by T L Swan
“I walked out to look for her,” I continue and then I frown and tears fill my eyes as I remember the blood… so much blood. “Are they hurting her?” I cry. “What if they are torturing her?” I scream. “It’s me… it’s me… it’s me.” I shake my head frantically. “It’s me they want. Tell them they can kill me.” I shake my head frantically as I imagine what they could be doing to her, and I start to rip the drip from my arm. “I need to find her. Let me out of here.”
I keep shaking my head frantically. “Yes, Cameron, come on,” I stammer.
“He is no state to be questioned,” Cameron snaps. “Look at him.”
I shake my head. “No, Cameron, I’m going to find her.” I stand to get out of the bed and Cameron pushes me back down.
“Stay there,” Cameron snaps.
“Mr Stanton, can you tell us why you have Rohypnol in your system?” the officer asks.
I frown and my eyes shoot to Cameron. “What do you mean?” I ask.
“You had Rohypnol in your system that showed up in a drug test. You fell asleep on Saturday night because you were drugged.”
Chapter 20
Adrian
I sit in the police station as we endure our tenth hour of questioning in two days. I am with Bridget who has come to supply a DNA sample to the police.
“So what have you brought us?” the nice female officer asks gently.
Bridget looks down and with shaky hands produces Natasha’s hairbrush from her bag. Her haunted eyes meet mine and I grab her hand for comfort.
The male officer immediately picks it up in gloved hands, puts it into a plastic bag and then seals it. He writes the name Natasha Marx and the date in pen on the name plate.
“I also have her toothbrush,” Bridget whispers.
The female officer’s eyes hold Bridget’s and she smiles softly. “Are you two close?” she asks.
Bridget nods and drops her head. “She’s my best friend,” she murmurs. I squeeze her hand just that little bit tighter.
Here we sit in a quiet office and yet my insides have never been so noisy… so confused. How did this happen? I had made sure that security was doubled… how did they get her? And what are they doing to her right now? My stomach has been sick since the moment Bridget got off the phone from Joshua and started to run around frantically screaming. How do you deal with this?
Please, Natasha, be ok.
“We are doing everything that we can to find her.” The kind officer smiles sympathetically at Bridget.
Bridget nods through her tears. “I know,” she whispers as her leg starts to bounce in nerves.
“What’s your relationship with Joshua Stanton like?” the male officer asks.
“Very good,” Bridget says softly. “I live with him and my sister.”
His eyes turn to me. “I understand that you are the head of Mr Stanton’s company?”
I nod. I don’t even have it in me to play nice and act polite anymore.
“Is there anyone else from his work environment who you can think of that would have a vendetta against your boss?” he asks.
“Only the ones I have told you,” I reply flatly. “Are you chasing any of those leads or are you just wasting time interviewing the same people over and over again?” I glare at the officer, furious that they can’t find her.
He nods. “We are very interested in the link to Coby Allender although there are a number of leads to be investigated.”
Bridget sobs softly and I remember that I am here with her and need to shut my angry mouth.
I nod and drop my head.
Bridget retrieves a small black toothbrush holder from her bag and looks at it in her shaking hands.
A lump in my throat forms as I watch her and my eyes close in pain.
“Here is her toothbrush,” Bridget whispers, unwilling to hand it over.
The female officer smiles sadly. “Thank you.” She sits still, waiting for Bridget to pass it across the desk.
“We can buy her another one when she gets back, Didge,” I whisper.
Bridget nods through her tears and shakily hands it over.
“We need a DNA sample from you too, Bridget. Can you swipe this swab over the inside of your mouth please? You will have the closest DNA to Natasha,” the policewoman gently says.
Bridget takes the swab, her eyes meet mine and I nod softly.
“Go on. This will help them find her,” I whisper.
She takes the swab and hands it over to the male officer who immediately bags and labels it.
“Are you still at the Jameson Hotel?” the female officer asks.
I nod.
“How long will you be there before returning to LA?” she asks.
I drop my head. “I don’t know. Until we find Natasha and bring her home I guess,” I reply.
Bridget squeezes my hand in hers. “You will find her, won’t you?” she whispers.
The policewoman nods sadly. “We are doing everything we can. We have a chopper searching the ocean and the currents, and ground teams combing the water’s edge. You just concentrate on trying to think of any leads, no matter how small you think they may be. There are always clues in these things. You just have to join the dots together.”
Bridget and I nod with a renewed purpose. “You’re right,” I whisper. “We will find her—we have to.”
Joshua
I lie in the hospital bed as I await the doctor. “Cameron, get me the fuck out of here!” I snap.
“Listen, be calm and they will release you. You are in here because you have been losing your shit and they are worried about your sanity,” he blurts.
I screw up my face. “Sanity, I will show you fucking insanity if you don’t get me out of here. I need to find her. Natasha will be waiting for me to come and get her.”
His face drops. “Josh,” he whispers. Then he sits on the side of the bed and takes my hand in his. “This situation is out of our control. The police are doing everything they can to find her. You need to stay calm and you need to stay sane.”
