by Lizzie James
27
Alex
I stared at her, hating that it fell to me now to break her heart. I always promised myself that I would never be the one to break her and now, because of that arsehole, I would have to break my word.
She stood as I walked to her, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders pulling her into my chest before I kissed her forehead.
“Let’s go into the bedroom,” I whispered. I wanted to give her privacy when I shattered her world. “We can talk in there.” I turned back to James. “Call Addie’s room-mate. Tell her what’s going on.”
Charlie always came across as a private person. I think the only time I had seen her cry was when we heard the heartbeat of our child for the first time.
She took my hand and followed me to our bedroom. I pulled her down next to me before cradling her face in my hands.
“You’re scaring me,” she whispered. Her eyes trailed to the gap in the open doorway. “James looks...”
“James,” I started, “went to see Addie tonight.” I twirled her daisy ring a little, trying to prolong what I was about to say next. “She wasn’t there.”
“What do you mean?” she whispered.
“She was gone.” Her eyes widened at my words, but I quickly continued. “The coffee table was overturned and she...” I shook my head, feeling tongue-tied. “Her wine glass was spilled over on the rug and her mobile phone was on the floor with a cracked screen.”
“No,” she whispered. Her eyes filled before she shook her head. “No!” She sobbed before her shoulders began shaking.
I pulled her into me, hating the way that my chest hurt with every hiccup and sob that came from her small body.
“I’m sorry, baby.” I slid my arm beneath her knees and picked her up, lifting her across my lap. I rocked her from side to side, trying to ease her grief with my touch. I could feel the wetness from her tears soaking into my shirt, and I wanted to smash my fist into David’s face for every one of them that fell. I moved us up the bed a little, keeping my grip on her, being careful not to jostle her too much. I laid us down, holding her hand over my heart. After a while, her tears slowly stopped before she lifted her head.
“Did you call the police?” she rasped. Her eyes were swollen from the waterfall of tears that had dripped down her cheeks.
“We did, darling. We left them at Addie’s apartment.” I rubbed my hand up and down her arm. “They are going to call here in the morning to speak to you. I told them about David.”
“Do you think it was him?” she asked. She rested her chin on my chest, looking up at me.
“I hope not but...” I blew out a breath. “I don’t really know who else it could be that would want to hurt her.”
She nodded at my words, not arguing.
“I would kill him if he ever took you away from me like that.” I meant it. It wasn’t a threat or a promise: it was a fucking vow. I would happily serve time in prison again if he ever laid a hand on my girl. I placed my hand on her bump, feeling the baby kick.
“Don’t say that,” she whispered. Her lower lip wobbled. “I hate to think of you locked up. It breaks my heart, Alex.”
“I know, baby.” I dipped my head and kissed her lips softly before pulling back. “I mean it, though. I love you too damn fucking much to ever let that bastard walk if he hurt you.”
A moment of silence passed before she spoke again.
“Do you think she’s okay?” she whispered. “Do you think he’s hurting her?”
I stared at her trusting face, wanting to lie to her to spare her feelings. I couldn’t lie to her any more than she could lie to me, though.
“I think.” I hesitated, trying to choose my words. “I think Addie is strong. She’s tough, and I think she will do whatever it takes to get home to us.” I stroked my fingers along her cheekbone. “To you.”
She nodded her head before she laid her head back down on my chest, tightening her arm around my waist.
We both lay there in the darkness, both of our thoughts lost to wherever Addie was.
I prayed that night—not for the first time—for the strength that would be needed to get through the rest of this ordeal. I hoped like hell that Addie would come home to us, but I was terrified about what state we would find her in—scared how far that fucker would push it. If this didn’t work out, if we lost Addie, I would lose the three most important people in my world: my brother, my girl and the little life growing inside of her.
There was no way in fucking hell, I was going to let that happen.
Sitting down in the bar the next morning, I watched Charlie as she fidgeted with the hem of her jumper. It was the third time she had pulled it down over her thighs.
“I wish you had eaten something this morning.” I took her hand, squeezing it gently.
“I wasn’t hungry.” She shook her head before looking at James, watching him pace back and forth by the door to the kitchen. “Did he sleep last night?” she asked, worrying.
He looked like he hadn’t had a wink of sleep last night, and he was way too wired from coffee.
“James,” I called. “Come and sit with us.” I nodded my head to Charlie, widening my eyes at him, trying to hint at him to ease up a little.
He nodded before coming over and taking a seat next to Charlie.
“Did you sleep last night?” she asked him.
“Yes.” He nodded his head, giving her a small smile. “I’ve just had too much coffee.”
“Right,” she muttered. She knew he was lying to her, but she didn’t call him out on it. She reached over and placed her hand over his, giving it a squeeze before her attention was taken by the main doors opening. We all straightened up when the same set of police officers walked in from last night. They weren’t alone, though. An older male in a grey suit walked in with them. He looked to be in his early fifties and had a polite smile on his face.
