“I just want her back,” she choked out, a fresh wave of tears spilling down her cheeks.
A sad sigh escaped my mouth as I pulled her into me, wrapping her in my arms. In the short amount of time I knew her, she’d become just as significant to me as Alina. Hearing her sobs and not being able to take the pain away immediately wrecked me.
“We’re going to bring her back. Alina is tough and smart and clever.” I felt my own voice start to shake, but I swallowed it down, “She wouldn’t want you to cry right now. She’d want us to put our heads together and find her. She’s fighting to get back home. I’m sure of it.”
And even as the words left my mouth, they sounded hollow to my ears. I hoped she was fighting back. I needed her to fight back. I needed her to come back to me so I could really protect her this time.
Holding Vivian against my chest, I vowed to myself that Alina would never be harmed again. Once I found her, she’d never have to fight alone.
Eventually, Vivian pulled out of my embrace and excused herself to attend to the growing list of obligations she had as a potential Mayor’s wife. I made my way over to where Andrew, the new head of security, was working after he flagged me over.
“What up boss?” I asked, leaning forward onto the table where he’d had some papers sprawled out.
He exhaled, the blond hair dropping forward on his face fluttered slightly, “I was looking at some of these videos you had and taking notes. I’m noticing quite a lot of people had access to her apartment.”
I raised an eyebrow, “And?”
“Well according to the timeline, you last saw her two weeks or so before she was taken. In those two weeks, she had roughly ten people who had access to her place.”
“Yeah, those were Rosa’s people. Her chef and cleaning crew, I believe.”
He looked up, a puzzled expression marring his face, “Could it be one of them? I contacted the company she uses and a few of their people haven’t reported to work in awhile.”
I stood up, catching his drift. “That’s a possible lead. We should run with that.”
He nodded, looking pleased with himself, “Okay, will do.” I watched him gather up his notes and take off to another part of the house.
My eyes scanned the room and found Rod, sitting off in a far corner. He was sitting back in a large armchair, one leg draped over the knee of the other. His thumb against his temple while his fingers tapped against his bald head. The scowl on his face told me he was thinking hard about something. I recognized the look from back when he was my superior. Any time something had puzzled him, he had that look. I
meandered over to his corner, noticing it was a lot less quieter than the rest of the room.
“What’s going on?”
He didn’t look up at me, only scrubbing his palm across his eyes. His laptop screen up on his lap must have been bugging his vision.
“Nothing, just following a hunch.”
“What hunch is that?” Rod never followed a hunch that didn’t deliver. I knew from experience. All the many times a case would seem dire, but Rod would “feel it in his gut”, as he used to say. More often than not, we’d figure it out or it would lead us to where we needed to be.
He closed the laptop, setting it down, before finally raising his eyes to me. “Nothing kid, don’t worry about it.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. He was keeping something from me and I didn’t like it. We made a habit of not keeping secrets from each other. He always said that ruined all trust in the relationship between partners. I reminded him of that.
“So we keep secrets now?”
He chuckled lightly, as if I was overreacting. Standing up he placed a hand on my shoulder, much like the older brother/ father figure he was. “I’m not keeping secrets. You’ll know when I know, ok?”
I regarded him skeptically. Rod almost never kept me in the dark on anything and I didn’t like that he was doing it when it came to finding Alina. But I trusted this man with my own life. I knew he had my back and wouldn’t let me down.
“Alright man.”
The corner of his mouth lifted upward into a smirk, then his face turned serious again, “How are you doing though?”
Rod and I normally didn’t talk feelings, but he would be one of the only people who’d recognize that I wasn’t doing well. My guard was always down when it came to him. I thought about his question.
“I don’t know man. Some days I’m good. Other days, I’m ready to break everything in sight. I’m sick of combing through everything I know about her and still coming up short. I’m scared she's not ok,” I admitted.
“What does your heart tell you?”
I coiled back, looking at my hardened, asshole of a friend like he suddenly sprouted two heads, “My heart?”
His eyes rolled, “Yes, asshole. Your heart. I’m not as sensitive as you young bucks and I’m certainly not overly in touch with my feelings, but I trust my heart.”
“I thought that was your gut,” I sneered.
“Fuck you,” he retorted, no trace of negative connotation in his tone, “I’m serious man. What do you feel in there?” he stabbed a finger in my chest.
I thought about it. Really contemplated what I truly believed.
What I saw on the video, what I couldn’t get out of my head, didn’t look like someone randomly trying to just rob her house. She was a target for something. If she was just “in the way”, the guy could’ve killed her right then and there. He took her for some reason, but no demands had been made in the week since I’d discovered the tape. None of it made sense.
