Liam told her his car wasn’t at his apartment either which means he could’ve gotten in an accident. She wonders if he ever got home last night from the dinner they shared.
Scarlett calls the hospital just to be sure, but they said no one of Alexander’s description was brought in.
His siblings are all pacing on the 75th floor spurting ideas of where he could’ve gone. Scarlett is just as worried as she continues to make phone calls and pitch in her own ideas. She notices that Olive and Liam talk quietly amongst themselves, they both look angry but not at each other.
Was it possible that they have an idea of his whereabouts?
“Did anything strange happen at dinner?” Liam leans on his elbows on her desk.
“No,” she frowns. “I thought it was a pleasant dinner. He seemed happy. He seemed okay.”
“Happy?” Liam raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah.”
“This is going to be a strange question but…” he takes a deep breath, “have you spoken with your father lately? Or specifically at dinner?”
“I talked to him earlier yesterday. What’s that have to do with anything?” Her eyebrows press together.
“Can I see your phone?”
“No,” she becomes defensive. “What is this about?”
“I’ll explain everything if what I see is correct,” Liam holds his hand out.
Reluctantly she hands over her phone and watches as he looks through her call log. The last call was an incoming call from her father.
“Shit,” Liam whispers and calls over his sister. “You were right.”
“I’ll talk to dad,” she shakes her head. “You need to check with our private airlines. Find out where he went and bring him back before he does something that’ll ruin his life.”
Olive grabs the rest of her siblings as they exit through the elevator. Her phone is still in Liam’s hand as he begins to pace the hallway again.
“What is going on?”
“I think your father is in danger,” he says gravely.
Her heart skips a beat. “What?” Her breathing becomes irregular and she starts to panic, fearing for her father. “I don’t understand.”
“There’s no time to talk.”
Liam promised her an explanation but doesn’t give her one. Not in the elevator, not on their way to his car, and not in the car. They arrive at an airport where they greet ‘Mr. Novak.’ He talks with one of the managers asking where his brother flew.
Nevada.
Without any luggage, planning, or preparing, Liam drags Scarlett onto a small luxury plane and a crew quickly boards. She’s only been on a plane a handful of times, but every time she’s been in an airport it’s always taken the plane so long from the time she sits to take off. The second she buckled her seatbelt the plane is sealing itself shut and moving on the runway.
Scarlett has lived in Nevada a total of six times. It has been one of their few repeat states. It was always desolate enough that you could find small towns in the middle of nowhere. When everyone in town knew who they were and as soon as they got comfortable—that’s when they would pack up and leave.
Her father was always paranoid.
Did he have a good reason to?
She remembers her conversation with him the other day, the same one that warned her about working for Novak, the same conversation that told her to quit. He wanted her away from New York to live with him.
Is it possible he wanted her away from Novak because Alexander was after her father?
But why?
She begs Liam for answers that he doesn’t give. His usual happy demeanor is overshadowed by worry and anger. He looks antsy as his legs shake and finger tap on the armrest. He can barely look at her and continues to ignore anything she says.
Scarlett never got the chance to tell Jo she was leaving. She’ll be worrying.
Maybe it’s a good thing for Jo to be worried. Suddenly Scarlett feels sick to her stomach. Liam is still relatively a stranger to her and here he brings her on an airplane headed west for some unknown reason other than that is where Alexander is. Looking down at her phone with the call log still open, she noticed the area code. 702. She recognizes that from one of the times she lived in Nevada.
Alexander is after her father.
Why?
“What aren’t you telling me?” An hour has passed and Liam is still avoiding her. “Liam please, I have to know if my father is okay.”
“I don’t know,” he whispers. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? What is going on?!”
“I can’t think straight right now,” he stands up and begins pacing.
“Stop pacing!” She yells frustrated. “Talk to me, I deserve to know.”
“I don’t know what my brother is doing.”
“Can you at least tell me if my father is safe?”
“I told you,” he runs his hands through his hair. “If your father is with my brother...I’m afraid that he’s in danger.”
Scarlett curses. “How long until we arrive?”
“Three more hours. Even when we land...I don’t know where to go.”
“What?” She stands from her seat. “You drag us out to Nevada with no luggage, nowhere to stay, and you don’t even have a plan.”
“I can track Alexander’s phone. I’ll figure something out just...just let me think!”
“What is there to think about?” They’re screaming at each other.
“I’m thinking about how I’m going to bail my brother out if he ends up murdering someone!”
Her face falls. “What?” She whispers. “He’s going to murder my father? Liam I swear to god if you don’t tell me what is going on—”
“Revenge. That’s what is going on.”
***
Alexander meets his private investigator in the same bed and breakfast Gavin was staying at earlier. They interrogate the owner getting as much information out of her as they can.
Of course, she knows nothing. He stayed a night, paid in cash, and didn’t utter a word of where he was going after, he just took a cab. Their trail is still hot but he can feel is slowly getting colder.
They need to find him and fast.
The town is small, the population barely a thousand. The cab company only has two workers and luckily for them the one working seems to know something about the man they show a picture of.
He says Gavin wanted to be driven to the middle of the woods. He was dropped off and started walking east. The cab driver claims there are a few secluded houses out there.
Bingo.
The cab driver drops them off at the same location as Gavin. They search the grounds until the sun sets—that is when they find a little cabin, run down, no lights on, and very, very, secluded.
They walk carefully up the dirt driveway fresh of any tire tracks. There are branches and leaves covering the driveway but they avoid making any type of noise. Alexander touches the pistol that is tucked in the back of his pants. He doesn’t plan on using it—not yet. But if the bastard runs and Alexander can take the shot, he will.
He tries the doorknob, locked. So kicks it down and quickly checks every room in the house until…
Gavin is climbing out the tiny window in the kitchen. Stuck. Alexander grabs him by the shirt and yanks him backwards. Gavin falls to the wood floor, fear in his eyes as he stutters and begs for mercy.