by Z. Stefani
“Alice darling.” Sybille said with a warm smile, always having a special place in her heart for the smart girl with the amazing mechanical and makeup skills. “Things are not good right now.”
“What’s wrong, please, anything I can help you with.” she said with sincerity.
“I wish you could dear, but my daughter is-” she put her hand to her chest, feeling her heart start to race at just the thought.
“Sevigne is missing.” Coco walked up to stand next to them.
“Oh no.” she frowned, she had never had the pleasure of meeting Sevigne, but Sybille never stopped talking about her the entire time she worked there. “That’s an insane coincidence, my friend, is also missing. She’s King’s girlfriend.”
“Heaven!” that’s my Sevigne.” Sybille said.
“You’re kidding me, you’re Heaven’s mother?”
“Yes.” she said
“We need to go speak to the detective.” Coco said.
“I’ll show you the way." Alice said, taking Sybille’s arm but still flabbergasted by the news.
“Such a dear girl." Sybille nodded before turning to walk towards the large door. Two of the gorgeous women in white opened the door and held it while Sybille walked into the large house.
The girls circled Sybille as Alice went ahead and knocked on the study door, then opened it. The men in the room all stood up as the entourage of scantily clad women poured into the room, each as beautiful as the last.
The girls suddenly parted and Sybille stepped forward, walking straight over to detective Rogers.
“Detective Rogers, I am relieved to see that you are on the case.” Sybille said as the detective took her hand and planted a single kiss on top.
“I promise we will find your daughter.” he nodded.
“Quickly please.” she batted her eyes then turned to Ayden with a smile on her face. “Ayden, my dear friend, it is a pleasure to see you.
“The pleasure is all mine, as always.” Ayden held her hand up and then kissed it lightly.
“When I heard about Sevigne and Julian, I was shocked beyond belief,” she whispered, “but I think it is a good match.” she winked then turned to Julian, but instead of raising her hand, she took him into a quick embrace. “We will find her, Sevigne is much too strong to be held against her will for long.”
“I will find her.” Julian said with a conviction that gave Sybille a strong sense of hope.
“I know you will.” she sat down on the couch and looked at the detective. The girls had pulled out a large bottle of expensive wine, each girl holding a glass while one poured, handing the first to Sybille then distributing a glass to each man in the room. A few of the girls had pulled out a silver, collapsible table and set it up, while a few of the other girls pulled out a spread of various types of croissants, doughnuts, tarts, tiny cakes and slices of pie. “Now Detective, let’s discuss how we are going to find my only child.”
“Dad." Julian pulled his father to the side “you knew Madame Sybille was Heaven’s mother?” Julian asked his father.
“Of course.”
“Does Heaven know that you know?”
“Absolutely not. Sybille would never allow that. She was afraid that Sevigne would think that I gave her the position because of her mother.”
“And did you?”
“Sevigne is a genius, you know as well as I do that I would never hire her because of her mother. I was lucky enough to have that connection and I scooped her up before a competitive firm got their hands on her.”
***
Julian listened as his father explained the various anonymous packages sent to him at work.
“Detective, could I see you please.” The police officer asked and Rogers excused himself as he walked outside. Julian’s cousins Royce and Julius followed behind the officers.
“Look.” The officer pointed to the blood on tan interior of Julian’s car and the spot of blood on the gold rim of his tire. Rodgers took a good look and then looked up to Royce.
“It’s definitely blood.” He said.
“Then it’s definitely planted.” Royce informed him.
“What’s planted?” Julian asked as he walked towards the men crowded around his car.
“Blood on the inside of your car.” Julius answered his cousin and at that moment Julian ran over to his car, filled with fear at what he would find. Julian didn’t care if that blood made him the number one suspect, he was worried about Heaven and how much blood she had lost or how hurt she may have been. He felt no relief when he saw the tiny amount of blood, he could care less if it wasn’t enough to fill a band aid, he didn’t even want a scratch on her.
Detective Rogers had been a detective for a very long time and it was virtually impossible for someone to pull the wool over his eyes. He watched Julian’s expression change to sheer terror at just the mention of Heaven’s blood, it was a natural reaction of a man worried about his woman and an emotion that could not be faked. As far as Detective Rogers was concerned, Julian was not a suspect under any circumstances.
***
Conversations with a Stranger
Heaven felt like she was floating in darkness. There was something wrapped around her that was holding her to the floor and preventing her from drifting up to the sky. The strong musty smell over took her senses and the thick cobwebs in her brain begin to disintegrate, allowing her lulled brain to perk up. The filmy gauze her mind had been enclosed in was now unraveling and she felt herself plummeting back to reality.
