Page 48 of Vallaverse: Noir
“Noted,” I say. “Don't worry about me. Listen. I've got some questions for Celia. Do you mind?”
“If she doesn't mind, I don't mind. But I'm staying on the line.”
“Good.”
I step further into the front room to find Beckett sitting on a couch with the girl I've been looking for. She looks perfectly well.
“Are you Celia Westover?” I ask.
She purses her lips daintily. “I'm Celia, but not Westover.”
“What do you mean?”
She gives me a flat look. “My last name isn't Westover. It's Cassell. Why are you looking for me?”
“Your father hired me to locate you.”
Her eyes narrow. “My father is dead.Hesent you, didn't he?”
“He?”
“That man. The Omega who grabbed me from the dressing room at Breakers.”
I pull up Mr. Westover's social media on my phone and show it to her. “Is this the man who took you?”
“Yes,” she snips. “He grabbed me from behind when I was walking back out to my chaperone. He put something over my face and I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was tied to a bed in his house.”
Why would an Omega take another Omega?
“I didn't know his name,” she continues. “He wanted to give me to some Alpha he knew. Like I was some kind of present.”
“How did you get away?” Beckett asks.
“I waited until he came to take me to the bathroom and kicked him in the face when he untied my feet. He wasn't expecting me to do it, that's the only reason it worked. I kicked him in the face and made a run for it. I didn't even have shoes. I didn't have a phone anymore, so I couldn't call anybody for help. I ran to the center because that's what everyone always said to do. Run to the center because they'll keep you safe. I didn't have anywhere else to go, anyway.”
“Where does the mayor fit into this story?” I ask, tipping my chin in the direction of the phone displaying his face.
She smiles. It makes her entire face shine. “He came into the counseling building at CCOE when I was walking out.”
“What were you doing there?” I ask the mayor.
“Dropping off donations,” he answers. “The city donates to the CCOE nesting fund twice a year. I like to take donations personally when I can so that people can see that there's an actual person involved in running the city instead of just a faceless title.”
“We saw each other in the entryway and that was that,” Celia adds, beaming at the mayor through the phone.
Well, that ties everything up nicely as far as Celia is concerned. I'll have to turn in Mr. Westover, but anything that happens with him is none of my business. I'll keep his money, though. There's only one more question I have for Celia, and it's rude and unavoidable.
“I have one more thing,” I tell her, making sure to raise a brow at the mayor. “There's no way to ask this without just asking this. I'm not trying to insinuate anything, but I know how old you are, Frank. I can't leave her here until I know how old she is.” I give her a small smile. “You look every minute of seventeen. Please tell me you aren't seventeen.”
“No,” she says, laughing. “But I'll take the compliment. I'm twenty-four. I'm just cursed with a baby face.”
I give the mayor a look. “Twenty-four.”
“What would you have me do, Dana? Reject her because she's a few years younger than I am? We're a match. It would do far more damage than good to deny us the connection.”
“I'm young, but I'm not a child,” Celia says, all humor gone from her tone. “I'm not leaving him.” She turns her head to show a healing bite mark. “He's mine.”
Well, like she said, that's that.
