Chapter 6
The phone was picked up almost instantly after the first ring. Arthur’s voice on the other end was frantic.
“Mr. Searle, something awful has happened! Mrs. Searle is missing, and tens of billions in liquid assets from Searle Group’s accounts are gone! And somehow, the reporters already know about it. They’re all gathered at the entrance of Searle Group, swarming the place!”
Connor’s breath hitched, and a wave of dizziness swept over him.
His voice came out icy as he said, “Calm down, Arthur. Take your time and tell me exactly what’s going on.”
But Arthur was too far gone to settle down. His words spilled out in a rush, his panic escalating.
“Mr. Searle, there’s no time for this! Two things–first, Mrs. Searle is gone. We’ve turned Jorvaska upside down, but there’s no sign of her! And second, all the liquid funds in Searle Group’s accounts have just vanished!
“I’m losing it here, Mr. Searle! You need to get back here, now! I don’t know how the shareholders caught wind of this, but they’re all outside Searle Group’s entrance, demanding answers! And the media’s here, too!”
Connor ended the call before Arthur could get his words out. Arthur had stood by Connor’s side for more than ten years, but never once had he sounded this frantic.
Even when Connor had ordered him to abduct Hannah, who was pregnant at the time, Arthur had simply given a wry smile and followed through without a second thought. Connor could tell that something was deeply off.
Losing tens of billions in liquid assets was the kind of problem he’d stake his life to fix, but if the press caught wind of it, things would go south fast.
Searle Group had spent more than ten years establishing a reputation for being reliable in Jorvaska. With funds vanishing from its accounts, shareholders would demand explanations, sending a clear message to the world that they were facing significant internal management problems.
A crisis of confidence like this could bring down a company that had lasted for a century, let alone Searle Group, which had only just begun to establish its foothold in the market. And then there was Hannah. How could she have disappeared without a trace?
Arthur operated seamlessly between the legal and the illegal. There was no one he couldn’t track down. But now, even he had hit a dead end.
Connor’s mind drifted to the group of thugs who had abducted Hannah not long ago. Their leering, grinning faces flashed before his eyes.
Had Arthur not handled them decisively enough? Had those thugs returned? And Hannah…
Connor couldn’t afford to dwell on it any longer. First, he needed to head to Searle Group to address the crisis. No matter what, he was determined to find Hannah that day! He stepped on the gas and sped toward Searle Group.
Sienna was in the passenger seat, her mind scrambling to piece together what was going on. Business dealings were foreign to her, but she’d caught enough from the phone call to know that Hannah was missing.
Her mind wandered back to her conversation with Hannah earlier that morning, recalling how fragile and unsettled the latter had appeared. A faint thrill stirred in Sienna’s chest. It looked like her words had hit their mark
Sienna thought that if Hannah were gone, Connor would be entirely hers. The idea of having both of Jorvaska’s most influential men under her control filled her with a rush of triumph. Connor thought that he noticed Sienna smiling. Before he could question her, her hand drifted onto his thigh.
“Are you really that worked up over Hannah running off, Connor?” she murmured. “It’s just a woman’s little game, you know. If you keep this up, I might actually start to get upset.” This was familiar territory for them! Every time Connor displayed even the slightest concern for Hannah, Sienna would playfully act jealous.
