White Lies

Prince of Charm Part Two

Something isn't right.

The hair on the back of Hunter's neck raises; goosebumps crawl along his spine.

"Blanche," he whispers.

"Did you say something, man?" his client, lying prone on the table with his back exposed, asks. "Are we done? Why did you stop?"

His cellphone in his pocket is on vibrate. Hunter pulls it out to check if he has missed a call. When he's working, the vibration from the tattoo gun is all he can feel. There's a text message waiting for him from Marianne.

"Give me a sec?" Hunter doesn't wait for his client to reply and leaves the room, sliding the door close behind him.

He dials his brother's house number and Marianne picks up after the first ring. "Mare, is everything okay?"

"Shit, Hunt, Bee left the house. She left me a note saying she'll be back, but I don't know when she left."

Panic kicks in. He tugs his hair from agitation. A nervous lump forms in his throat.

"I thought I asked you to watch her?"

"Hunt, I'm sorry. I had to get the kids. She looked tired when I left. I didn't think she'd leave. I've tried her phone too but..."

"But what?" Hunter barks at the phone.

"It's here at home. She forgot to bring it." Mare's tone is too quiet. She's nervous. She's afraid.

Hunter has asked his cop friends to look into Blanche's ex-boyfriend. He's also done a bit of research himself while Bee was asleep.

Perry Fitzpatrick was once a business magnate, but his family disowned him after they discovered a gambling addiction. The man was used to the high life. He managed his own stock brokerage firm in Chicago, but once his clients have read about reports of his gambling problems, they've all left him high and dry. Hunter suspects that was when Perry's abuse to Blanche has began.

A few years ago, at a piano concerto, he met Blanche. From what Hunter has read, the couple continued dating during Blanche's international tours. She's played at concert halls all over the world, sought out by the masters at a very young age. There are no reports of Perry's abuse, but Hunter has found too many photos of the man with several different women in his arms. Hunter can't see how the two of them stayed in a relationship when Perry flagrantly dated other women while he was with Blanche. Even if Bee was too naive, her mother would have known. People around her should have told Bee.

But quite possibly, to many of them, she was just another instrument to fame and fortune.

How many times has Hunter watched the videos he's found online? To say Blanche is talented is a drastic understatement. When her fingers hit the keys, different emotions play on her face. Of grief, of happiness, of sorrow, and of satisfaction. But none of those expressions ever compares to the way she looks at him. The look of love. Or he hopes he isn't just dreaming it. One thing he's sure of, if his chest is cut open, Blanche's name will be carved on his heart.

He loves her. He loves her tenacity, her sweetness, her candor, her strength, her beauty. But boy, she is a stubborn woman.

Hunter returns to the conversation, trying to keep his mind at ease. She could have gone to their apartment to get stuff, or to Trisha's, maybe even work. As far as Hunter knows, there isn't any other place Blanche goes to. Then again, she has never told him about her past life. What if she secretly practices at a studio somewhere?

No, that's not possible. She's been trying to live her own life, a new one. With him. They've opened up to each other, trust one another. Yet, deep in the recesses of his mind, his own thoughts mock him. Should he have told Blanche about Perry's presence in the city?