by Claire Adams
"It looks like, um, this morning," she said. "A few hours ago."
"Very well, thank you," I said taking my ID and stuffing it in my bag. Cam Connor strikes again. Now I was furious. I was angry with him for paying these bills without consulting me, and I was mad that it made me angry.
I pulled out my phone, erased the message I'd been typing and simply tapped out the message, "Call me. Now," before hitting send. Since I had no idea how long it was going to take him to get back to me, I decided to head over to the diner for breakfast and a cup of strong coffee.
I might be angry, but that didn't mean I was going to punish myself by going hungry.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Cam
After I paid Alex's and Liz’s tuition bill, I headed over to the station to tell Chief Riley that I needed to take a couple of days off. I had vacation time coming, and I couldn't think of a better reason to use it than to help Alex find Liz. I also needed to talk with Leo and be at the press conference for Richard Metzler later in the week, but first thing's first.
"Connor, what's up? Isn't this your day off?" Chief said as he looked up from his paperwork.
"It is, but I need a favor," I said as I stood in front of his desk. "I need some time off, Chief."
"Is that so?" he said leaning back in his chair. "And what brought this on? I hope it's not something that's going to interfere with your duties here at the station."
"No, sir," I said shaking my head vigorously. "I just need a few days to straighten out a few things and tie up some loose ends."
"Well, this is rather inconvenient, Connor," he said as he studied me. "Given that Vangel has called out sick for the week."
"Oh? That's weird; I didn't know he was ill," I said in a sarcastic voice.
"He's not, but I'm not his daddy, so I'm not going to go digging around in his business," Chief said as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. "I'm going to assume that this is something important."
"It is, sir, or I wouldn't be asking," I nodded. "I've got some things that need to be taken care of and they are urgent."
"Alright, I guess we can transfer a guy over from one of the other stations for a few days," Chief said as he picked up the schedule and drew a line through my name on it. "This had better be good, Connor."
"It is, sir," I said as I turned and headed for the door. "It's of vital importance."
As I left the station, I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, and when I pulled it out and saw the message from Alex, I knew she knew. She was mad, and probably rightfully so, and I was going to have to answer for my actions. It wasn't going to be an easy conversation, but first I needed to talk to Leo.
I drove to the office, but Leo was out, so I left a note on his desk telling him to let me know when and where I needed to be for Metzler's announcement and that I'd be there.
After I'd taken care of the first three things on my list, I knew it was time to call Alex. This was going to be a difficult discussion and I knew it was possible she wouldn't understand my reasoning behind paying her bills, but I crossed my fingers and hoped that, at the very least, she'd hear me out before she dumped me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Alex
A hot breakfast of eggs, home fried potatoes and bacon with sourdough toast went a long way to making me feel less angry at Cam. I was still annoyed, but by the time I'd finished my meal, I'd decided that it was possible for me to listen to his side of the story before I decided whether I was going to dump him or not.
I kept my phone next to my plate as I ate, waiting for a text or a call, but nothing came. By the time I'd paid my bill, I was starting to get irritated again. If we were going to discuss this, he needed to respond, and soon.
On the way to the library, my phone rang. I smiled as I pulled it out, but when I looked at the screen I was shocked to find that it was Liz calling me, not Cam.
"Liz! Liz! Where are you?" I yelled into the phone.
"Alex, I need help," said the voice on the other end. It was Liz, but she sounded weak and scared.
"Where are you, Liz?" I asked. "Tell me and I'll come get you."
"I'm not feeling so good, Alex," she groaned before she started crying. "I'm in trouble. I need help."
"Tell me where you are, Liz," I repeated. I knew that I needed to find a way to figure out where she was, but she didn't seem to want to tell me. "Liz, tell me where you are."
"North Side, I think," she said. "I'm looking out the window and I can see the street signs."
"What do the signs say?" I prompted her. "Liz? Tell me what the signs say."
"Um, one says Jarvis and one says...um..." she faded away.
