Meadowlarks 3 : Endless

by Ashley Christine

Crawling back into bed, I decide against waking Weston up. As much as the yearn to have him touch me again pulls in my belly, I love watching him sleep. I bet no one has ever really appreciated him like this.

  The party has died down now, only a few quiet voices echo down the hallway. I hope I’m not faced with anyone when I sneak out of here. The car will be here in less than an hour, and I’m going to look absolutely horrible for GMNY.

  Thank God for makeup artists and stylists. I hope they’ve got something powerful enough to cover up the bags under my eyes.

  I gently kiss Weston’s lips before climbing out of bed one last time.

  “Mmm,” he moans.

  My heart aches, and I just want to crawl back under the covers and kiss him deeper. But I don’t. I dress, find my shoes and carry them to quietly tip-toe out of this ridiculously expensive penthouse.

  The cool night air hits me as I exit the building, and just as Lucas promised, he has a car waiting for me.

  Ugh, I need coffee…

  ***

  Weston

  She’s gone.

  Was she even here?

  I roll over and press my face deep into the pillow. It smells like her…she was here, and what happened was real.

  “Oh, Leah…” I whisper.

  A soft knock on the door pulls me from my sedation. My head is so clear, yet completely buzzing. That girl is more intoxicating than moonshine.

  “Oh! Damn…Weston. Sorry…” Riley stands in the doorway, turning her blushing face away from me.

  I’m still naked.

  Oops.

  “Umm, it’s almost eight. Josh said we should be leaving soon,” she says, her eyes still turned from me.

  “I lost track of time. I’ll be out in ten minutes.”

  Riley is almost halfway down the hall before I close the door. For the first time, I didn’t hit on her. If this was yesterday, I would have dragged her in the bedroom. But now…damn. I only want Leah.

  Hey beautiful. Good luck today. I sent a quick text message to Leah before climbing in the shower. Wishing she were in here with me. Her hands on my body, my fingers and lips on hers.

  Riley stares at me with an unreadable face while we make our way to the convention center. Josh talks on his cellphone the entire time, completely ignoring both of us.

  “What?” I ask her, smirking through the question.

  “Sleep well?”

  I casually scratch the stubble on my jaw. “I did, thank you. How about yourself?”

  “Well. Thank you.” Riley smiles and shakes her head. “I didn’t get a 911 text from her, so I guess you were nice.”

  “Baby, I was very nice.”

  “Riley. Not baby. You’ll have to learn how to regard women by their actual names if you’re going to continue to see Leah.”

  She was right. But, did she want to continue to see me? I know I sure as hell want her. I could spend every waking moment drunk off her. “You’re right. I apologize, ma’am.”

  Riley raises an eyebrow and turns to stare out of the window.

  I pass her my iPad. “Here, take notes on this.”

  “Thank you.”

  Josh ends his call just as the car pulls up to the massive building. “Welcome to the real deal, Riley.” He climbs out of the car and holds his hand out for her to take it.

  “Thank you, Josh.” She climbs out and I follow.

  The building is utterly bustling. I should have had a shot of whiskey before I got dressed. I have been gone for so long, that this is a little overwhelming. Wyoming has nothing on New York. It’s a whole world on its own.

  Riley walks beside me, as wide-eyed as a tourist, and gapes at everything around us. Her fingers already touching the screen on the iPad, taking notes.

  I’m having an out-of-body experience. I’m here, but my head isn’t in the game. I couldn’t care less about real estate today. My battery life has gone down at least ten percent from all of the times I’ve checked to see if Leah has messaged me back.

  She hasn’t.

  Then again, she’s probably too busy…I just keep telling myself that. This feeling is so unfamiliar to me, I’m not quite sure how to process it.

  Lunch flies by. I think we ate Chinese, but I don’t remember really even tasting any of it. I smiled and nodded during the various conversations around the large table.

  We were joined by other employees of Montedesco Properties, and some other people I didn’t recognize.

  “You okay?” Riley asks, elbowing me gently as our plates were being taken away by the servers.

