Page 129 of Fall of a Kingdom

After a long quiet moment, Igor said, “I’ll go. For now.”

I waited until I was sure he was gone before opening the desk drawer and pulling out a sheet of heavy cream-colored paper and Flynn’s favorite Montblanc pen.

And then I began to write.

Chapter44

FLYNN

I saton the balcony of the penthouse suite and stared out into the cold, rainy night.

English rain was different than Scottish rain.

It was subtle, but there was a difference in the air. A tension in the wind.

My phone rested on the glass table next to me and vibrated when it lit up. I’d been fielding calls for the past few days, and I was sick to death of looking at my cell phone. What I wouldn’t give to pitch it over the balcony railing and watch it fall to the street below and have a cabbie run over it.

But I was Flynn Campbell, and I couldn’t disappear. As much as I wanted to.

I picked up my cell and saw Barrett’s name.

“Hen,” I greeted. “It’s late.”

“Da.”

I sat up straight. “Hawk?”

He sniffed, like he’d been crying.

“Hawk, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“No,” came his muffled reply.

My pulse pounded in my ears. “Why do you have your mother’s phone?”

“Da, you have to come home,” he pleaded, sounding far younger than he normally did. Hawk was all swagger and bravado, but something had him spooked.

“I’ll be home tomorrow,” I promised.

“No, Da. You have to come home now. It’s Mam.”

“What’s wrong with your mother?” I asked, attempting to keep my anxiety tamped down.

He started to cry.

“Hawk,” I commanded. “Tell me what’s going on. Right now.” When he didn’t reply, I snapped, “Is she sick? Does she have a fever? Is she throwing up? Like when you had the flu?”

“No.” His voice sounded very far away. “I heard Bella and Suze talking…they said—they said—”

He began to hiccough.

I took a deep breath and forced patience I didn’t feel. A knot of nerves had lodged in my stomach. It had been there for days. I thought it had to do with The Rex. Now I was sure it had nothing to do with my hotel.

“Hawk?” I softened my tone. “What did you hear Bella and Suze say?”

He didn’t reply for a very long moment. The tension swelled on the other end of the line.

“They said Mam is dying.”