“Hello. I’m Detective Michaels, and I’m lead investigator on this case.” He held his hand out to James and me, shaking our hands and took a seat opposite us. He gave a polite smile to Charlie before holding his hand out across the table to her. “You must be Charlotte Chase.”
“Yes,” she croaked. She gave a small smile, shaking his hand. “Do you have any new information?” she asked, desperation leaking into her tone.
“I’m afraid not.” He placed his arms on the table before linking his fingers. “I am here to ask some follow-up questions linking to Mr. Winters’ statement that he gave my officers last night.”
“About what?” I asked.
“About Mr. David Smith.” He looked at Charlie. “I understand he is an ex-partner of yours, Miss Chase.”
“Yes.” She nodded her head. “We separated over a year ago. It was an amicable split at the time.”
“At the time,” he said, repeating her words. “And that has changed over the last year?” She didn’t have a chance to answer before he was continuing with his next question. “Before you answer that, may I ask, what caused the separation?”
“I went to visit him in the office as he was working late one evening.” She fidgeted, pulling on the ends of her sleeves. “I walked into his office and he was...” She stopped, clearing her throat before continuing. “He was screwing his receptionist.”
“I see.” He had a good poker face. “Were you and he living together at the time?”
“No.” She shook her head exaggeratedly. “Before I moved in with Alex, I had been living with Addie for three years. She’s my best friend, sir.” She was getting choked up, and I knew it wasn’t going to take long before she would break.
“I see. So, when do you think it was that it went from an amicable split to more than that?” He had a polite expression on his face, but I wasn't appreciative of the type of questions he was asking. He was putting pressure on her and I didn’t fucking like it.
“I, uh, I noticed him hanging outside my building during his lunch a couple of times a week a few months after we separated. I didn’t t
hink much of it because his office was only a block away. We always used to meet up at a sandwich shop opposite my building for lunch when we could.”
“I see.” He nodded for her to continue.
“It began happening more often and that’s when I began to think that there was a problem.”
“Did his behaviour start getting more erratic?” he asked. “Did you ever consider approaching him about his behaviour?”
“No,” she answered. She reached over and placed her hand on top of mine on the table, smiling at me when I squeezed her fingers. “I ignored it. I didn’t have anything I thought needed saying since our break-up.” She shrugged her shoulders. “He followed me home a few times after that, and I saw him sitting on the bench opposite the apartment building a few times.”
“Has Mr. Smith ever approached you, Mr. Winters?” he asked, directing his question to me.
“Yes.” I nodded my head. “When Charlie and I began dating, he came into the bar and began shouting about our relationship.” I could feel my temper rising. “It was around that time that Charlie had a break-in to her apartment and I changed the locks for her.”
“A break-in?” He looked at Charlie sharply. “Was that reported?” He had an edge to his tone now.
“No.” She shook her head. “I was taking a shower and I heard a noise. When I turned, the bathroom door and the door to the apartment was wide open.” She looked at me before turning back to face the detective. “The next day, he came to the apartment shouting because Alex was there. They had a little fight and then David left.” Her fingers began rubbing small circles in her bump. “The next day we went to the station to report his behaviour.”
The detective nodded his head, holding his hand up to halt her. “I’ve seen the case report,” he answered. “I understand he made an assault charge against you, Mr. Winters and then, you, yourself, made a formal complaint, Miss Chase.”
“Has that helped at all?” Charlie asked.
“It has, yes.” He nodded his head. “Thank you for your time, Miss Chase.”
She stood, still holding my hand before stopping when the detective continued to talk.
“If you can excuse us, Miss Chase. I would like a word with you both,” he said, gesturing to me and James. “I just have a few follow-up questions on the statements that were given last night.”
She nodded before bending down and kissed my cheek. “I’ll just go upstairs and have a lie-down, if that’s okay.”
“Of course.” I brought the back of her hand up to my lips, kissing the soft skin there. “I’ll be up when I’m done.”
She nodded her head before walking behind the bar, leaving us to it.
“James. If you can tell me in your own words what happened last night from the last time that you physically saw and spoke with the victim.”
James flinched.
Victim. It sounded so fucking cold and calculating. Like Addie wasn’t a person. Like she was just a body in an investigation.
28
Charlie
I went up to Alex’s apartment, taking a seat on the sofa. I was sure the day would come where I’d be comfortable calling it our apartment instead of his.
I looked at the photograph of Addie and me that was sitting on the shelf above the fireplace. We were downstairs in the corner booth. There were cocktails on the table and we both had our arms wrapped around each other with huge grins on both of our faces. I still felt numb over this situation. This couldn’t be happening.
When I’d first met David, he had been so kind and caring. When we’d dated, he had sometimes been outspoken about my outfits or my plans, but kidnapping a woman was a huge leap from the man that I had first met. When the detective had been asking me questions downstairs, I’d known he had no fresh leads. I knew that with every question he asked me—I knew it deep in my bones—that he had no clue where to start looking for Addie and David. I had watched more than enough crime investigation documentaries with Addie. I knew they would have checked David’s home by now. I also knew that it was only a matter of time before he either made contact or took it past the point of no return.