  “Yeah…” I lie.

  “Have you heard from her?”

  I check my phone again. “No.”

  Riley frowns. I think she actually may feel sorry for me.

  “Have you?” I ask.

  “No. But, she’s probably super busy. I can’t imagine what her schedule must be like.”

  I force smile in agreement.

  The rest of the afternoon is spent just like the morning. I maintain my out-of-body situation, and set myself on autopilot.

  “Weston, what the hell is up with you? Last night you sulked into the bedroom, no one knew where you were. Poor Riley had to step in your shoes and talk to everyone on your behalf. She did a better job, obviously…” Josh says, smiling at Riley. “…and she told everyone you weren’t feeling well. Now, was that bullshit?”

  “Jet lag.”

  “Jet lag, my ass. Wyoming isn’t overseas. What’s going on with you? Are you second-guessing the partnership?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “Well?” Josh asks, irritated.

  I didn’t want to bring up Leah, but I knew Josh wasn’t going to drop it. “The brunette…in the silver dress.” I whispered.

  “Riley’s friend? Holy shit…I didn’t even notice she disappeared too.” Josh says, marveled. “Don’t tell me Weston Casey’s heart is finally beating.”

  I wanted to correct him. It’s not beating…it’s thrashing against my chest.

  When the car pulls up outside of Josh’s building, I feel hesitant. Not wanting to back inside the place where I was with Leah, knowing that she’s not in there waiting for me.

  A man and women in suits stand just inside of the lobby of the building, they both approach us, holding up police badges.

  The woman narrows her eyes. “Joshua Montedesco?”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Leah! Leah…please answer the phone, babe…I’m worried about you. Call me back!” Riley frantically sobs into her phone. Her hand runs through her hair in worry, and she paces a line in the lobby of Josh’s apartment building.

  Beads of sweat trickle in my palms and down my spine.

  “You can answer the rest of our questions at the precinct, Mr. Montedesco.” The tall and stoic detective writes on a notepad. “It’s procedure for this type of thing. Miss Marshall was last seen in this building, leaving your party, we just follow the breadcrumbs.”

  “Leah was with me all night,” I manage, somehow.

  “Well you could have mentioned that a few minutes ago. You are who exactly?”

  “Weston Casey.”

  “Well, Mr. Casey, you might as well ride alongside your friend here. We’ll have questions for you as well.”

  I nod, unsure of what else to do or say. I’m numb.

  Riley is still patrolling, wearing a path down, dialing numbers and sending text messages.

  “My lawyers will meet us there,” Josh growls.

  “Good,” the woman detective smiles sardonically.

  Josh and I ride with the two detectives, and Riley follows us in one of Josh’s cars to the police precinct for more questioning on Leah’s…disappearance. Fuck, this is too much.

  We’re taken in a big room with no windows and one single table with two chairs. Exactly how you would think it would look like—Hollywood isn’t too far off with resembling police stations on television. This is the first time I’ve ever been in a room like this, and I’m sweating bucke
ts—which doesn’t exactly help my case.

  “Okay, Mr. Casey, explain your night and when Leah left the penthouse…”

  “She arrived around ten o’clock, alone. She spent the next four or so hours with me. I don’t know what time I fell asleep, but when I Riley woke me up this morning, Leah was gone.”

  “And Mr. Montedesco, what time did you last see Miss Marshall?”

  Josh clears his throat. “When she showed up. I didn’t see her again after that. I crashed before two AM.”

  “We pulled the surveillance from your building, as well as the one across the street, and the traffic footage from the lights by the intersection. Tell me if anything looks familiar,” The man says, pushing enlarged black and white photographs at us.

  My hand shakes when I pick up one. It’s of Leah in the elevator, she’s alone. The next is of her coming out of the elevator on the main floor, the only other person around is the security guard behind his desk.

  “Whose car is that?” Josh asks, pointing to another photo of Leah walking out of the entrance and toward an awaiting black sedan.

