you nowhere." But her eyes sparkled as she released his chin. "Will you be at dinner?"
At her elbow, the desk unit flashed a blue signal.
Phin edged away. "No, I"ve got plans."
That eyebrow nearly reached her hairline. "What sort of plans?"
The lights flashed again. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he hedged, "I"m eating out tonight."
Lillian picked up the earpiece, mouthed, Stay put, in silent demand, then added, "Concierge, how may I-"
Nothing changed in her tone. Nothing in her posture or her face, but he knew his mother. A barely perceptible shift drew Phin to a complete stop. He frowned, leaned over the desk to place his ear beside his mother"s on the line.
"-unbelievable amount of gall to tell me that everything is fine when I know it isn"t. So you better start looking for any messages that Katie left, because I know she left something!" An English voice, sharp with annoyance.
To her credit, Lillian waited patiently for the woman to take a breath. "Jordana," she said soothingly, "this is Lillian Clarke speaking. Please, calm down and tell me exactly what the problem is."
"Haven"t you been listening?"
Phin exchanged worried glances with his mother.
"I said," Jordana continued hotly, "that my a.s.sistant is gone. She left, probably to go do something or fix something or whatever it is she does when I"m busy, but Katie doesn"t just vanish. She always leaves me messages so you better talk to the last girl polishing her nails at that f.u.c.king desk and find it."
Lillian tapped at the monitor inset into the concierge desk, scanning through logs quickly. "I"m sorry, there are no messages for you." A sinking pit sucked out the bottom of Phin"s stomach as he read the screen over his mother"s shoulder. "And as far as we"re aware, Katie is still in the building."
"No, she isn"t." Jordana blew out a hard breath, fuzzing the line. "She isn"t answering her comm, and- Oh, no," she gasped. "Oh, G.o.d, I was so drunk last night. We had a fight."
Phin"s eyebrow slid up his forehead, an unconscious mirror of Lillian"s quiet inquiry.
"Is there any way she could have just, you know, left? Without checking out?"
"Take a deep breath," Lillian coached gently. "I"ll have our security team go over the feeds, all right? Where are you?"
"The dining hall, having a good, stiff drink." She lowered her voice. "If that b.i.t.c.h just walked out on me . . ." Her voice cracked.
"Let"s just concentrate on finding her for you," Lillian replied, meeting Phin"s eyes with mirrored concern and uncertainty. "Has she ever left you for long?"
Phin was already shaking his head as Jordana said icily, "Katie knows who signs her paychecks, Mrs. Clarke."
"Of course," Lillian murmured, gaze grave as it settled on him. "I"ll get our security on this right away. We"ll find your a.s.sistant, Jordana."
"She"d better be dead," the pop star spat, "or I"ll kill her myself."
"Let"s avoid either," Lillian said smoothly into the mic. "In the meantime, my staff is at your disposal. I am so sorry for the inconvenience, Jordana, rest a.s.sured we will investigate this matter fully."
Phin withdrew from the conversation, but the cold knot still wrapped tight in his stomach gnawed at him. Quietly he unclipped his comm from his belt and cracked it open. Within moments, Barker answered the ring.
"Security."
"Mr. Barker, I need Katie Landers"s last whereabouts located in the feeds." Phin kept his voice low. "She"s about five feet four inches, with light brown hair and thick rimmed gla.s.ses."
"The singer"s guest, right?"
"Yes."
"I"ll feed the data into the recognition software," Barker replied immediately. "Is there a problem?"
Aside from the worry gathering like an anchor in his gut? He turned away from Lillian"s quiet phone calls and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "I hope not."
"Right, well, I"ve got a handful of entries in the scanner logs." Keys clattered over the line as the security lead worked. "She last used her pa.s.s to reach the ground floor."
"When?"
A pause. Phin stared blankly at the fountain as it splattered musically against marble. "Two hours ago, sir."
"And before that?"
Over the line, Barker blew out a breath. "The scanner recorded her card at the dining hall first thing this morning. Then she left for the beauty floor, and then- Huh. That"s odd."
Phin frowned. "What?"
"She went from the beauty floor to her suite without- No, there has to be something wrong with the scanner. Toby"d mentioned he thought it was getting loose or something."
"What?" Phin repeated, tension edging every line of his body. Behind him, Lillian hung up the desk unit.
"Well, sir, the logs have her leaving her suite, but there"s no record of her entering it. I"ll have the techs look at the scanner."
