Next to Forever: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Three

by Long, A. L.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Dylan woke with another headache. The only thing she could think of was Rade. She hoped to God that he found where Michael had taken her and the message she had written. Even though she wasn’t able to finish scratching it into the concrete wall, she hoped it would be enough of a clue for him to find her.

  The new place that Michael had taken her was no better than the last. The only difference was the smell. At least the room she was being held in was a step up from where she had been held before. She had an actual toilet and the mattress was off the floor and on a small cot. Taking in her surroundings, she found an old plastic cup on the floor. Tearing off the edge, Dylan walked over to the painted window, hoping that she would be able to scrape some of the dark paint off the window so she could at least see where she was. Based on the conversation she overheard, Dylan was pretty sure they were at the Domino Sugar Factory.

  Hesitating in her efforts, Dylan heard someone coming. Making her way back to the small cot, she took a seat and acted like she was just waiting. When she heard the door open, her stomach began to churn. Watching the handle turn, she waited for the person to enter.

  Michael stood before her. Dylan still couldn’t believe he was actually alive after all this time. As he approached her, she tried to move further onto the cot. She didn’t know why. There was no room to escape him. Looking up at him, she could tell that he had lost weight. He also looked horrible, like he had been living without a shower and clean clothing for a long time.

  Walking up to her, Michael sat next to her on the cot. When he placed his hand on her cheek, Dylan tried to pull away. When he felt her apprehension, he pulled back.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, Dylan,” Michael said in a soft voice.

  “Then let me go,” Dylan pleaded.

  “I can’t do that. I can never let you go. You belong to me and not him.” Michael barked.

  “What do you want, Michael? Why would you do this? Fake your death and take me,” Dylan question, furious that he did this to her.

  “For you. I did it for you,” Michael began as he stood and began pacing the floor. “I wanted a better life for us. It was simple to take the money. Matheson had more money than he deserved. I worked my ass off for his company and not once did I get any recognition. I figured he owed me. It was the least he could do for me.”

  “What are you talking about, Michael?” Dylan asked confused.

  “Don’t pretend you didn’t know. Isn’t that why you’re with him?” Michael cursed.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dylan replied.

  “You mean to tell me that he didn’t tell you about the money I stole from him? He didn’t tell you that he’s been trying to get it back for months?” Michael hissed directing his animosity for Rade towards her. “That’s why he pursued you. He thought you could give him the answers he needed.”

  Dylan was trying to digest what Michael was saying. “Are you telling me that the only reason Rade is with me is because he thought he could find out where you were. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t believe you,” Dylan blurted.

  “I’m telling you the truth, Dylan. I've done some pretty shitty things, but I’ve never lied to you. I didn’t mean to make things so bad. I needed the money so I could get out of debt. I never should have gone to Chen Wu for the money. That guy would have never broken into your apartment if I hadn’t,” Michael confessed.

  “Wait, you knew about that?” Dylan asked, dazed. She wondered how much else he knew.

  “I’ve been following you, Dylan. Ever since the day I disappeared. I’ve been watching everything you’ve been doing. I forgive you for everything. I know you were lonely and needed someone. I’m here now. You don’t need him anymore.”

  “Are you crazy, Michael? I could never be with you after what you’ve done.”

  Just as Michael was about to say something, someone else entered the room. Dylan couldn’t believe it. Could this be any more fucked up? Chloe came through the door and she no longer had a baby bump. Dylan looked from Chloe’s belly to her face, speechless.

  Chloe pulled Dylan from her thoughts as she said, “Don’t look so surprised, Dylan. I lost the baby. It’s all your fault. You should have stayed away from Rade. He belongs to me and soon I will have him.”

  “How could you possibly think that he would ever want you? We know everything, Chloe. We know what you did to me, what you did to Rade. You’re sick,” Dylan barked.

  Chloe was done hearing Dylan’s harsh words. Stepping up to her, she slapped Dylan across the face with all her might. When Dylan finally realized what happened, she could taste a tinge of blood coming from her lip.