  “Plates came back to a Lucas Field, he’s her band manager. His whereabouts at the time were verified. The driver said he picked Miss Marshall up and drove her to Times Square. He dropped her off, and she was alive and breathing. We’re working on getting feeds from downtown.”

  “I just don’t get it, where is she?” I ask, my voice breathy and low. I gently trace my thumb along her profile on the photo of her in the elevator. She’s smiling…I wonder if she was thinking of me.

  Where are you, my sweet Leah?

  “Listen, with Miss Marshall’s fame, this is going to break at any moment. Don’t talk to anyone, and don’t plan on leaving the city.”

  “My associate, Riley, lives in Wyoming, she needs to be with her family.”

  “We’ll have to speak with her again, to decide if we’ll allow it.”

  Riley’s already flipping. If they tell her she can’t go home, she’ll lose her fucking mind.

  “Can I talk to her, please?” I ask.

  “Sure,” the detective says, and they both turn to leave.

  Riley comes in, her face blotchy and tired. She’s been crying. “Weston, please be honest with me. I want you to tell me the truth…”

  “Riley! Don’t even ask me what you’re thinking of asking me! You know how I feel about her.”

  “Do I? Do I, Weston? For all I know she rejected you and you hurt her…” Riley’s eyes turn wide and glisten in her panic. “I can’t do this again!”

  Shit, I’m dense. I know about her son’s kidnapping. “Riley, calm down, please. Look at me…you know me. You know I wouldn’t do anything like this.”

  She looks at me intently, her lips pursed and her chest quickly rising and falling from her breathing. “Okay…” she whispers. “We have to find her.”

  “We will,” Josh speaks up.

  We’re escorted out of the room, and as soon as the door clicks shut behind us, a blonde guy in jeans and a black jacket jumps up from a chair and rushes over.

  “Which one of you? Who was with her last night?” he asks, eyeing Josh and me.

  “Sir?” Riley says, standing between the man and me. “Who are you?”

  “Neil. Who the hell are you?”

  “I’m Leah’s best friend, Riley.”

  Neil instantly calms, his body lowers and his eyes soften. “She told me all about you. Sorry if I scared you.”

  Riley opens her arms and hugs Neil, surprising him and us. “We’re going to find her, Neil. When did you hear from her last?”

  “She was getting ready for some party last night. We just arrived in New York, and she was in my room trying to build up the courage to go. I helped her pick out her shoes…” Neil’s voice wanders off and he stares at the floor. “I shouldn’t have let her go.”

  “What did the cops say?” Riley asks him.

  “Probably the same shit they told you. They’ve got no fucking idea where she is. She didn’t show up to GMNY. Lucas went nuts, and he called her over and over. When she didn’t answer or call back, he called the cops.”

  “Detective Soloman?” I call over to the man standing near the reception desk.

  He comes over. “Did you think of anything else, Mr. Casey?”

  “No, but I was wondering…can’t you track her cellphone or something?”

  “We tried that, it’s turned off,” the man says and shakes his head while looking at the floor. “I’d like to say that we’re optimistic, but I’m not gonna lie. It’s not looking good. As soon as we get the footage from Times Square, we’ll call you.”

  Josh grumbles something when three men in suits walk into the building. Probably his lawyers. They’re late, and he looks pissed. “Took them long enough.”

  “Mrs. Cole, we’re going to need you to stick around for a few days. Until we get more information. I know your family is in Wyoming…” Detective Soloman says with his arms crossed.

  “They’ll come to me,” Riley says quietly. “I need them.”

  I know Mark’s condo is still empty, as he won’t be back in the country until the end of November. I offer the space to Riley for her to stay at with her family. She happily accepts and walks away to call her husband in privacy.

  From across the room, my throat grows tight as I watch her break down again and cry.

  ***

  Leah

  “Repeat it again!” the commanding and frightening voice rasped.

  “I—I promise to never speak to Weston Casey ag-again.” I choked out the words between sobs. “I will n-never touch him again.”

  “Or what?” she growled.

  “You’ll kill me.” I wanted to wipe the tears that wear streaming down my face, but my hands were tied behind my back and I have a burlap bag over my head.

