Page 17 of Pressure

6

Lance woke from dreams of Marissa, something that hadn’t happened in years. But he also woke disturbed. So far, his attempts to locate Samuel had been fruitless.

After checking his phone hoping to hear from him, he rolled out of bed and trudged to the shower where he tried to wash the intense dreams away.

As he turned the water off, he heard his phone vibrating against the nightstand. Grabbing a towel off the rack, he wrapped it around his waist and jogged into the bedroom hoping it was Samuel calling to check in.

It was Isabelle.

“Hello?”

“Master Lance, are you at Solitaire? I need some help.”

Her voice sounded like she’d been crying.

“What’s wrong sweetie?”

“I’m trying to get to work from my sister’s place and there are news vans parked in front of my house.”

Lance felt his blood run cold as he tugged on a pair of boxers. Had the video anonymously emailed to him been leaked?

“I tried calling Master Hunter but he’s not answering, and Garrett is on a plane to get to me. Probably asleep because he worked all night.”

He pulled jeans and a t-shirt out of the small dresser and laid them on the bed. “Have you looked at the news? Can you tell what they want? I’ll be there as soon as I can. In the meantime, stay away from the windows and keep the doors locked. They probably won’t try to come inside, but you never know.”

When he ended the call, he dressed then dialed Marissa’s number.

“Are you still at the Glenview?” he asked when she answered.

“I am. What’s up?”

“Look out your window. Are there news vans?”

Marissa was quiet. “Why would there be news vans?” she asked after a moment.

“Just do it please. It’s not about you. It’s Isabelle.”

Marissa huffed but he heard her moving. “Sure enough,” she said, a tremble in her voice. “What’s going on?”

"Part of the reason we called you in is that Garrett and Isabelle were almost outed. Now I'm afraid the anonymous video sent to me was in fact leaked to the media. This could end Garrett's political career and make Isabelle's life harder than it needs to be."

He could hear the sounds of Marissa getting dressed.

"What do you want me to do? How do I help?"

"I'm heading to rescue Isabelle now. Can you scan the news and see if you can find the story? You know how I feel about interfering with the fourth estate, but if they were to have trouble broadcasting the story, I wouldn't be upset," he said as he slipped his feet into a pair of loafers.

"Understood," she said. The line went dead. Even when they were together, she rarely said goodbye, so this was no surprise.

With his tech bag slung over his shoulder, he jogged down the stairs and out the front door.

Driving down the hill, he prayed they hadn't found the gate to Solitaire. The place wasn't exactly a secret thanks to publicity when they first opened, but they didn't broadcast the location anywhere either.

In the car, he turned on his Bluetooth headset and called Isabelle.

"I'm in the car now. How are you doing?"

She sounded nervous when she answered. "I'm OK. I'm just really worried for Garrett. I'm too scared to turn on the news and see what they're saying."

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