Page 53 of His Secret Virgin
Chapter 21
Christopher
“What do you mean she’s not answering your calls?” I asked Mrs. Kramer, who seemed genuinely worried about Emma and her whereabouts.
Pacing in front of my desk, she answered, “I’ve called her ten times now. It’s after lunch, and she still hasn’t answered my calls. I went to security and saw video of her coming in this morning at a quarter to nine. Not twenty minutes later, she left the building, got in her car in the parking garage and sped off. She looked distraught, Mr. Taylor.”
The fact that I was just being told about this now aggravated me. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” I got out of my chair, planning to head down the hall to see if Sebastien knew anything about where his daughter might be. “Have you asked her father if he knows where she is?”
“No,” she said quietly. “I didn’t want to tell him anything in case she didn’t want him to know what she was doing. She asked me to keep him out of things where she’s concerned. You know how he treats her like a child. Surely you can understand why I didn’t go to him about this.”
“You could’ve come to me though,” I snapped at her, not meaning to.
She looked a little shocked as she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think the president of the company would want to be bothered over someone as insignificant as my assistant, sir.”
I saw her point and tried to control my anger, knowing it would seem unreasonable in her eyes, particularly if my relationship with Emma were truly as innocent as Mrs. Kramer and everyone else thought it was. “Sorry for snapping at you, Mrs. Kramer. You keep trying to call her. Leave her a few texts asking her to contact you because you’re worried about her. I’ll go see her father.”
We left my office with Mrs. Kramer headed to hers and me headed to Sebastien’s. I heard him on the phone just before I knocked. He ended the call then called out, “Come in.”
Entering his office, I tried my best not to come across as too worried. “Hey, Sebastien. Mrs. Kramer is worried about Emma. She came to work this morning but then left without telling anyone. And she’s not taking Mrs. Kramer’s calls either. Do you happen to know if she went home sick or something?”
“She’s not home. I was just on the phone with Celeste, and she didn’t say anything about Emma being there.” He picked up his phone. “But I’ll ask her just to be sure.”
Taking a seat, I tried to act like I was only vaguely interested in his daughter’s disappearance. “I’m sure she’s there. Tell her to check her bed and bathroom just to be sure.”
“Okay,” he said, waiting for the phone to be answered on the other end. “Honey, did Emma go back home this morning?”
“No,” I heard Celeste say. “Why?”
“Well, her boss said that Emma was here and then left without telling anyone. Would you go check her room and bathroom, just in case?” he asked his wife.
Waiting to hear what she said, I tried even harder not to show the worry that had begun to gnaw at me. Sebastien shook his head as his wife told him something, and then he looked at me, concern clear in his eyes. “She’s not there, Christopher.”
Getting up, I knew I needed to go check our cabin to see if she’d gone there for some reason. “Give Emma a call yourself, Sebastien. Maybe she’s upset with Mrs. Kramer or something and just doesn’t want to talk to her.”
“I will.” He called her while I waited by the door to see if she answered him. “Emma?”
My heart pounded.We’ve found her!
“Is she okay?” I asked.
He held up one finger. “Honey, stop crying. Tell me where you are.”
I couldn’t hear a thing she said through the phone, so I walked back toward Sebastian’s desk, hoping I could listen in. But before I even got within eavesdropping distance, he put the cell down with a puzzled expression on his face.
“What did she say?” I asked with concern.
“That she’s okay—and that she’s moving away.” He shook his head in disbelief. “And I’m not to worry about her. She’s a grown woman who can take care of herself.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” I spun around to go call her myself, but I wasn’t about to let her father know that. “I’ll let Mrs. Kramer know that you talked to her.”
Going straight to her office, I opened the door to tell Mrs. Kramer the news. I found her on the phone. She waved me in as she spoke to whoever was on the line, “I don’t understand, Miss Hancock. Why do you want to quit?”
Emma wants to quit?
Nothing made sense. Emma had left me around two that morning. She’d said nothing about any of the things she was now doing. Something had to have happened to make her do such a rash thing.
My ex-wife popped into my head.Did she talk to Emma and tell her some kind of lie about me?
