Page 82 of Keeping Guard

“My new office manager. Just started today.” He frowned. “Does she look like she’s freaking out?”

“Yeah, she does.”

“Trudy, where’s the fire?” Jack said when the woman skidded to a stop in front of them.

“The man on the phone said it’s a life or death emergency.” Her gaze darted between him and Jack. “Are you Noah?” she said when her eyes landed back on him.

“Yes.” The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. Trudy hadn’t gotten to what the man on the phone had said, but he knew, just knew that Dalton had somehow gotten to Peyton.

“He wants to talk to you.”

Noah didn’t know whohewas, but that didn’t matter. Whoever it was had intel, even if it was Dalton. “You have him on the phone?”

“Yes, in the office.”

Noah raced past her. Jack’s boots pounded the ground behind him. When he reached the office, he skidded to a halt, looking for the phone.

“Here,” Jack said, picking up the receiver of a desk phone.

“This is Noah Alba.”

“Noah, this is Gerald Sutton, Peyton’s father. Is she with you?”

“No, she isn’t. Talk to me, sir.”

“Damn it, I’m going to kill him.”

“I assume you mean her ex?” And Gerald Sutton wasn’t going to kill the man, because he was.

“Yes. She left a note saying you picked her up, but it’s all wrong.”

“Wrong how?”

“Well, first, she addressed me as Father. Peyton’s never been that formal with me. But the other thing was the reason I knew she’d been forced to write the note. She said Robbie picked her up. Robbie was my son. That’s not a mistake she would have made unless she was sending me a message.”

Clever girl. “But you didn’t see Dalton take her?”

“No. I was taking a nap. When I woke up, she was gone, and I found the note.”

“Mr. Sutton, how long do you think she’s been gone?” It was hell standing here, asking his questions. He needed to be out there, doing something.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t feeling good after my treatment, and she insisted I rest. I’ve been asleep for about two hours. You have to find her, Noah.”

“Oh, I will, sir. You can be assured of that. Give me your phone number.” He grabbed a pen and wrote down the number. “Is that your cell?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to message you so you’ll have my number. If you hear from her, you call me immediately.”

“I will. Please, just find my daughter.”

“You can count on it. That’s a promise.” He dropped the receiver on the desk.

Jack picked it up and put it in the cradle. “Details.”

“Lacking.” He keyed Sutton’s number into his phone, then sent a brief message. He glanced at Jack. “All he knows is that she wasn’t there when he woke up from a nap. She left him a note that Robbie picked her up.”

“Who’s Robbie?”