Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 646

But she should have been back by now.

I called her. It rang out. I called again. Straight to voicemail. Again. Voicemail.

That wasn't like her. Celeste always answered my calls. Her phone was never far from her.

I called her mother. No answer. I called again, and again, and the knot in my stomach tightened with every ring.

I called the bodyguards stationed outside her mother's house. "Has Celeste come out?"

"No, sir." The guard's voice was steady. "We've been here the whole time, eyes on the door. She hasn't come out."

"Okay." I hung up before he could ask questions.

I stood there with the phone in my hand, thinking. I could send them in. But Celeste and her mother were entitled to their privacy, and those guards had never once set foot inside that house. I didn't want to invade.

In the end I decided to drive over there myself and see what was going on.

I was halfway to the door when the receptionist stood up again. "Is something wrong, sir? Earlier you said you didn't need anything. Can I get you something now?"

"No, don't trouble yourself." I kept moving. "I'll be back soon. I just need to take care of something."

"Okay, sir."

I drove to her mother's house with my jaw clenched the whole way. The bodyguards came up to me the moment I parked, and one of them asked what the problem was.

"I'm not sure there is one." I got out of the car. "I just can't get through to Celeste, and it's got me worried."

They relaxed a little, and I told them to stay put, that I'd go in and find out what was happening.

I rang the doorbell. Nothing. I rang it again. Knocked. Called Celeste, called her mother again. Nothing.

I tried the door. Locked.

I knocked harder, and the bodyguards walked up, asking if everything was okay.

"Something's wrong." I turned to them. "Celeste wouldn't ignore my calls like this. Break the door down."

They moved fast. The first one threw his shoulder into it, then his boot, and the frame barely shuddered. The second one pulled out his gun, aimed at the lock, and fired. The lock came apart, and one good kick sent the door swinging open.

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