Kingmaker (Ace of Queens #5)

Pt.37 Delivery

Chapter 37

Maksim slowly walked around the room, following Ella's scent like a thread. Behind him, his father and uncles spoke to the hotel staff as the Queen's guard dusted up the place for any evidence.

Maksim felt the rush of panic start to bubble out like a volcano, but he bit down on his jaw and dismissed it. Panicking or letting the hollowness swallow him would not help Ella. He needed to keep his mind clear and first find her before he let all his emotions overpower him.

"Exton," Gemma's voice spoke out from the other room as she walked through the portal. Adam followed behind her.

"The lobby has footage of Dean and Ella," Exton said to his wife. "But it's only him entering the hotel."

"What do you mean?" Adam asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"The CCTV shows Dean entering the hotel and Ella bringing him upstairs," Alec jumped in. "But there is no footage of him leaving the hotel."

"A van was parked behind the hotel at the exact time Dean came to see Ella. It felt a few minutes after. No one got in or out," Owen said.

"You think they are connected?" Gemma asked.

"Yes," Owen nodded. "The same van followed Dean to the hotel all the other times he came to find Ella. We traced the van. It belongs to a very proud member of the Tovio."

"But if they didn't get into the van and they didn't leave the hotel, then where did they go?" Adam asked.

"Ella had a pixie ring," Exton said. "Mavi gave it to her when she came to see Mackey."

"Would Dean know how to use it?" Adam looked around the room.

"It's possible," Owen sighed. "The Tovio could have told him."

"Gemma," Alec looked up from the table he was watching the CCTV footage on. "Can you track the portal if they opened it from here?"

"No," Gemma frowned. "A portal out of here is like the endpoint to the trail. I can track them from wherever they appeared. The portal out will leave a trace on them."

"They could have gone anywhere," Alec frowned.

"Not anywhere," Maksim suddenly spoke up from the bedroom.

His family followed his voice and appeared in the bedroom. They all watched as his eyes moved around the area by the bed and where Ella's phone had dropped on the floor.

"Picture this in your mind," Maksim said as he pointed things out. "Dean comes in after Ella. From the footage we already know he's nervous and on edge. He follows Ella to the bedroom and finds her on the phone with me. He panics and somehow gets the ring. He hears me talking and he knows his time is limited. For the human brain, when they panic they usually draw a blank. He would have most likely opened the portal to the first place his brain thought of."

"And where would that be?" Exton asked with curiosity.

Maksim reached out and picked up a piece of paper from the bed. It was Ella's acceptance letter to college.

"New York," He said, showing his dad the paper. "Dean probably saw this and the portal most likely opened in New York."

"We'll get started," Gemma said as Adam nodded his head.

"I'll have the Queen's guard in New York get ready," Alec said.

Maksim stood staring at the letter in his hand as his family dispersed. He felt his father walk up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Maksim looked up and frowned.