"Liz! What does the other one say?" I yelled into the phone. If she was high, I needed her to tell me where she was before she passed out again. "LIZ!"
"Um, the other one says...um...Jarvis," she slurred. "I need help, Alex. I don't like him."
"Liz, one sign says Jarvis. What does the other one say, sweetie?” I said dropping my voice to a comforting tone. "Tell me what the other sign says."
"It says Pauline," she sighed as her voice faded. "Pauline is such a nice name, isn't it?"
"Paulina?" I asked as I looked up the cross streets on my phone. "You're at Jarvis and Paulina? Who took you there, Liz? Who is the guy you're with?"
"Dunno, he's some guy," she slurred. "He had good stuff. He's handsome."
"Who is he, Liz?" I asked. "Have you met him before?"
"No, nice guy, I saw him hanging around campus a few times," she said sounding a little more cheerful. "He gave me flowers once."
"Do I know him?" I asked wondering if I'd met this guy before and if I could identify him to the police.
"Nah uh, don't think so," she said fading out again. All of a sudden, I heard a loud noise in the background and Liz shrieked in my ear.
"What are you doing, bitch?" a male voice demanded. "I thought you took her damn phone, you idiot!"
"No! NO!" Liz screamed. There was a loud bang before the phone went dead.
"Oh God, no," I whispered in horror as I stared at my phone. I quickly dialed the number again, but it went right to voicemail. Seconds later my phone rang again. The number was unlisted, but I answered it.
"Look, I've got your friend and she's a massive pain in my ass," a male voice on the other end said. "Come get her and get her the hell out of my house."
"Who are you?" I asked. "Why did you take Liz?"
"I didn't take her, lady," the man said. "She came with me and now I want her out of my house. Come get her or I'll dump her ass in an alley and let her figure out her way home herself. I'm sick of her whining."
"Where are you?" I asked thinking his voice sounded vaguely familiar. "I'll come get her right now, please don't hurt her."
"Lady, I'm not into hurting chicks," he laughed. "It's the apartment building on the Northwest corner of Jarvis and Paulina. Ring apartment 3A. Just get her quick, would ya? She's really getting on my nerves."
"I'm on my way," I said before I hung up. I needed to get up to the North Side of town and fast. I hailed a cab, gave the driver the intersection and told him to step on it. He gave me a funny look before shrugging and heading north. The whole ride, I tried to figure out what would have possessed Liz to go anywhere with someone she didn't know that well, and all I could come up with was drugs. It had to be the drugs.
Twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of a run down apartment building. The driver looked at it then back at me skeptically before asking, "You want me to wait?"
"No, this might take some time," I said as I ran my card through and paid the fare. "But thank you."
"No problem," he said as I got out of the cab and headed to the front door. The neighborhood was shabby, but not completely run down, and as I rang the buzzer and waited for someone to answer, I saw two young women pushing a stroller covered by a heavy blanket and wondered where they were headed.
"What?" a voice said over the speaker.
"I'm here to pick up my friend," I said adding, "I talked to you a little while ago?"
"Come up. Third floor," the voice said before buzzing me into the building. I walked into the lobby and was surprised to see an intricate tile mosaic depicting a mermaid deep under the sea on the floor. The walls were painted in a light lavender giving the space a light airy feel. I marveled at the creativity as I waited for the elevator, and wondered who'd put such time and effort into the project in such an odd place.
I found the apartment, knocked on the door and was surprised when someone I recognized opened the door.
"Victor, what are you doing here?" I asked. Without saying a word, he reached out, grabbed my arm and pulled me into the apartment slamming the door behind me.
"Shut up," he said as he squeezed my arm and dragged me down the hallway to a back room.
"What are you doing?" I shouted as I struggled to pull away. Victor clamped down harder on my arm and then wrapped his other arm around my waist and lifted me off the floor. I screamed, "Stop it! Stop it! You're hurting me!"
