Chapter 96

He tore the city apart like a rabid dog after a bone. There was still no sign of where she could be, Beatrice. Mikhail was back where he started, in Vanessa’s room, sitting on the floor. Usually when someone was taken by force, there was at least a witness. And it wasn’t late enough at night for no one to see her. It was close to twenty four hours. The corner of white folded paper was trapped under the dressing table, like someone had put it there, like someone did not want it to be lost in ruckus. He carefully opened it.

‘You’ll look everywhere, you’ll find nowhere.’ If this was a trick or a coded message, he’d kill her himself. Worse even, if it were a prank. But the handwriting was not quite the same. Beatrice drew her ‘y’ with an elongatetd curve and she never dotted an ‘i’, there was a dash in place of it. She hadn’t written it. It could be Ian. Only one way to find out. Noah had made its way back, asked someone in missing person’s department to do them a favor. He pocketed the