She awoke abruptly, her eyes blinded by the thick darkness as she inhaled the air, her starved lungs were begging for. She felt her heart race when he tried to move and found herself restrained. She tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness to see what was holding her down. Her arms and legs were bound to the old wooden chair she sat in, the thick ropes cut into her wrists and ankles, leaving her completely immobile.
She tried to scream, but the wad of material in her mouth prevented the sound from being heard. Her head was groggy and her thoughts were scattered, she couldn’t remember what had happened to her or how she got here. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep and waiting for Julian.
She felt her pulse begin to race as she heard the faint sound of footsteps drawing near her. She twisted her head from side to side trying to find what direction the steps were coming from and saw the dark shrouded figure emerged from the black shadows of the musty basement. She watched as the figure glided towards her, the long black robes shuffling on the floor with each fluidic like step. She watched in open fear as it settled directly in front of her, the flat black leather mask hid the culprit’s features and a slim silver box crudely attached to the mask, covered the mouth. The eyes were covered in a black, mesh-like material, but she didn’t need to see the eyes to know the figure was staring at her. Heaven was sure the stranger could hear her heart as it pounded viciously in her chest.
Just when she was sure that either a hand would reach out and grab her or her own heart would explode, the dark figure began walking backwards. Its masked face trained on her as it slowly disappeared back into the shadows on the opposite side of the room.
***
Julian decided to stay at Heaven’s house until she returned, he also decided to take some time off from work. He could not go there and sit in an office filled with potential suspects and be expected to keep his cool. The way he felt now, he would end up brutally interrogating everyone he worked with. Just the thought of not knowing who it was among them had him going crazy. However, knowing that one of those people had his girlfriend held hostage was making him homicidal. Each one of the employees had a different incentive to destroy Julian and abduct Heaven. Some had more than one motive, including his own brother.
He leaned back in the chair when he watched Petal and Alex open the side gate that led to the backyard. Petal sprinted over to him and Julian could tell by her eyes she had been crying all night.
“Please tell me it’s not true, tell me
Sevigne is not missing!” Petal cried hard, her thick black mascara and her pale pink eye shadow leaving streaks down her face.
“How did you find out?” he asked.
“Madame called me to see if by chance Sevigne was with me or if I had seen her. She told me not to worry that everything was fine, but I just know something is wrong!” she cried harder, putting a thick ball of tissue to her nose. “I saw her limo out front, where is Madame?”
“She’s inside.” Julian finished and Petal sprinted towards the house.
“Are you alright man?” Alex sat down on the chair opposite from Julian.
“I’m fine.” he replied rather curtly and Alex pulled out a bottle of cognac.
“I’m here to help in any way that I can, you just let me know whatever you need, my friend.”
“Thank you.” Julian nodded, appreciating the offer, but not physically able to express his gratitude.
***
Heaven felt weightless and unfocused as she opened her eyes, she felt over tired and drugged. She looked around the room and saw the dark figure slowly walking towards her again, but this time she was more irritated by the dramatic displays and tried to yell from under her gag. The stranger stood before her again, this time reaching into a pocket in the robes and withdrawing a syringe. Heaven shook her head, trying to scream below the gag as the arm drew closer. She tried desperately to get loose, rocking back and forth in the chair as the figure effortlessly slid the tip of the needle into the side of her neck before disappearing back in the shadows. She was fighting hard to stay awake, but her eyelids felt as if they had been glazed in cement, and within moments she was asleep.
***
Ayden walked into work with a different frame of mind, everyone was a suspect and everyone would be treated accordingly. The first thing he and Fritz did was take attendance and were shocked to see not one absence, which meant if it was someone in the office, they were there right now while Heaven was being held against her will elsewhere.
***
Heaven woke up to find her nightmare hadn’t been restricted to an unconscious thought, she was wide awake and still tied to a chair. In a frenzy-induced attempt to get loose, she tried to rock the chair from side to side.
“You’ll just hurt yourself doing that, but you won’t get loose.” she heard the electronic voice announce through the room. It was a cheap imitation of an answering machine voice and Heaven frowned under her gag. She strained to see what direction the voice was coming from but the darkness was too thick to see anything clearly. “I tied you up extra tight.” the figure took a step forward, but not close enough for Heaven to see. Suddenly a bright spotlight came on, it’s hot light pointed directly at her, forcing her to squint. It illuminated the dark surroundings and she heard the footsteps behind her. “I know how determined you can be Ms. Deville and I can’t take the chance of you getting loose.”
