by Ashlee Price
The car stopped in front of the building that I’d been going to for therapy. It seemed different now. Now that I’d been shot there and everything in my life had changed.
“I’ll be right back out, Case. I just need to check something.”
The driver nodded and waited for me behind the wheel. I walked a little slower, but I made it to the receptionist area eventually. I waited for the redhead to get off the phone before I asked about Camilla.
“She hasn’t been to work in about three weeks. I think she called in or emailed us about taking some time off.”
I couldn’t believe what she was telling me, and I had to wonder if that was just the story for me. So I called a few minutes after I left, trying to get an appointment with her as a new client, but I was told the same thing. Dr. Camilla was taking some time off, and no one had seen her in weeks. That seemed strange to me. Where would she have gone?
Chapter 2 – Camilla
“Come on, Camilla. You’ve been sleeping long enough.”
I felt a splash of water on my face that was so freezing cold it made me jump. I’d been partially awake when I started to hear Zane ranting and yelling, but now I was up and looking at him. I tried to stand up, but found a chain around my waist that wouldn’t let me stand up completely.
“What is going on?”
“What’s going on? Well, Camilla, I told you to stay away from Tyler, but you just wouldn’t. You never did listen very well, did you?”
“Tyler, he was shot…”
“Yeah, I know. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but you made me. Just like Janice. You made me do it, and now I want you to pay attention so I don’t have to do anything like that again.”
I didn’t know who Janice was, but it was clear by my surroundings and bindings that Zane had gone off the deep end. I didn’t know what to do, so I just sat back down on the cold concrete floor and tried to close my eyes again. Squeezing them shut, I was sure that when I opened them, everything would be back to normal and all of this would be a dream.
Opening them back up, I found that I was wrong. This wasn’t a dream at all. It wasn’t a nightmare. This was real life.
***
“Come, Camilla. This is getting old. It’s been almost a week since you ate anything. What’s gotten into you?”
I looked at my captor and I wanted to scream. He asked the question as if he genuinely didn’t know what was wrong with me. In his eyes, he’d given me everything that I wanted. But the way I saw it, he was refusing me the one thing I needed. I needed my freedom, and Zane wasn’t going to give it to me. He knew that if I had a choice, I would leave. He wanted me to stay, that much was clear, and he was willing to go to any length to keep me. This wasn’t love, this was obsession, and I was ready to just give up.
“I want to go home, Zane. I’ve been here for weeks! What do you think? That I’m just going to go along with this and have nothing to say? Do you really think that I can just let this happen?”
“No, but you can make the best out of the situation. I think you told me that one time a long time ago.”
That was before I knew he was crazy. I had thought everyone had a chance of coming out of it, no matter what traumatic event had changed them, but Zane needed more help than I could give him. I’d talked to him for hours and days upon days, and nothing was going to change his mind. He saw what he was doing as love, and there was nothing that I could say to change his mind. I had tried, but it was no use.
So I was ready to just give up. I didn’t want to live like this anymore. With everything that I’d endured as a child at the hands of my uncle, I was not going to go on like this. Life was just too painful. I didn’t even get hungry anymore. That part of it had passed, and even though I hoped that he would let me go when he realized that I wasn’t going to eat anymore, I knew that he might not. I had to be prepared to go all the way with it, and I liked to think that I was. I liked to think that I was strong and I was going to be able to get through this, but if not, I was okay with that too.
“I don’t remember what I told you. It was a long time ago, Zane. I just know that I’m not eating, so you can waste your time bringing it or you can just leave me alone.”
“If you don’t do what I say…”
“You’ll do what?” I lifted my hand, which was chained to a bed mounted to the cement floor. I was in a warehouse full of old computers. There was never anyone but me and him there, no visitors and no chance to get away. I didn’t know where I was, but there was nothing else that he could do to me that he hadn’t already done in the last few weeks.
“If you don’t care about yourself, maybe you care about the people that are close to you?”
He was grasping at straws, and I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t have anyone that I cared about. My childhood and family were a tragedy, so none of it really mattered, not like he’d expected. My answer made him mad and he threw the food that he’d tried to offer me. It had smelled better than I would ever admit, but I was stubborn and this was the only power that I had left.
“I don’t have anyone that I care about to hurt. You don’t know enough about me, Zane, or you would know that.”
The man was getting thinner and there were bags under his eyes. As a doctor, I put that down to the stress he was under. He looked like he might crack at any time. I didn’t really want to help him, though. I’d spent all of my life wanting to help everyone, but now I’d finally found one person I just didn’t care to help at all. Zane was just going to have to do what he needed to do, because I wasn’t going to play his game anymore.
“What about Tyler?”
There was a hint of fear in me, but I didn’t let Zane see it. “What about him? You failed the first time, and I’m quite sure that he won’t give you another opportunity.”