“I think she’s still alive,” I whispered, almost as if I was afraid to utter it out loud. I couldn’t bear it if I was wrong.
“Then she’s alive.” He pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons unlocking the screen, “Now— I have to go check on my wife.
We’re never away from each other this long so I have to make sure she hasn’t run off with the pool boy.”
“Oh you didn’t know? She’s back at my condo, waiting for me.”
My tongue stuck out playfully as I finished the joke, dodging the right hook he sailed in my direction. “Just kidding man, go handle that.”
I smirked as he walked out of the library, but felt that hollow feeling again as he left. I wanted that with Alina. It made absolutely no sense at all for me to have fallen for her after such a short time, but I had fallen for her. And hard.
I was foolish to think that my marriage to Lindsey would ever be as real as the love Rod and Leslie shared. Having had that horrible experience under my belt, and still dealing with the consequences of that, I never thought that kind of love was possible. Until her. Alina had given me hope and made me believe in love again. The kind of love that I hadn’t even realized I was so desperate for.
I wouldn’t let go of Alina so easily. Once I found her, I wouldn’t lose her. Never again.
a
Hours later, I wasn’t feeling quite so optimistic.
I stormed out of the library and out onto the grounds for some fresh air. As soon as I stepped out, I realized it was a bad idea. This entire house held so many memories for me because it was her house.
My only experience of it was either because of her or with her. I felt fire burning in my chest, remembering the last time I had her here. Traipsing across the lawn, holding hands and kissing. Seeing her strip bare in the pool so we could make love, only to be interrupted and almost discovered by her parents.
I closed my eyes tightly, wanting the memories to just chill the fuck out for a minute so I could clear my head, but the rush of them was
so strong I had to go back inside. Retreating back through the door, I stalked through the house to go out the front door. Taking careful steps to avoid going near the hallway that led to her room. I’d successfully avoided that hallway ever since coming back here after she kicked me out of her life.
Bursting through the front doors, I was happy for the cool air. It was nearly sunset and the sky
was showing off its brilliant watercolor style painting of the clouds. I sat on the front steps, holding my head in my hands, praying for something to happen.
All I needed was one lead. One breakthrough. One tiny sliver of evidence that would somehow tie all of this together. The background check on all of the cleaning crew came back squeaky clean, which didn’t surprise me at all. Rosa seemed thorough and wise enough to do her own checks on her people. The fingerprint analysis of Alina’s house came back completely unremarkable. Every one of the prints were traced back to either Alina, myself or someone who was supposed to be in there for whatever reason.
I knew the fingerprints wouldn’t reveal much because the attacker had gloves on. He was smart enough to cover those tracks. In fact, not a single hair or DNA sample was recovered so we ended up right back at square one. Only a video of the event and nothing else.
I was grateful that between Rod and I, I was able to assemble such a great team of resources. Because he was well known and because I was a total asshole, we were able to get expedited results for all of our tests. But it wasn’t enough. None of this mattered if it didn’t lead us anywhere.
A low chuckle prompted me to lift my head. The fire in my chest flamed as Jason walked up to the house, having parked far enough away that I didn’t hear it coming up the drive. It was unusual to see him dressed in dark blue jeans and a fitted black henley instead of a suit. In
fact, I hadn’t seen him wear a suit once since our last altercation right here in the front of the house nearly two weeks ago. He’d stopped reporting in for work too, leaving the rest of the team to pick up his slack while he was on vacation.
I wanted to make some kind of smart-ass remark to give me a reason to wipe that smug grin off his face, but I resisted the urge. I already struggled with keeping my anger in check. Jason was like the perfect trigger to the ticking time bomb that was me when I was angry.
The corner of my mouth tugged upward when I thought about how I had him gripped up against the car the last time we met like this. However, I needed to stay focused, so fighting with Jason would have to wait for another day. I dropped my gaze in an effort to communicate that I wasn’t in the mood and I wouldn’t entertain his bullshit.
But for some reason, the fucker wouldn’t just leave it alone.
“I bet she staged the whole thing, knowing you had surveillance on her.”
I’m sure he intended on saying the words and casually walking off, but I wasn’t in the mood to let him have his way.
I stood and lunged for the back of his shirt, grasping the fabric and yanking him back to me. I swung him around and pushed him roughly up against one of the stone pillars in front of the house. He grunted in pain as his back collided with the hard surface, but his eyes seethed angrily as I leaned in close.
“Stop fucking with me Jason. You saw the damn tape. There was nothing staged about that shit.” I pulled and slammed him again,
“Aren’t you tired of meeting up this way? Because my patience with you is already paper fucking thin. Stay away from me. Stay away from my investigation. And when she comes back, you better stay the fuck away from her too.”