Then as quickly as the light had been turned on, the memory of what happened forced itself back into her muddled brain. She remembered now, she was half asleep waiting for Julian
“I see you remember now and I bet you’re wondering who I am,” even though the electronic device could cover the voice, it could not hide the joy that was expressed through its computerized words. “Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough, Ms. Deville.”
***
The house was still filled with family, Sybille and her vast entourage and half of the police force, but Julian sat on the back porch away from everyone. They had all of the calls from his office phone, Sybille’s house phone and his own home phone directed to Heaven’s house. Sybille had decided to entertain the entire force in an attempt to entice them to work harder to find her daughter. Julian was down for anything at this point, he was sick of sitting there feeling completely helpless. He wanted to be out searching the streets for her and asking people if they had seen anything, but he was afraid she would call while he was gone.
The blood sample from his car had come back as a positive match to the blood sample sent over from Heaven’s personal physician. The hair found in Julian’s car also matched the hair removed from a brush taken from Heaven’s home. Detective Rogers was convinced it was a sloppy setup and refused to even take it into consideration.
***
Heaven woke up to find she had been changed into an outdated, stark-white cocktail dress and a pair of old-fashioned, white pumps. She heard someone waking down the steps and was instantly on guard. She watched as the dark-shrouded figure stepped towards her with a plate of food before untying her gag.
“Who are you?” she demanded the minute she could talk.
“Time to eat.” the electronic voice said and Heaven shook her head in refusal.
“Who are you?” she yelled.
“My identity will be divulged at the right time, but now is not that time, right now it’s time to eat.”
“I am not eating anything you give me.” she hissed.
“If you don’t eat you’ll starve.”
“I’d rather starve then die a painful death from the poison you probably put in the food.”
“If I wanted you dead you would already be dead, I have had ample opportunity.” the figure held out a spoonful of soup and Heaven turned her head. “You need to eat.”
“And you need to get that shit out of my face,” she snapped as she felt her anger begin to overpower her fear. She had repeatedly been told that one day her big mouth would get her into a world of trouble and right now, she believed that. Despite her best intentions, she could not sit quietly. “I told you I am not eating it!” she screamed.
The disguised figure finally got the hint, then without another word, turned around and left Heaven alone in the basement again.
***
Julian was done playing by the rules he needed answers and he needed them now. They had interviewed everyone and had searched the office but due to privacy laws, they were not allowed to search the employees’ personal area. Julian waited until everyone had left the building for the evening before sending out a text to his cousins. Within minutes his cousins arrived and the five of them began searching every employee’s desk and locker. He knew it was wrong and could possibly be terminated for such an illegal act, but he didn’t care at this point, the only thing he wanted was Heaven back.
Julian went to Lila’s desk first then worked his way through the lawyers, while his cousins searched the secretaries’ desks.
“I didn’t find anything.” Julius said.
“Me either.” Royce added.
“I’m driving by every employee’s house to see what they are doing.” Julian said, clearly frustrated and out of options.
“We can take my car.” Royce offered
***
Heaven heard the familiar footsteps descending the stairs and could feel the figure walking to stand behind her, just out of her line of vision. She felt the gag being untied and sat there silently after it was removed.
“Now is the time.” she heard the electronic voice say. She then heard a loud zipper and the rustling of thick fabric before the voice continued, without the electronic device. “Hello Heaven.” the words were spoken slowly and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She knew that voice, only one person said her name like that, like a parrot begging for a cracker. “Do you recognize my voice?” the masculine voice asked.
No way, it could not be him. Certainly not the friendly man who always asked for her help and always s had a kind word to say. Not the man who had offered her condolences when she lost the partnership, it just wasn’t reasonable possible. He was demure and soft spoken in an effeminate way, definitely not the type you would ever suspect to abduct a co-worker.
“Still haven’t figured it out? Or have you?” the voice asked from behind her. She then saw the shadow that the figure cast, moving forward and her eyes grew wide as he stepped out from behind her. “Surprise.” he grinned almost sheepishly, “I bet you would have never expected it to be me.
“G
avin?” she said her eyes growing wide in astonishment. No way, it couldn’t be Gavin Grant, not the kind, generous Gavin. “Is this a joke?” she looked around, expecting someone to jump out and yell ‘surprise’.
“I bet you never suspected me.”
“Not once.” she shook her head, unable to overcome the identity of the saboteur. She had expected Lila under that black mask or Juliette at the very least, but never Gavin Grant.
“Who would ever suspect me, to the world I am a well-mannered, soft spoken and slightly-pathetic lawyer.”
“But why?” she shook her head, in confusion. “I don’t understand, we have always gotten along.”