I drop my head back onto the pillow.
The door opens slowly and Ben walks in. His eyes are downcast and my fury ignites.
“Where were you?” I snap.
He stays silent at the end of the bed.
“Answer me! Where were you when Natasha needed you?” I try my hardest to control my anger. I know the doctor will be here any minute to hopefully discharge me.
Cameron folds his arms in contempt. “Tell Joshua where you were Ben.”
Ben drops his head. “I stayed on the mainland with Bridget,” he murmurs.
“What!” I yell.
He shakes his head as he looks at the ground.
“You knew Max wasn’t on that boat of guards and you left anyway?” I growl.
“Natasha told me to go. She said you two were just going to go to bed,” he pushes out through tears as he holds his head in anguish.
“Why would you listen to her? You are the head of my security. Why would you go and leave us open to this?”
He screws up his face as the tears fill his eyes and he shakes his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
“I will tell you why,” Cameron snaps. “You’re incompetent, that’s why.”
Ben drops to the chair in the corner and holds his head in his hands as he weeps tears of guilt. “What did the guards hear?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “Nothing,” he replies, muffled through his hands.
“What, they heard nothing?” I snap.
He shakes his head. “From where they were they heard nothing. No screams, no boat, nothing. Not a fucking thing. I rang them three times through the night and they were unaware of anything until we heard your screams for help in the morning.”
I frown and my eyes flick to Cameron. “What’s the drug they were talking about I had in my system?”
“Rohypnol,” he replies. “It showed up in the toxicology report.”
“What’s that?” I ask.<
br />
“It’s a date rape drug. It knocks you out with no memory.”
I frown. “Do you think Natasha was given it too?”
Cameron nods. “I think so, otherwise she would have screamed.”
Ben stands. “You were asleep before I even left the boat.”
I frown. “I don’t remember going to bed,” I murmur as I try to remember through the hazy fog.
Ben shakes his head. “You lost your shit at the wedding and then when you were getting into the boat you appeared drunk.” He pauses while he thinks of something. “Natasha and I thought you were drunk.”
“Where is Max? Did he do this?” I snap.
“No!” Ben snaps. “The photos weren’t even real—you were set up.”
I put my hand on my forehead in shame. The doctor walks in with three of his registrars.
“Hello Mr Stanton.” He smiles sympathetically.
I nod.
“We understand you are under a lot of stress, sir. How are you feeling today?” he asks.
“A lot better, thanks.”
He takes out his stethoscope and listens to my chest. “How are you emotionally?”
I drop my head. “I’m ok.”
“We will be discharging you today but we are putting you into the care of your brother and if any time he feels you are becoming unstable we would like to see you again.”
I nod again. Just shut the fuck up and let me out of here.
The doctor’s eyes meet Cameron’s. “I think that perhaps Mr Stanton may need to go on some anti-anxiety medication for a while.”
Cameron’s eyes flick to me and he nods. “Ok,” he replies as he opens the door. He then follows the doctor out of the room, obviously so they can talk about me without me hearing them.
Ben stands. “I will find her Stan. If it’s the last fucking thing I do. I will find her.”
I nod as my eyesight becomes blurry through the tears.
“Who do you think did this?” he asks.
“The sick fuck from Australia,” I whisper as my eyes close in pain. If he has her she’s probably being tortured right now.
Ben shakes his head. “It’s not him. He doesn’t have her.”
I frown. “What makes you so sure?”
“Serial killers have a pattern and I have studied his. This is too elaborate, too easy to get caught. They drugged you both. Got out to a boat. We don’t even know if that blood is Natasha’s. It wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t get a ransom note sometime over the next week. This isn’t the pattern of a sex offender.”
I stare straight ahead.
“Stan, I take full responsibility for this and as soon as we find her I will be handing in my resignation,” Ben replies quietly.
I nod again, unable to speak.
“Just find her, Ben,” I murmur as I stare straight ahead. He nods and exits the room. Cameron walks back into the room with an overnight bag of clothes. “Get dressed. We are going,” he murmurs.
My eyes glance at the bag on the bed. “Where are the clothes I was brought in here in?” I ask.
He bites his bottom lip. “You don’t remember anything about that?”
I frown and shake my head.
“The ambulance crew cut them off you because you were so freezing from being in the water so long that your body had gone into shock.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and drop my head as I remember diving deep into the dark cold water in search of my love. I have never been so frightened.
Cameron puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into an embrace. “We’ll get through this, mate. You are not alone. We are going to find her,” he Whispers. I drop my head to his shoulder and he holds me for a moment. “I… Cameron, I don’t know how to deal with this. Who has her?” My heart rate picks up at the thought of her suffering. “I can’t fucking handle this,” I murmur as he holds me tighter. “What if they are hurting her?” I scream. “She needs medical treatment—she’s cut.” I pull out of his embrace and Ben comes back into the room.
“You need to quieten down or they will not let you leave. We need you at home to help us figure this mess out,” he snaps.
I nod. Yes, he’s right. I can’t help her from here. I need to get out of here. I slowly pick up my clothes and put them on in silence.