I released him and stalked back into the house, slamming the front door behind me. The entryway shook as a result. I knew someone would come running in a second to find out what was going on.
Besides, the crew in the library would certainly hear about what just happened in a few minutes as soon as Jason went in there. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone’s stares, so I made a hard right and went exactly where I’d been avoiding.
My rage carried me all the way through the house and into Alina’s room. Anger had clouded my vision, but as soon as I stepped foot into her room, everything was sharpened into clarity. I fell to my knees in the center of her room, my head in my hands, as tears welled up in my eyes.
It was all becoming too much.
I didn’t know what to do and I was so afraid of not being able to save her. Sleep evaded me, since watching the tape. I chased unconsciousness with a bottle of whiskey every night. If I didn’t, all I could think about was what was happening to her. What she was suffering through. I meant what I said to Rod about my heart believing she was still alive, but that didn’t mean she was safe. Tears seeped down my face, despite trying to hold them in.
I hated myself for not protecting her the way I should have. I knew better. I should have never walked out on her, regardless of what she said. I was supposed to protect her.
I stayed in her room for awhile. Letting the weight of everything hold me down. In front of everyone, I was strong, calculating and meticulous. But in private, I was a wreck. I couldn’t let anyone see me that way. Her brothers did their best to be helpful, but after watching the tape, they were easily agitated and fought with everyone, including me.
I had to tell them to focus on their lives and their dad’s campaign.
Thomas and Vivian were barely keeping it together. Vivian stayed in her wing of the house. Hardly ever leaving her room. The only time she stepped out was to accompany Thomas on his campaign trail.
The whole team watched with rapt attention during a press conference where she was asked questions surrounding her children. The woman put on an act worthy of an Academy Award. I watched her effortlessly dodge an inquisition on Alina’s whereabouts — the public was curious since she hadn’t been seen since the fundraising event. She simply said that Alina was off studying photography, thus connecting us further when the press got wind that I was a photographer.
Back at the manor, both of them were as helpful as they could be. But the weight of this situation was taking a toll on them. It was pushing down on all of us. My anger was enough to fuel me most of the time. In those remaining moments it was barely enough to contain the fear and dread that threatened to close its fist around my neck.
I pulled it together and went back to the Library. Everyone was head down, focusing on something when I walked in. There was a distinct buzz in the air that hadn’t been there when I left. One of the men must’ve read the confusion on my face because he left his computer and came over to where I stood.
“What’s going on?”
“While you were gone sir, Johnson over there had an idea.” the young man spoke. He looked to be in his early twenties. Light brown hair cropped close in the style that most of the security staff was required to wear.
“What idea was that?”
He shrugged, a bewildered smile playing on his face, “Well we kept coming up short on what to do next so he started watching the video over and over.”
I was still lost, “…And?”
“He noticed she was reaching for something in her purse. We naturally assumed it was a weapon of sorts, but Johnson theorized it might have been for her cell phone.”
A lightbulb went off, “So now you’re tracking it?”
He nodded, a boyish grin stretching his mouth, “Yep.
“Good job.”
I didn’t know why that thought hadn’t crossed my mind sooner.
That bit of information made my chest expand, like the hopeless weight of not knowing what to do next was lifting. At least we had a plan now.
THIRTY ONE | Alina
“I don’t know, sir.”
“It was right here, all day. I don't know where it would have gone.”
I pressed my body against the frame of the door, my ear straining to hear what was going on outside of the room. Joe was pacing back and forth, the phone glued to his ear and stress tones in his voice.
“No sir,” he stopped abruptly, standing erect, “I didn’t go into her room.”
My heart shuddered as I exhaled the breath I was holding. He must’ve heard me because he turned around and we made eye contact.
Both of us wide-eyed and scared. My mouth parted to say something, but he moved his head to the side quickly, his eyes flashing dangerously. A command to stay quiet. Biting my lip, I backed away and retreated to the bed.
It was clear that Ja
son was on the phone. He was the only one who called Joe and he was the only one who could strike fear in both of us without even being in the same room. I anxiously gnawed on my fingers. Had he seen us? Did he have cameras somewhere around the
cabin? Suddenly my skin was crawling at the thought of Jason watching me in this cabin. It wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibilities. I thought about what Derrick had said about Jason telling him to do whatever was necessary to get information on me, and that had included using cameras.
My stomach lurched and I started dry heaving. I crawled deep underneath the covers, trying to stop my body from shaking. Panic was settling deep in my soul. Jason flew into a rage at the mere mention or memory of Derrick. If he’d seen me seduce Joe, there was no telling how far he’d go with my punishment.
It wasn’t long before Joe came into the room. I could hear his footsteps creaking across the floor. I couldn’t pretend to be asleep if I tried. I was shaking too hard.
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