Page 65 of Poison Aches

“No, sir. They contacted her,” Ty responds. “It seems she was invited, with the promise of meeting them.”

What the hell?

Why would they do that? And why now?

I stare at Angel and the barely-there half smile on her face.

She’s elusive, this girl.

Everything she exhibits points to happiness and bubbly shit, but beneath all that is a sad little girl who I’m sure suffers from chronic depression.

She’s unearthing ruins when she’s not even prepared for the war that will accompany that, but what can I do when she’s begging for her own demise?

Now that she’s in actual contact with the people she’s been searching for, I’ll have to adjust.

“It seems we need to prepare as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

And the line goes dead.

“Sir, we found one more thing among the stuff we got from that rat.”

By the tone Kai uses, I know I’m not going to like it.

“What?”

“Among the surveillance reports, most were on Nurse Marie and of Miss Irving.”

A sudden rush of acidic fury burst in me.

When Angel first disappeared, I thought my father had gotten rid of her like he always wanted to. Now, finding out that my father’s dog has been keeping tabs on Angel…

“What kind of surveillance?”

“The regular kind. It could be to check if they were keeping up with the terms of the contract.”

Or it could be my father also suspects Nurse Marie and her grandchildren of something else.

“What do we know about the Irvings?”

Kai is silent for a few seconds. “Sir, you told us to stop digging.”

Of course. I wanted to give her a clean slate.

“That was then. Now, we go all the way in,” I mutter.

It nagged me before, but I was determined not to give a damn about anything concerning Ivy Marie Irving.

“What are you hiding, Angel?” I murmur to myself, looking out the window. It’s almost midnight and the Heavens have opened up with a sudden rain. “Whatever it is, I’ll get you. I promise.”

“Sir?” Kai questions. “Did you say something?”

“Does Ty have eyes on her?” I ask instead.

Ty is the shadow I put on Ivy’s fucking ass since the day she fucking came back to Westbrook Blues after she disappeared on me years ago.

As long as I keep breathing, I’ll never go a day without knowing where exactly Ivy Marie Irving is, at all times. I’ll never let that disappearance happen again.

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