“He just got out of the hospital a couple of days ago. I’m sure that I could get close to him if I wanted.”
“Why? He means nothing to me.”
“You kissed him!”
“Yes, one time, and it meant nothing. I’ve told you that since you overheard it all. You didn’t listen then, and you aren’t listening now. He means nothing to me.”
I wanted Zane to believe me. When I’d found out that it was one of his friends that had shot Tyler, the guilt was overwhelming. I couldn’t think about him doing it again, so I had to believe my words, more than he did. I had to believe that no one else would be hurt because of me.
“I think you’re bluffing.”
“You can think what you want, Zane, but you’re not going to get your way. I’ll never love you, and soon I won’t be here to torment.”
“You don’t understand anything, Camilla. You’ll love me again. You loved me before, and I can make you love me again.”
I moved enough for him to hear the metal grating together on the chains. “This isn’t love.”
Chapter 3 – Tyler
“What do you have for me, Billy?”
“Well, not a lot right now. No one seems to know what happened to her.”
“So no one has seen her?”
“Not that I’ve found. I’ve talked to all of the people at Camilla’s job. It’s like the doctor just disappeared.”
“What about her house?”
“I checked, and there was nothing that signaled a struggle. But there were also no clothes gone, and there were several suitcases unused in the closet.”
“So…”
“So it doesn’t look like she’s gone anywhere, Tyler. Her credit cards are unused, and there are no transportation tickets in her name. Your doctor is gone, and there’s been no digital trace of her since the night that you saw her in the hospital. You’re actually the last person who talked to her as far as I can gather.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Billy was always good about coming through for me. He’d never found nothing before, and I didn’t like the idea of this being the first time. This was the assignment that mattered the most, and I really needed him to f
ind her.
“So nothing?”
“Not on Dr. Camilla.”
“What about this Zane character?”
The older man sighed and leaned back in the chair. The office door was closed and I still worried that someone was going to overhear our conversation.
“Well, that’s a whole other matter, Tyler. This guy is a real piece of work and he has the criminal record to back it up. Are you sure she was involved with him?”
I nodded my head once. I still could see the fear in Camilla’s eyes when she’d told me about him. “He was stalking her after she tried to break up an affair they were having.”
“And she was his doctor?”
“Yes.” I felt defensive and I didn’t like the implications he was making, like it was somehow her fault. While I’d thought about it over and over again, if Zane had done something to her, it could already be too late, and I didn’t want anyone talking bad about her.
“Just asking. It just seems like a doctor would know better, or see him for what he really was. He was on trial years ago for the murder of his girlfriend. The charges were dropped for one reason or another, but after getting to know this guy’s background, I would say that he did it. I wouldn’t like to think about her with him. It might not end well.”
He was not helping my nerves. I knew that it wasn’t any good, and I didn’t need to see an arrest record to know that. From the picture that I’d pulled up on the internet I knew that there was something off about him. I was biased, of course; knowing that he was with Camilla was enough of a reason for me to not like him. I didn’t need facts to make me feel that way.
“So where is he?”
“Well, he’s a little harder to track down. He doesn’t work in an office, but works remotely for his company. I’ve been in touch with them, but they are insisting on a warrant, which I can’t get unless you want me to get the cops involved.”
“I don’t. They will just hold things up. Do you have any ideas about where he might be?”
“He has a couple of properties registered to him, so he could be at one of them. I haven’t checked them out yet. I wanted to see what you wanted to do.”
“Zane has Camilla, and I know that for sure. Do what you have to do, but check out the places that are away from people. I have a feeling that he has her somewhere where he thinks no one can find her.”
“Boss, you need to be realistic. She’s been gone for weeks. The chances of her coming back are…”
I stopped him before he could finish. I knew what he was going to say, but I didn’t want to hear it. I knew what the stats were and I didn’t want to think about what had probably happened to her. I had to think of her being okay and I had to think of her alive. I wasn’t ready to admit that she was gone. I just couldn’t do it.
“That’s why we have to find her. He was obsessed with her, that much I know for sure, and when a man feels that something that he needs to survive is going to leave or be taken away, he’s going to hold onto it for dear life. He hasn’t killed her, but I would bet all the money that I have that she’s somewhere locked up.”
“Why not get the cops involved, then?”
“They will just bungle it all up, and I won’t be able to live with myself if something happens to her. Right now he doesn’t know that I’m looking for him. We’re going to need that advantage.”
***
It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. I remember thinking that it better be good. It was. It was the call I’d been waiting for.
“We found him.”
“And?”
“She could be there, but I didn’t watch that long. I can’t get in there by myself without him seeing me. I thought I would check with you and see how you want to proceed.”
“Are you sure he’s there?”
“Yeah, he’s in there.”
“No idea about her?”