  “You have no idea. I should have killed you when I had the chance, but Michael insisted he would be able to control you,” Chloe informed Dylan, rubbing the palm of her hand.

  Dylan looked from Michael to Chloe. She had so many questions. “How the hell did they even know each other?” she thought to herself. This whole situation was messed up.

  Before Dylan knew it, Michael was grabbing her by the arm and escorting her out of the small room. As they walked, Dylan looked around trying to figure out a way to escape. The old factory was run down. Dylan knew that it had been abandoned for some time. She also heard somewhere that a developer purchased the property. Guess he never got around to developing it.

  Walking down a long corridor, Michael pushed Dylan through a door. When they entered the room, Dylan could see that it was a locker room. She wasn’t sure why Michael had brought her here. As she looked over to him in confusion, Michael walked up to her so that he was standing directing in front of her.

  “I’m going to untie you, Dylan. I thought you might want to shower. The water isn’t very warm, but at least you’ll be clean. I bought you some clean clothing as well,” Michael said as he began loosening the ropes that were holding her hands together. “Don’t try anything. I don’t want to shoot you, but if I have to, I will.”

  Dylan rubbed the feeling back in her wrists as she watched Michael pull a gun from behind his back. Feeling uncomfortable with him there she said, “Can you at least turn around so I can get undressed?”

  “Dylan, it’s not like I haven’t seen you naked,” Michael began. “Go ahead and strip.”

  It didn’t take Dylan long to remove her clothing considering he had a gun pointed at her. Being fully naked, Dylan could feel Michael’s eyes burn into her. She couldn’t stand looking at him. Walking up to the shower, she slowly turned on the water. Rust colored water sprayed from the nozzle. Dylan waited for a minute for the water to eventually run clear. Placing her hand under the stream, the water was cold, but not cold enough to warrant forgoing a shower. It had been four days since she was taken and a shower would make her feel better.

  Michael must have thought ahead of time, because there was a bar of soap and a small bottle of shampoo and conditioner sitting on the shelf that was mounted on the shower wall. Dylan hurried as quickly as she could. The least amount of time she spent in the shower, the least amount of time she would be exposing her body to Michael.

  When she was done, she turned off the water and slid back the shower curtain. Scaring her half to death, Michael stood on the other side, holding a towel out to her. Grabbing the towel from him, she kept her eyes pointed toward the floor. She in no way wanted to make eye contact with him.

  It wasn’t long before she was dressed, tied up again, and heading back to the small room. Once the door was locked behind her, Dylan went to the cot and curled up in a fetal position. Her tears began to fall as she prayed that Rade would find her.

  Dylan’s days ran into nights. The only way she could tell that another day had passed was by the hint of light that had shown through the window where Dylan managed to scrape the paint away. Counting the days, Dylan knew that she was taken six days ago. Her heart was beginning to sink. She thought for sure that Rade would have found her by now. Michael came to check on her periodically, to visit an
d bring her food. Dylan was in no mood to talk or eat, but Michael wouldn’t leave until she at least ate something. So she did.

  Needing answers, Dylan asked as she took her last bite of food. “What happened to you, Michael?”

  Michael looked up at her. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking, Dylan.”

  “I just want to know what happened to you that made you this way,” Dylan clarified.

  “I don’t know. I dug a hole so deep that I felt the only way to make it out was to do whatever I needed to survive. Plain and simple,” Michael choked.

  “Is that why you stole the money and faked your death?” Dylan asked.