  “That’s right, bitch. Dead. Over…Like, no fucking more. Capiche?”

  I managed to nod without whimpering.

  “Now, I’m not completely heartless, I’ll toss you out at the hospital. You need one. But I swear, if you talk, I’ll find you in a heartbeat.”

  “I won’t tell anyone.”

  I don’t know what time it is, and I don’t even really know what day. Who knows how long I’ve been tied up on this hard chair with a bag over my head.

  I can tell it’s night when she leads me outside. The air is cool, and goose bumps prickle all over my bare arms. I’m still in my dress. I don’t know where my shoes are.

  “Get in,” she whispers and pushes my head down so I can fall into the car.

  We drive for what seems like hours, finally the car slows and screeches to a stop.

  “Get out. Don’t take that bag off until you hear me honk my car horn…And Leah? Don’t be fucking stupid.”

  I clamber my free hands to find the release to get out. I fall to the pavement below me, and scrape my hands and knees on the rough surface. The pain isn’t even something I’m willing to register…I’m just thankful to be out and hopefully away from this lunatic.

  “Shut the door, stupid.”

  I reach up and slam the door shut just as the car screams away from me. I listen to the engine roar and as it gets farther and farther away, my heart races harder, waiting for the horn.

  Finally it blasts and my fingers lift to my face, hesitant. What if this is a trick? What if there is someone waiting here? Ready to kill me? I don’t even know where the hell I am.

  “Do it, Leah...you can do this…” I whisper to myself, gathering all of my courage.

  I grab the bag and whip it off my head. The glare from the streetlights blind me. I haven’t seen light in a while. The next beautiful thing I lay my eyes on, is a giant illuminated H.

  I’m at the hospital.

  I throw the bag in a nearby garbage can and slowly make my way up to the emergency entrance. There is an ambulance parked near the doors, and just as I reach out to grab it before I faint, my knees give out and I fall.

  ***

/>   “She’s lucky to be alive, Neil. Don’t go burning down New York just yet. Let the cops do their job.” Lucas’ voice grumbles softly over the quiet beeps of machines in the hospital room.

  I slightly open my eyes to see Neil and Lucas standing at the foot of the bed, both with their arms crossed.

  “Hi,” I whisper. My throat burns, and it’s painful to swallow.

  “Leah! Holy shit. Let me get the doctor!” Lucas bounds out of the room without another word, and Neil rushes to my side and grabs my hand.

  “Sweetheart, what the hell happened to you?” Neil’s eyes glisten in the low-lit room.

  “I don’t know, Neil.”

  “Who was it? Just tell me. I know people.”

  “You know people?”

  Neil smiles just a little. “Well, not really. But the boys and I will form a mob and find that motherfucker.”

  “I don’t know who it was. What time is it?” I force the lie.

  Neil looks at his watch then back to me. “Almost nine AM.”

  “What’s the date?”

  “September 27th. You’ve been gone for two days.”

  “Miss Marshall, good to see you awake. I’m Felicia Allen, the attending doctor. I was here when you arrived. Do you remember anything?”

  I nod. “I was dropped off, and then I fainted.”

  Doctor Allen nods. “The police were just in the cafeteria, they’re on their way up to speak with you. A paramedic found you behind the ambulance. Luckily, too. You were so dehydrated, it wasn’t looking too good.”

  The door slightly opens and a man followed by a woman come into the room. It’s suddenly feeling very tight in here. The man looks at Neil and Lucas, and without words, asks them to leave the room.

  “We’ll be right outside, sweetheart,” Neil says before following Lucas out the door.

  “I’m Detective Soloman,” the man says. “This is my partner, Detective Lin. How are you feeling, Leah?”

  “Sore. Tired. A bit hungry.”

  “I bet you are,” Detective Lin says, pushing her dark bangs out of her eyes. “You up for some questions?”

  I nod. It’s now or never. I just need to think about how exactly I’m going to answer questions I’m vowed not to speak about.