“The doctor could be in there. It’s an old warehouse and there are a lot of places to hide someone. I haven’t heard anything, but like I said, it’s a big place. There’s something that’s keeping him there, though. He hasn’t left in a while by the look of the tracks coming out.”
“Are you there now?”
“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to send you the coordinates. Is there anyone else that I need to call?”
He was asking about the police again. I didn’t want to go down that route. I was afraid that they would mess it up, but I knew that it had more to do with the fact that I wanted control of the situation. I had to be the one making the calls, because I was the only person I trusted.
“No, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Send through the coordinates and I’m already on my way.”
“This isn’t going to be a nice meet-and-greet, boss. I think you need to take precautions.”
“Already ahead of you on that. You too.”
“Of course. I never leave home without it.”
I thanked him and made my way to the car. I told the driver that I didn’t need him tonight. He wasn’t someone that I trusted, and I needed to feel the speed. I had to get there right now. My mind was already going to what might be happening to her. I couldn’t stand the idea of her being captive for that long, but the alternative was still not something that I was ready to think about. She felt so close after being out of reach for so long.
Plugging the coordinates in, I saw that the destination was right outside of the city. It was going to take longer than a few minutes, but as I pressed the gas pedal down, I knew that it wasn’t going to be that long. Nothing was going to stand in my way now.
Chapter 4 – Zane
“Why do you have to be so complicated? I wish I would have known this about you back then.”
“I wish I would have known that you were a little psycho, but you know what they say about hindsight.”
“If you don’t eat, Camilla, I’m going to force feed you.”
Her eyes widened and I smiled at her. It was obvious that she hadn’t thought about that route. Although the fact was that I wouldn’t even know how to go about it, I couldn’t let her win. I’d almost given up on her ever loving me, and now it was something else. Now it was a battle of wills that I refused to lose. I couldn’t let this woman get the best of me, and getting her to eat would be a small victory that I needed desperately.
“Fine, do what you must, Zane.”
I was ready to explode. I’d never been so frustrated in all of my life. What had been a good idea to begin with was blowing up in my face. Dr. Camilla wasn’t going to be what I wanted, so now I was starting to think of what I was going to do with her. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I knew what I had to do. I should just let her starve. If she didn’t want to eat, I shouldn’t make her. I should just let her go.
“I didn’t want it to come to this, Camilla. I do love you, but you’re just going to resist me. If you haven’t broken down by now, I don’t see it happening.”
“I told you that I wasn’t ever going to love you. This is not how you get someone to love you. You can’t make them.”
I shook my head and felt the sadness flood over me. She was right, and I wished that she wasn’t. I wished that I could make her love me. It would have been so different if Tyler hadn’t gotten into the middle of it. Now I was going to have to get rid of her like I did Janice. No one knew about us, so at least this time I wouldn’t have to move away and change everything when I got there. This time I was going to be able to continue to live the life that I’d built here.
Walking out of the small office area where she was set up, I went to the duffel bag that I’d brought for when I was staying here. I’d put a lot of time and effort into Camilla, and the results were underwhelming at best.
She called to me and asked what I was doing. I could hear the nerves in her voice, and I wondered if she was starting to realize that she was worthless to me like this. Maybe the doctor wasn’t as stupid as she was pretending. Maybe I just needed to give her some incentive, altho
ugh I was almost sure that it wouldn’t work. It didn’t seem that the good doctor was afraid of anything happening to her.
“I’ll be out in a minute. I didn’t realize that you were going to be so chatty today.”
When I came out, her eyes were darker than they usually were and she had a smile on her face. It was the first time that I’d seen it in weeks, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Something was off about her. I wondered if maybe she’d just lost her last marble. That would make sense, because the look on her face was downright creepy.
“I’ve been hard to deal with, Zane, I know that. I don’t know why I’m being this way. You’ve taken good care of me, and I know that it’s because you love me.”
“Do you love me though, Camilla? Are you ever going to love me?”
“I can try.”
Now I knew that something was off. The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach had intensified, and then I heard a noise behind us. Looking at her, I had a feeling that she knew what the sound was coming from.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know. I can’t go anywhere, and I didn’t see anything.”
She was lying like always. Instead of listening to her lies, I covered her mouth with a gag that had already come in handy on more than one occasion.
“I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’m not stupid. I’m not going to let you ruin this for me.”
Walking towards where I heard the sound, I looked back once and saw that Camilla was looking in the same direction. She was mumbling something, but I couldn’t understand her because of the rag stuffed in her mouth.
“Just shut up, Camilla. I’ll get to you soon.”
Looking back towards the dark corner in the warehouse, I saw a flash of something right before I felt a pain in my head. My eyes almost shut with the pain of it, but the voice I heard had me getting up and facing him with blood threatening to blur my vision.
“Tyler? I knew that I should have taken care of you myself.”
“Yeah, you shouldn’t have sent a lackey, Zane, and now you’re going to lose Camilla too.”