Page 66 of Tangled in Temptation

“Call me if you find her.”

“Of course,” I said. “Don’t worry. She’s fine. She’s just being a teenager.”

I didn’t waste a moment, throwing on some clothes and slipping on a pair of shoes while walking through the rooms of my own house. “Paisley, are you here?”

The door was locked, but maybe she’d gotten in. I checked every room and then went to check my shop. She wasn’t there. I prayed for Paisley’s safety as I looked around my property. I searched outside and didn’t see her bike anywhere. Then it was back inside to get my purse and quickly drove to the coffee shop, my eyes scanning the street in the hopes I would find her riding her bike or hanging out with friends. I didn’t see her anywhere.

I got to the coffee shop and went inside. I ordered a cup of coffee and described Paisley, asking if they had seen her in the shop this morning. They hadn’t. I went outside and looked up and down the street. There was a small park less than a block away. I could see a group of teens and hoped they were the same ones I’d seen her with before.

“Hi,” I said as I approached them. “I’m Catherine, Paisley’s friend, do you remember me?”

They nodded, looking like they were afraid. The guilty looks on their faces told me someone had done something. I didn’t care. I wasn’t there to bust them.

“I’m looking for Paisley,” I said. “Have you guys seen her? Has she called or texted?”

They exchanged looks before one young girl stepped forward.

“I have to tell you something,” she said. “Paisley snuck out to meet us at a party, but she left just after midnight. Said her mom called and said it was an emergency. We thought it was weird because she said her mom was in Germany or something.”

My heart sank at her words, a sickening sense of dread settling over me. “You haven’t talked to her since?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Is she in trouble?”

“No.”

“Is she going to move back to Germany?”

I didn’t know the answer and wasn’t going to dish on the Hastings’ family drama. “Thank you for telling me,” I said. “If you hear from her, please tell her to call me or her dad. It’s important. She’s not in trouble, but we have to talk to her.”

“Okay.”

I walked back to the coffee shop and waited for Timothy. He came in on two wheels, jumping out of his car looking like the hounds of hell were chasing him. “Is she here?”

“No, but I think I know where she is.”

“Where?”

“Regina,” I said. “Her friends said she got a call after midnight. Her mom said there was an emergency, and Paisley took off.”

He looked confused. The last thing I wanted to do was make the situation worse, but he needed the whole truth. “Regina called her? How do they know?”

“She was at a party,” I said.

“Shit,” he muttered. “Fucking Regina. I should have known this was her doing.”

He pulled out his phone and dialed Regina’s number with it on speaker. The line rang once, twice, before Regina picked up.

“What do you want, Timothy?” she sneered, her words a venomous reminder of the animosity between them. The sound of her voice made my skin crawl.

“Regina, do you have Paisley?” he asked, his voice betraying a hint of desperation.

Regina’s laughter echoed through the phone, a chilling sound that sent shivers down my spine. “Of course I do. She’s my daughter. I figured you would be too busy playing with your little blue collar tramp of a girlfriend to notice. After all your begging to have her, you certainly didn’t seem to notice she was gone.”

Timothy’s grip tightened on the phone, his knuckles white with tension as he struggled to contain his anger. “Where is she, Regina? Is she okay?”

Regina’s laughter faded into a cold silence. “I’m taking Paisley with me, Timothy. She’s going back to boarding school, where she belongs. And you... You made your choice. You can’t have both her and Catherine.”

The weight of her words hung heavy in the air. I couldn’t help but feel guilty. Regina was mad I’d shown up at the gala. Madder still that Timothy had ditched her and left with me. This was my fault.