  “Partly, but mostly I did it for us. I thought if I could just get ahead, we could make a good life. I didn’t know that once I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop. First, it was a couple of hundred dollars here and there. Then it turned into thousands. Soon I was so deep in debt that the only thing I could do was find cash fast. Owing a loan shark was my only option until I figured out a way to get money from Matheson. It was easy, really. Having access to the financial records at Smith, Whitaker, and Associates, they trusted me with codes and passwords. It was just a matter of transferring funds from one account to another. The problem was I couldn’t stop. By the time I did, it was too late, I had to disappear. I thought if they knew I was dead, they would stop digging and I would just need to lay low for a while. Then Matheson started digging. He found out about you and that was when I had to stop him, but every time I tried to get close to you, he was there. Then the guy I borrowed money from started sending his goons your way.” Michael sighed, lowering his head.

  “Why didn’t you just go to the police and turn yourself in?” Dylan asked.

  “Because I couldn’t be without you and I certainly couldn’t let Matheson have you. No matter what you think, Dylan, you are mine,” Michael stated, sitting next to her on the cot.

  “And Chloe, how did you get involved with her?” Dylan asked in disgust.

  “She actually found me. I’m not sure how, but I wanted you and she wanted Rade. It was a perfect partnership,” Michael admitted with a smile.

  Cupping her cheek with his hand, he lowered his head and kissed her. Dylan tried to pull away, but he held her close. Sinking his tongue between her parted lips, he began consuming her. No matter how hard Dylan tried to pull away, he was just too strong. Finally, Michael broke away. “God, I’ve missed you so much Dylan.”

  “Michael, you need to let me go. If you really care about me, please let me go,” Dylan pleaded.

  “No, I’m never letting you go, Dylan,” Michael said sharply. There was no way he was ever going to let her go. Walking to the door, he turned back to her. “Get used to it, Dylan, you’re mine.”

  Dylan slumped over on the cot. She needed to figure out a way to get out of there. It had to be when she was alone with him. Maybe if she could make him think that she was finally giving in, she could get the gun away from him.

  *****

  It was going on the seventh day and Rade was no closer to finding Dylan than he was a week ago. Evan still hadn’t come up with anything on the message that Dylan left for Rade on the wall at the sewer plant. If he knew Michael, soon he would be moving her, if he hadn’t already. Rade was running out of time. He couldn't sit and wait without doing something.

  Gwen came into his office several times to make sure he was doing okay. It made sense, since Rade basically locked himself inside his office. He could no longer stand being in the penthouse, so most of his nights were spent in his office.

  Pulling up his search engine, he tried again to search the information he had. First, he tried DOMINO SU, New York. His results were the same as before. “Damn, what could it mean? Help me out, Sweetness. What were you trying to tell me?” Rade said out loud to an empty room. Running his hand through his hair, Rade stepped away from his desk. Pacing back and forth in front of his desk, he tried to think about what it meant. Coming up with nothing, he grabbed his suit jacket and headed out of the office. On the way out he called Richard.

  “Richard, have you got anything for me yet?” Rade asked.

  “Not yet, sir. Still trying to decipher the message from Ms. Adams,” Richard explained.

  “How about Peter, has he come up with anything?” Rade questioned

  “Just spoke to him. Still has nothing,” Richard confirmed.

  “Fuck, we are running out of time, Richard. If we don’t find the meaning of that message soon, I’m afraid Michael is going to take her somewhere else. He tends to stay in one spot for only a short period,” Rade advised.

  “We’ll find her, Rade,” Richard assured him.

  Rade wasn’t convinced that Richard or Peter would be able to find out where Dylan was before Michael decided to move. Getting into his car, he decided to touch base with Evan. Even though he knew Evan would have called if he came up with anything, he couldn’t wait around until he did.

  Turning the corner by Central Park, Rade decided to make a pit stop. Pulling the car into a parking spot, Rade headed down the path to where he found Dylan for what seemed like a lifetime ago. Taking a seat on the park bench, he began thinking about Dylan and what his life would be like without her in it. The thought of losing her ripped him apart. He needed to stay strong. If not for himself for Dylan. Sitting there, he decided to put his time to good use. Pulling out his phone, he once again tried to search DOMINO SU. Looking out over the park, he spotted the rooftop of the Belvedere Castle. It was then that an idea came to him. He typed ‘New York old buildings-DOMINO SU'.