I walk from the hospital forever a different man. My life will never be the same. Scarred. They have succeeded in doing what they have always wanted to do. The ultimate prize has always been to bring me to my knees and they haven’t done just that, they have cut off half of me. I’m a shell without Natasha by my side and they knew the only way to hurt me was to hurt her.
Where are you, Tash?
Are you safe, baby?
Flanked by security I walk out the front doors of the hospital to hear my name screamed by photographers and the blinding flashes start. I drop my head and walk toward my waiting car.
“Joshua Stanton, where is your wife?”
“Are you ok, Mr Stanton?”
“Is it true your wife has been found dead?” another yells. I stop mid-step and make eye contact with the cockroach who has just said that.
“Get in the car,” Ben snaps as he grabs my elbow and pushes me into the car.
“Get out of my way!” I hear Cameron yell as he falls into the car and closes the door behind him. I stare out the window as the car speeds away. A zombie-like calm sweeps over me. I cannot speak, “It’s ok, Josh,” Cameron whispers. “It’s ok.”
The ride in the car is silent. Ben is driving and another guard is in the front seat. There is a car behind and another in front of us.
Too little, too late.
It starts to rain and my heart drops. What if she’s out in the rain? Does she have protection? My elbow rests on the door as I stare at the scenery rushing past us in a world where everything seems normal, everything seems fine. Finally we arrive at our destination, the hotel, and I am ushered up the lift and along the corridor to a room. Ben slowly opens the door and I see Bridget in Adrian’s arms. She turns and sees me and her face screws up in pain.
“Joshua,” she whispers.
Tears instantly fill my eyes. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
She rushes and grabs me in an embrace and holds me as I drop my head onto her shoulder. “I couldn’t keep her safe. I couldn’t keep her safe,” I whisper.
“Joshua, stop. This isn’t your fault,” she sobs as she pulls back and holds my cheeks. “Joshua, do not dare blame yourself for this!”
“How can all of us love her so much and not one of us know where she is?” I whisper.
“This is totally fucked,” Abbie yells. “Who would do this?” she shrieks.
“Quiet,” Cameron yells as he turns the television up to hear the news.
More on the Stanton story, Natasha Stanton, wife of billionaire celebrity Joshua Stanton, has gone missing in what are very suspicious circumstances on the luxury yacht of a friend at some time in the early hours of Sunday morning. Witnesses say that the night before, the pair were involved in a very public heated domestic dispute that had Joshua Stanton forcing Natasha into his limousine against her will.
The camera goes to footage from someone’s phone of the night before and I see myself acting like a lunatic and screaming at Natasha.
“Natasha, get in the fucking car!” I yell.
My eyes widen in horror at what is unfolding before me. What the hell was I thinking? I don’t even remember this. I watch myself grab Natasha by the arm and throw her into the car and then start yelling that I am going to kill Max.
Cameron points the remote at the television and it goes dead. I drop to a seat on the lounge in shock. I sit still as I stare into space. This can’t be happening.
“The police are doing everything that they can, Josh,” Adrian says softly. “There have been foot patrols and choppers. Everyone has been looking everywhere. A clue is going to turn up and then we will be able to piece together what happened.”
“Check the email
s again,” Cameron says to Adrian and he nods and rises to check the computers.
The vision of Natasha smiling and laughing fills my thoughts and I drop my head into my hands.
“I’m going to find her.” I stand with renewed vigour.
“Sit down,” Cameron snaps. “It’s not safe out there and photographers are everywhere waiting to get a shot of you. You need to be here and contactable in case someone produces a ransom note.”
I drop to my seat, defeated. “I can’t just sit here and wait like a stale bottle of piss. Natasha needs me,” I yell.
Bridget stands and heads over to the window and stares out at the view. “Please be safe, Tash,” she says in a monotone.
The room falls silent.
Please, Natasha, come back to me.
It’s 3 am and everyone is in their beds trying to sleep. I can’t lie down. I have been pacing back and forth in my room for four hours. It’s raining outside. She may be in the cold. What if she has a headache? She has no medication on her. I dry-retch in the toilet for the tenth time in an hour. I need to stay strong. I look out the window at the street below. The police cars have all gone… everyone is gone. The reporters, the news channels… Natasha.
My beautiful Natasha, where is she? Where are you, baby? Who has you? I can’t stay here. I can’t just sit here and wait. I’m going crazy. I pull on my runners and a tracksuit and pull my hoodie over my head.
I’m coming, my love. I’m coming to find you.
Adrian
I am just dozing off when my phone rings. It’s 4 am. I pick it up. It’s Ben.
“Is Stan with you?” he snaps.
“No, why?” My eyes widen in fear.
“He’s not in his room.”
“Shit.” I jump up immediately and turn the light on as someone pounds on the door.
“Who is it?” I yell, half-frightened.
“Me, you fucking idiot, who do you think!” Cameron snaps.
I open the door in a rush.
Cameron screws up his face. “Put your junk away.”
I shake my head as I quickly pull up my pants.
“Where is he?” I ask.