I was shaken out of my dark thoughts when my phone began ringing. I looked at the screen and saw it was a withheld number. I normally didn’t answer telephone numbers that I didn’t know. Withheld or private numbers usually went straight to the voicemail.
Today was different, though.
“Hello.”
Silence greeted me.
“Hello,” I said louder. I pulled the phone from my ear, looking at the screen to see if the call was still connected. It was. The call duration was still ticking the seconds away.
“David?” I asked, taking a stab in the dark. “David? Is that you?”
“It’s me.” He sounded so cold and dismissive.
“David, what have you done?” I asked. “Where’s Addie?”
“She’s here. She’s alive,” he answered. “I need to see you.” My hand tensed on my bump, guarding the life growing inside of me. “I won’t hurt you,” he continued. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. I just need to see you.”
My thoughts went straight to the boys downstairs, but before I could get up, his voice spoke again, stopping me.
“Don’t tell anyone,” he threatened. “If you dare, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in her head.” A moment of silence passed before he spoke again. “I won’t hurt you. I just want to see you,” he said, sounding a little calmer now. “Go downstairs. There’s a taxi waiting for you. Get into it and leave your phone behind.” The sound of the call hanging up came through the line.
I put my hand over my mouth, trying to contain the sobs. I placed my other hand over my belly, torn about what to do. Did I risk everything I have or did I let Addie suffer the consequences? Did I put my friend first or my baby?
I looked down at my phone, hesitating before standing up. I grabbed my phone and walked to the door, typing a message to Alex. I didn’t hit send until I was at the bottom of the staircase. I placed the phone on the bottom step, hit send and disappeared out of the side door.
I believed in Alex. I believed he would come for me. I knew he had CCTV surveillance installed, and I believed he would work with the police. All that they had to do was check the taxi number and follow it.
Alex wouldn’t let me down. He hadn’t yet, and I knew that he never would.
As I exited the bar, there was a black cab taxi idling at the kerb. I hopped in, and the driver immediately pulled away. I looked through the back window, relieved when I saw Alex come running out the side door with James and the detective chasing behind him. As we disappeared out of view, I sent a prayer to God, asking for his protection for all of my loved ones today. If he got us through this, I would be forever grateful.
I gazed around, trying to pick up some signs on where he was taking me. He took a lot of the back roads, and I knew that wherever David was keeping Addie, it was somewhere in the direction of the industrial parks near the outside of the city. I looked out the back and side windows, trying to catch a glimpse of James’s vehicle. I was terrible at recognising car makes. There was no way that I could pick it out of the traffic around us.
Around twenty minutes later, the car came to a stop. I stared at the driver in a panic, realising that I didn’t have my purse with me.
“There you go.” He gave me a polite smile in the rear-view mirror. “Your friend already paid the fare when he called to hire us.” His eyes narrowed at me, probably wondering why I wasn’t moving.
I caught on, nodding my head before climbing out. I looked around, trying to stay calm when the taxi pulled away, leaving me behind. I looked around the industrial estate. It seemed deserted. There were several units with their shutters pulled down, except for the one in front of me. The shutters were up and the uPVC door was wide open.
I took a deep breath before straightening my shoulders and walked inside, making sure to remain as quiet as possible, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. If I c
ould get Addie out and away from here, I would be happy.
The ground floor was deserted. There were a few oil stains on the floor but there didn’t seem to be anyone in sight. I walked quietly towards the back of the unit where I saw a metal staircase leading up to another floor. I took the steps slowly, one at a time, craning my neck to try and see the landing above me. I tensed with anxiety with every step I took and then I saw her. I ran up the last few steps, grabbing the railing, using it to launch myself higher.
“Addie!” I lifted her head, hating the way it was slumped. She had duct tape across her mouth and her arms and legs were roped to the legs and back of the chair. She had bruises on her arms and a cut across her eyebrow with dried blood down the side of her face. “Addie!” I shook her forcefully, needing her awake.
Looking around, I wondered where the hell David was. There was no way he brought me all the way out here for me to just walk back out with Addie without any confrontation.
I shook her again before smacking her hard across the face, needing to shock some life back into her.
Her head shot to the side before she lifted it.
I sighed in relief when her eyes met mine. I grabbed the edge of the tape and ripped it off, not having the time for gentleness.
“Ow, you bitch!” She rubbed her lips together, attempting to ease the soreness. “That slap hurt.”
I couldn’t contain the chuckle that came from me.
“I’m sorry. Let me get these things off.” I grabbed the knots binding her arms together, tugging for several moments and starting to panic when they wouldn’t undo. I finally loosened them enough for her to slip her cut wrists through before she helped me untie the knots on her legs. I grabbed her arm and slung it over my shoulders before I began pulling her towards the staircase.
“Where is he?” I muttered, my eyes darting around to spy him.
“I don’t know.” She held her side, gasping in pain. “He’s a fucking psycho.”