"Not even close, sweetheart," he sneered as he marched down the hall. "But if you don't shut the hell up, I will."
"Why are you doing this? Where's Liz?" I asked trying to will myself to stay calm. The tone of his voice told me that he wouldn't hesitate to hurt me if he needed to, but I couldn't figure out why.
"In here," he said as he pushed the door open and threw me inside before slamming it shut again. I heard a lock click and assumed that he'd made sure we couldn't escape.
I looked around the room and saw Liz lying on a dirty mattress in a far corner. There was a bathroom attached to the room, and that gave me a sense of relief that I wouldn't have to beg to be allowed to use a toilet.
"Liz! Liz!" I said as I sunk to the mattress and gently shook her limp body. "Liz, wake up. It's Alex. I'm here to take you home. Liz!"
"Alex?" she mumbled with her eyes closed. I could see that she'd been drugged with something to keep her pliant and quiet, but what I couldn't figure out was whether she'd taken the drugs willingly or not. "Alex, is that you?"
"It's me, Liz," I said as I rubbed her arm trying to bring her back to consciousness. "Wake up and talk to me, Liz!"
"I don't feel so good," she moaned as she rolled over on her side and dry heaved a little. "My stomach hurts."
"I know, I know," I said, smoothing the hair back from her forehead. "We'll get you out of here and to a hospital."
As I said this, I realized that I needed to call for help before they realized I had a phone and took it away. My phone rang as I was pulling it out of my pocket. It was Cam.
"Cam! I'm with Liz at Jarvis and Paulina, call the cops and come get us!" I shouted into the phone. "Apartment 3A! Come find us now! Jarvis and Paulina! 3A! Mermaid in the purple lobby! It's Vic--"
The door to the room burst open and Victor stormed across the room grabbing the phone out of my hand before I could say anything else. He took the phone and threw it against the wall.
"NO! You can't do that!" I screamed as he backhanded me and grabbed me by the throat.
"You shut the hell up, you stupid bitch," he growled as he looked right into my eyes. "You're going to do what I say, and if you fuck up again, I'm going to kill you and your friend. And I won't lose a wink of sleep over it."
"We didn't do anything!" I sobbed. I felt the air being forced from my lungs as he punched me in the gut and dropped me to the ground.
"Shut the hell up, and don't make me come in here again," he warned before grabbing my phone off the floor, slamming the door shut and turning the lock.
"Liz, what's going on here?" I cried as I crawled over to the dirty mattress and curled up next to her holding my stomach. "What happened?"
"Don't know," she said in a thick voice. "He took me from the hospital. Said Cam told him to pick me up and take me home. He stuck a needle in my arm. Then I was here."
"This is screwed up," I said as I grabbed Liz's hand and held on tightly. "I hope Cam heard me and comes to find us."
"He will," Liz said before she fell back into her haze.
I hoped that she was right, because from my vantage point, I wasn't sure he'd be able to find us.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Cam
When I heard Alex's frantic scream on the other end of the line, I immediately went into action mode and began driving north to the intersection she'd told me to find. With the exception of the address, none of the rest of what she'd said had made sense, and I wasn't sure how I would be able to find her, but I trusted that once I got there, I would be able to figure it out. I was tempted to call in back up, but the last thing I needed was publicity like this before Leo and I made our first public appearance with Richard Metzler.
"Jarvis and Paulina. 3A. Mermaid in the purple lobby," I kept repeating to myself as I drove north on Sheridan. She'd started to say something else, but I had no idea what that was, so I just kept repeating what I knew until I was sure I wouldn't forget it.
In the meantime, I called the Rogers Park police and reported a kidnapping. I told them what I'd heard over the phone and said I was on my way to the intersection. They assured me that they would send officers over to check it out as soon as they could, but at the moment the bulk of their force was dealing with a gang shooting on the West Side of the neighborhood.
