Chapter 82 Snooping around
JAXON'S POV
The first thing I did when I entered the house was scan the room. I could immediately tell that Diana was home.
It was easy to figure that out just from the rumpled tablecloth on the dining table. It hadn't been there earlier, and there was only one person I knew who did that.
However, even after glancing around, I couldn't tell if Nancy was home yet.
Those two girls...They had done their best to hide it, but I had still been able to tell that they weren't on good terms.
They had probably had an explosive argument and were barely speaking to each other because of it.
I knew this because of the reports I'd gotten from my men, asked to keep an eye on them, and from my own observations.
So, despite being curious about the reason they were beefing with each other, I kept my knowledge of the situation to myself without prying.
If they wanted to, they would tell me.
Besides noticing that Diana wasn't home, when I entered the house, I felt something else.
Something off.
Tightening my hands around my car keys, I headed up the stairs. At the top of it, I paused, and my gaze shifted towards the hallway that led to Nancy's room.
It was a habit I had unknowingly cultivated since she started living here, and also because I found myself worried about her.
She had come to me last night, shaking like a leaf over water, expressing her concern about Lily and our relationship that had been found out.
For some reason, even after hearing it from her, I wasn't worried in the slightest, and my first concern was making sure that she was okay and calm.
To achieve that, I told her not to worry about it and that I would take care of it.
Redirecting my gaze, I let out a soft exhale and then headed to my study.
I knew something was wrong the moment I got there.
The door...It was slightly ajar, not the way I'd left it this morning, and certainly not the way I would ever leave it.
My gaze narrowed, and I pushed it open, walking in while scanning the room.
I noticed the disturbance immediately.
Although the books on my desk were well arranged, it wasn't meticulous.
It felt like something someone had done in a hurry. My gaze shifted to the edge of the table, where I instantly spotted a handprint.
That, it had to have come from someone with clammy hands.
If it were anyone else who walked in, they wouldn't have noticed, but there was no way in hell I would miss these things.
I closed the door fully and walked over to my desk, suspicious, and when I got to it, my eyes narrowed even more.
Somebody had been in here, and I knew exactly who it was.
My jaw tightened slightly.
"She didn't go out after all," I muttered under my breath, then turned around and marched out of the room.
My next stop was her room.
When I got there, I knocked once, got no response, and knocked again.
After three knocks, I pushed the door open and went in.
Her room was tidy, but there was no sign of her.
I exhaled again and then glanced around.
Just as my gaze settled on the door to the bathroom, I heard the sound of the front door opening downstairs.
Immediately, I spun around.
Nancy.
She must have made her way downstairs while I was in my study, while my own first instinct was to check within her room.
I marched out immediately, slamming her door harder than I should have.
"Dad?" Diana's voice echoed in the hallway, and before I could move further, she popped her head out of her room.
"When did you get back? I didn't hear you come in."
"Yeah," I muttered, my mind totally focused downstairs.
I couldn't hear anything again, which meant that she had gone out of the house.
"Right, Dad, did you hear..." Diana went on speaking, making me unable to move since I was the recipient of her words.
Slowly, I turned around to face her, "Yes?"
"There's a girl named Lily in our class, I think you know her too. She's one of the...."
Her voice trailed off, and she waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, she's missing now, and no one has heard from her."
"Oh, that."
"I see you were aware," Diana muttered flatly, then gave a light laugh. "Never mind, I should have anticipated that."
"Anyway, I'm not even worried about Lily being missing, although I am... Don't get me wrong. I'm more worried about Nancy."
My brows shot up.
"Why?"
"She has been acting really strange for days now. I tried talking to her, but she won't tell me what's going on. All she successfully did was make me mad enough to stop talking to her."
"I don't know what's going on with her, and I was wondering.... Did she tell you anything?"
For a minute, I was quiet, and then I shook my head, "No, nothing."
Diana let out a huff of frustration.
"God, she pisses me off, but I can't help but worry about her."
"Maybe you should talk to her..."
"I'm not doing that." Diana refused before I could get the rest of my words out.
"Diana," I sighed. "You're friends, you live together, you'd eventually have to talk to her. Moreover, don't forget you're the reason she came to Florida."
Diana was silent, considering my words for a moment, and then she sighed, "Yeah."
"I guess I'll talk to her then. I just hope she doesn't piss me off again."
She turned around, as though she would enter her room, then paused again and glanced back at me.
"Dad, I should probably apologize to her, right?"
I stared at her for about a quarter of a second, then said, "You know the right thing to do."
Diana nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess I do."
She went into her room after that.
I didn't return to mine; I made my way downstairs instead.