  Rade was surprised by what came up. Three links down from the top, he saw it, ‘Domino Sugar Refinery – Abandoned Building gets new remodel.’ That had to be it. That had to be where Michael was holding Dylan. It was at least worth a chance to check out.

  Pulling up Richard’s contact, he waited for Richard to answer. As he explained what he found to Richard, he agreed that it was worth a shot. Richard knew of the building. It had been abandoned for some time. He knew that it was supposed to be renovated into apartments or something by a developer. Something happened with the zoning that postponed the renovations.

  After Rade hung up with Richard, he headed back to his car and dialed Peter to let him know of their plans. There was no time to waste, so Rade told him he would meet him at the old building. Peter cautioned Rade not to make a move until he got there. Rade agreed, but only to get Peter off the phone. Something inside told Rade that Dylan was there. There was no way he was going to wait for Peter or Richard to get there.

  Pulling out of the park, Rade put Domino Sugar Refinery into his GPS. Rade knew that his quickest route would be to take Lexington to Queensboro. If the traffic wasn’t too heavy, he could make it in about twenty minutes.

  Popping the gearshift into first, Rade drove out of the park, down East Drive towards Center. So far so good. Traffic was minimal. It wasn’t until he got to the Queensboro Bridge that his efforts slowed. He did the best he could, honking and weaving in and out of traffic. Based on the expressions of the drivers he passed, they must have thought he was a lunatic.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Rade pulled up to the run-down warehouse. There was a black Tahoe parked around the back of the building. Rade grabbed his phone and texted the license plate number to Richard. Waiting a few minutes for a response, Rade scanned the building for an entrance. Unable to wait any longer, Rade opened his car door. As he walked up to the building a text came in from Richard. The SUV was stolen. It didn’t surprise Rade that Michael would be driving a stolen vehicle to transport Dylan in.

  Rade didn’t know what he was thinking. Trying to enter the building with no protection was asking for trouble. Running back to the car, he popped open the glove box and took the handgun Richard had given him at the sewer plant. Rade was glad that he decided to hold on to it instead of giving it back to Richard. Pulling back the slide, Rade racked a bullet into the chamber. Locking the car, Rade proceeded to the old building. Checking th
e only entrance he could see, he found that the steel door was securely locked with a chain and padlock. Rade had to find another way into the building. Walking down the side, he could see that one of the windows had been propped open. Removing the piece of wood, he lifted the window and climbed through it.

  The building was filled with remnants of what used to be a booming industry. There was still a hint of molasses in the air mixed with the scent of mold and rot. Most of the inside of the building had been gutted. Rade had heard of an exhibition being held here last year displaying a sculpture of a sphinx made out of refined sugar.

  Casting away the history behind the factory, Rade focused on finding Dylan. Even though most of the warehouse was torn down, there were still a lot of places where Michael could be holding her. Rade moved onward in his search for Dylan. Leaving the main floor, he headed up the stairs. Coming across the old administrative area of the warehouse, he came across the locker rooms. Entering what must have been the women’s locker room, Rade spotted Dylan’s clothing on the floor. Picking them up, he took in her scent. His only conclusion was that Michael allowed her to shower. Based on the used bar of soap, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower, his assumption was correct.

  He was comforted knowing that she was still alive. Michael wouldn’t have allowed her to shower if he planned on killing her. Leaving the locker room, Rade headed down the hallway where other administrative offices were. Just as he was about to turn the corner leading to more offices, he heard voices, He recognized them right away. “Chloe and Michael. What the fuck?” Rade said under his breath.

  “We can’t stay here. Sooner or later they’re going to find us,” Michael said.

  “I know. The passports are ready, I just need to pick them up. I’ll go get them and meet you back here. Are you sure she won’t be a problem while we’re gone?” Chloe asked.

  “Dylan isn’t going anywhere. It won’t take me that long to get food,” Michael confirmed.