I swore under my breath as I made a left onto Jarvis and slowly drove down the block. I wasn't sure if whoever had kidnapped Alex would be waiting outside or if they'd have lookouts. I drove past the intersection Alex had told me to find and then parked my truck around the corner before walking around the block to enter from the other side. I felt ridiculous playing spy in the middle of the day, but I didn't want to take any chances.
"What the hell is going on?" I muttered under my breath as I looked into the front door of an apartment building on the Southwest corner and saw nothing. I crossed the street and found exactly what Alex had said: a mermaid and purple walls. I knew I was at the right place.
I dialed Alex's number, but the call went straight to voicemail. So, I snuck around the side of the building to see if there were any doors open. I found one that led to the basement and carefully pulled it open and snuck inside. The whole basement was full of cobwebs and dead animals and I nearly vomited the contents of my stomach when I saw the stack of dead rats piled in the corner. Someone had been out hunting and I'd have been willing to bet it wasn't the neighborhood feral cats.
"Where are you, Alex?" I whispered as I looked for a way out of the basement to the lobby. I felt my way along the far wall and finally found a door that lay flush with the wall I tugged at the handle for almost a minute before I felt the door begin to give way and then all at once, I yanked it open and found myself staring into the basement laundry room where I surprised two women who were transferring clothing from the washing machine to the dryer. One of them screamed.
"Sorry, ladies!" I said as I stepped through the doorway and pulled the door shut behind me. No sense in letting the beasts that roamed that side of the basement out. "I'm looking for apartment 3A. Unconventional entrance, I know."
"I'll say," said the older woman with a skeptical look on her face. "You kids need to stay out of the basement, it's dangerous in there."
"It's okay, I'm a trained professional," I offered as I moved quickly to the elevator.
"Sure, right," said the other one raising an eyebrow as she continued transferring her laundry from one machine to the other. I nodded and tipped my invisible hat as the elevator doors slid shut.
"Three A, she said," I muttered as I hit the button and waited for the elevator to slowly grind its way up to the third floor. My phone rang as the elevator passed the third floor and when I looked down, I saw it was Alex.
"Alex! I'm on my way!" I shouted into the phone.
"Don't bother, Connor," a familiar voice replied. "If you come anywhere near this apartment, I'm going to burn it down."
"Victor? What the hell?" I said. "What a
re you doing?"
"I'm getting what I want," he replied in a cool voice. "This is all your fault, you know."
"My fault that you're a fucking psycho?" I shouted. "How is that my fault?"
"Oh, Connor," he sighed. "You are so common. Such a idiot. This is your entire fault because if you had given me what I wanted to begin with, none of this would be happening now. Your little girlfriend wouldn't be crying in the corner and her friend definitely wouldn't be hooked on heroin."
"And this is all my fault, is it?" I replied realizing that he didn't know I was on my way up. "So, if I stay away, you'll let the girls go?"
"No, I didn't say that," he replied in a bored voice. "I just said that if you came anywhere near, I'd burn the place down with them in it. So, I would suggest that as soon as that elevator opens up on the third floor, you hit the first floor button and get the hell out."
"What are you talking about?" I said feigning ignorance.
"I'm talking about the fact that I can see you riding the elevator and talking to me on the phone right at this moment," he said. "Your phone is in your right hand and you're leaning against the wall closest to the buttons. Good enough for you?"
My heart dropped as I realized that he could actually see me, but I forced myself to stay in the same position so as not to give him the upper hand. Meanwhile, I began plotting out my next steps.
"And if you're wondering, I've got the staircase wired as well," he said as if he knew what I was thinking. "Like I said, you're an idiot, Connor."
"What do you want, Victor?" I asked wondering what game he was playing.
"Nothing," he said. "I want absolutely nothing from you. No, strike that. What I want from you is to get the hell out of my building."
"Or else what?" I asked wondering what he was planning to do.
"Or else I burn it down," he said talking slowly as if speaking to a child. "What part of that didn't you understand?"
"I'm just trying to understand what it is you'll gain from doing that," I said as the elevator opened on the third floor and I looked down the hallway.