“Tell me you’re fucking kidding.” I stare at the two men who are supposed to be watching Ivy. Hunter is still on a break, but these two numb nuts had plenty of time to recoup.
And yet, here they stand, clueless.
I remain calm as irritation bleats hard in my neck. “What do you mean she’s gone?”
They fumble with the monitors and bring up the video feed. “According to the schedule, she and Trinity were supposed to be doing yoga out on the north lawn.”
I eye them slowly, one and then the other, assessing the situation. I roll my eyes. “You got uncomfortable watching them.”
“I have a wife,” Evan says.
“And my girlfriend would kill me,” the other guy explains. The new guy. What’s his name?
I pinch the bridge of my nose as the nameless one yammers on. “It’s the downward-facing dog. And the angle of the cameras—”
“Get out.” They stare at each other, confused. “Get. Out!” I shout forcefully as I point to the door.
They scurry like mice, and I second-guess myself for not exterminating them on the spot. I can’t be goddamned everywhere. I rub my temples and remember the tracker in Ivy’s car.
I follow the dancing dot. Her car is heading toward the city. “Now, where’s Trinity?”
“Right here.” Her voice is angelic, and she pokes her head around my office door. “Looking for me?”
“No. I mean yes. I mean—”
“What happened?” she asks with an innocent grin. “Did your men freak out again during downward-facing dog?” Her voice is mischievous and sarcastic. The old Trini. The one we’ve all missed.
I give her a playful scold. “Yoga is not a weapon.”
“Tell that to Evan and Jim.” Jim. That’s his name.
Trinity takes a chair, the same one Ivy did, and slumps into it in almost the exact same way. I take a passing glance at the monitor. Goodie two-shoes is barely tapping the speed limit, so there’s time for me to catch up to her.
I pull up a chair and sit down. “Something on your mind?”
She shrugs. “Maybe I’m making a big deal about nothing.”
“I doubt that.”
Her lips press to a tight line, and I’m careful not to rush her. The fact that she’s talking again is monumental. For all I care, we can baby step through every conversation from here on out. “You can tell me anything.”
“I thought Ivy and I were close.”
I don’t like the sound of that. My hackles tick up. “Did something happen to make you think otherwise?”
She nods. I listen. It takes a few breaths before she continues. “Ivy isn’t going to make it.”
“Make…what?”
“Make it to Erede al Trono.”
Our chat. Did I frighten her off? Me and my aggressive foot rub. I duck down to meet Trini’s eyes. “Did she say why?”
“No. Just that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to go.” Trinity hits me with puppy dog eyes the size of dinner plates, and I melt. “Could you—”
“Find out why she’s backing out?” I stand, buttoning my blazer. “I’m on it.”