Chapter 11
Goran was ready to climb the walls! He needed to talk to Calista, but he couldn’t put her in danger. Plus, she hadn’t called him. Not a word from her in five full days! What the hell?
He remembered walking her down the stairs of the plane, feeling her ice-cold fingers on his arm. He’d tried to warm her fingers, but she’d simply pulled her hand away. They’d stood on the stage that had been set up at the airport, the podium right in front of them and she’d stepped away from him, allowing him to take the questions from the press. She’d stood two feet to the side, staring out at…he had no idea what she’d been looking at. She’d been completely blank.
Goran wanted the other Calista back! He walked into the security office, impatient now. “Any news?” he demanded.
“Nothing, Your Highness,” his lead guard stated, pressing his lips together in frustration. “We’ve tracked everyone’s movements for the past four weeks. Nothing stands out.”
Goran turned, his eyes piercing Ismar, his head of security. “What does your gut tell you?” he demanded of the man. “Has anyone tried to get into the palace? Have you received any calls from the press or another country or anything that might stand out?”
“Nothing from our end, Your Highness,” Ismar replied, sighing with his own frustration. “However, most of the requests for interviews and diplomatic meetings goes through your assistant.”
Goran turned and looked at his assistant, Samir. “What about you? Any odd requests lately?”
Samir shook his head, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously and he shifted on his feet. “Nothing out of the ordinary, Your Highness.”
Goran ran a hand through his hair, unconcerned with the muss he’d made. “Any news from Astir?” he demanded?
Again, Samir shook his head. “Not a word.”
Goran couldn’t believe that not even Astir had called. The man had vowed to continue his search for anything that might be out of place and Goran had appreciated his friend’s offer of assistance. Astir was outside of the play of issues here in Skyla and might be more effective in ferreting out some clue. But obviously, Astir hadn’t any additional news either.
Goran was ready to punch a wall and he might have, if most of the walls inside the palace weren’t a foot thick and made of solid stone. The palace had been constructed centuries ago, when thick walls were the only way to protect the inhabitants from invaders.
He looked around, trying to think of something that might give him a clue. But he only found walls. Walls keeping him inside the palace.
Walls.
Walls….keeping him inside.
Turning, he walked out of the security office, ignoring the startled glances of his head of security. Samir hurried, trying to keep up. “Have you thought of something?” the shorter man asked.
Goran shook his head. “No. Nothing.” He ignored the other man, walking faster. His longer legs meant that Samir had to run to keep up with him, but Goran didn’t slow down the way he normally would. In fact, he moved faster, needing to outpace the shorter man.
Once he was inside his private apartment, he walked over to the security wall. He pressed several buttons and a secret panel slid silently open.
A keypad opened up and Goran typed in his passcode, relieved that he remembered it. This panel had been installed so long ago, and he’d never had a reason to use it.
After the system verified his passcode, a drawer slid open. A keypad and several other tools flipped open, ready for his personal use. Including…a cell phone. He picked it up and dialed a number. Moments later, he was connected to Astir’s personal line. The man answered immediately.
“Who is this?” Astir demanded.
Goran wanted to laugh, delighted with the other man’s gruff voice. “It’s Goran.”
There was a moment’s pause before Astir practically growled into the cell phone. “It’s about damn time!”
Goran closed his eyes, feeling the betrayal deep down inside of his chest. “How many times have you tried to reach me recently?”
Astir sighed. “About twenty times. I was about to start using the back channels but I wasn’t sure if those would work either. What the hell is going on over there?”
Goran mentally groaned but pushed the frustration out of his mind. “I just left my security team’s office. They said that they’d run new background checks on everyone in the palace, going deeper than normal. But Samir, my personal assistant, was the man who oversaw that investigation. I heard him recently talking about the list of people my security team should investigate and I didn’t think anything of it. But now…”
“Did your team run a background check on your assistant?”
“They wouldn’t have,” Goran confirmed exactly what they were both thinking.
There was another long silence as both men absorbed that information. Goran went on. “And if Samir had taken his name off of the list, then most likely, several of my security guards knew about it. None of them did anything about it. They didn’t investigate him either.”