"Do that. What about Vaughn?" he asked, already too d.a.m.n tired to hear the answer.
"I sent Toby down to the address listed on file. It was empty. His possessions were still there, though."
Phin swallowed a curse as it surged in his throat. "Clues?"
Barker made a small sound of annoyance. "Toby found gambling tickets from a mid-city place called the Last Way Out. Dated last night."
"Oh, for G.o.d"s sake."
"We"ll stay on it, sir. In the meantime, we"ll locate the a.s.sistant. I"ll be in touch."
Phin clipped the comm back to his belt. He turned as Lillian set the desk receiver into its charging unit.
She sighed. "When it rains, it most certainly pours."
"No kidding," Phin replied grimly. He rubbed his face, sc.r.a.ped his fingers over his scalp as a steady throb blossomed to a full-blown headache. "f.u.c.k."
"Phin," Lillian reprimanded. "What did you learn?" He outlined it briefly, and shook his head as she asked, "Is it possible the scanner really is broken?"
"We"ll find out."
"So what do we do?"
"Round-the-clock security." He rocked back on his heels, suddenly dead tired. The jangle of harps only seemed discordant to his aching brain. "What about Katie?"
"It"s possible she really did leave," his mother said. "And also possible that she"s still in the building somewhere. Security will do its job; Phin, you go take Miss Ishikawa to dinner." Lillian"s smile deepened into a too-knowing curve as his glance slid sharply to her. "I was not," she added, "born yesterday."
He shook his head. "I can"t go now. What if something else happens?"
"Then we will deal with it as we always have," Lillian replied. Her chin came up; long, thin hands laid flat on the desk as she leaned over it. "Take your date and go."
He swayed. Torn, Phin knew his mother was right. Short of filling the corridors with hunting dogs he didn"t have, he couldn"t do anything that his mothers couldn"t do themselves.
But if something happened- "Phinneas Clarke." Lillian"s tone sharpened. "Do remember that your mother and I successfully managed this business long before you were old enough to say discreet, much less be it."
A sudden burst of warmth made him smile. Feeling all at once sheepish and overwhelmingly concerned, Phin leaned over to press his lips to her offered cheek. "Fine, but we"ll be back after dinner. No excuses."
"That is your choice." Her smile mirrored the tenderness in her gaze as she reached over and straightened his tie. "Do go put on something more suitable. You have oil on your sleeve."
d.a.m.n it. Heat seared his face, burned all the way to his ears as he checked both arms. His smile was much less casual than he intended as he found the shiny blot of ma.s.sage oil that darkened the green fabric at his forearm.
Knowing anything he said wouldn"t matter, Phin cleared his throat, nodded, and turned back to the garden doors.
"And, Phin?"
He glanced back. Lillian watched him from behind the desk, one hand settled regally on its surface. The other curled over her trim hip, stern echo of the caution in her voice as she added, "Please be careful."
"I will. I"m going to call Swann"s and see about finagling their waiting list."
"I mean-" Lillian caught herself, put one hand to her neat bodice and shook her head. "Never mind. Have a good time, darling."
He hesitated. But when he would have said something, anything, she waved him away, already once more engrossed in the computer screen by the time he managed to swallow the lump of love, of unease in his throat.
With a resigned sigh, he left through the lobby doors, crossed the garden proper, and made his way to the small, inconspicuous hall that led to the family wing. He"d shower, change, and make the calls he needed to make.
He"d start, Phin thought grimly as he fingered the slick stain on his sleeve, with calling in extra security.
"I"ve got good news and I"ve got bad news."
Naomi smoothed clear, liquid gloss over her mouth without looking in the mirror, her glance flicking instead to the comm on the marble countertop. "Great. What?"
Eckhart"s voice was as pleasant as ever. If Jonas had told him about her little episode, she couldn"t read it in his easy inflection. "Miles is set up to deliver your weapon whenever you"re ready."
She brightened. "Great! I"ll send a message just as soon as I know where I"ll be able to meet him."
"He"ll be on call." His voice twitched into annoyance as he added, "And we"ve hit another snag getting the blueprints."
Unable to dredge up the energy to be annoyed, Naomi moved her shoulders in a halfhearted shrug. "Oh, well. I"ve mapped out the dining floor, the lounge, the beauty suite"-she repressed a shudder-"and the, I don"t know, I think they call it the quiet room."
"Mapped out?"