"How?" she asked. "Tell me how you think she destroyed his career."
He looked like he was considering the words, trying to make sense of things in his head. If she could put doubt in his mind, maybe he'd let her go.
"Stop talking," he said. "You're trying to confuse me with your lies.
"I'm not lying," she said. "Think about it. Your father died in a car accident in Halifax years later. Sharon had nothing to do with his death."
"No, no, no," he muttered. "You're just like her. Always lying and trying to manipulate me."
"I'm not," she said in her defence. "I'm not lying, and I'm not trying to manipulate you."
"Shut up," his fist slammed into her face. She could feel the pain as her vision blurred.
Before Ava got a chance to say anything, Kevin's phone rang. He looked at the screen then back at her before he answered it.
"What?" he snarled at the caller as he walked away.
She couldn't make out what he was saying, but Ava could tell he was angry even from where she was sitting. At this point, it didn't matter whether he was mad at her or at the caller. She just hoped he would stop hitting her.
The pain was excruciating, but she couldn't give up. She tried to stretch her neck and force her muscles to contract in short spurts to keep the circulation going. Ava wiggled her toes and fingers while trying to look around for something that could function as a weapon. She needed to loosen up the ropes if she wanted to get out of here.
Ava didn't hear him approach. He walked up behind, grabbed her hair and tugged her head back. She gasped in shock and from the pain.
"I told you," he said close to her ear. "No funny business."
"I wasn't doing anything," she told him.
"Women like you are always scheming," he muttered as he let go of her hair. "Always lying."
"I'm not," she told him. "I want to help you."
For several moments he just stood there staring at her. She could see glimpses of the Kevin she thought she knew, but Ava realized that Kevin never existed. The man standing before was a stranger. A violent, unpredictable man who wasn't afraid to use violence to get what he wanted.
Those cold, dead eyes stared at her mockingly. His mouth twisted in a grim smile. His hand closed around her neck as he whispered menacingly, "Don't try anything stupid. I have to get something, and then I'll deal with you."
Ava covered hundreds of cases of missing people. Many of them were abducted and killed. There was always a sense of dread and sadness when dealing with stories like that. Still, she never expected to go through something like this herself. She had no doubt that whatever he was getting, it wouldn't end well for her. He was going to kill her.
Ava thought of Stan. Her grandfather was always there for her, cheering her on. Pushing his own pain aside to aid her quest for Sharon. Her death would surely kill him. Of that, she had no doubt. Just thinking about it brought her to tears.
Her parents? Well, they would be crushed too, but at least they had each other. That fact didn't make it easier, but it gave her some comfort. Ava never cleared things up with her father after what Joan told her. She never told him she loved him and understood why he never told her the truth about Joan.
Joan, the caring, supportive and loving mother that's always been there for her. The woman who made her realize that she wasn't like Sharon. Ava always used her parent's failed marriage as an excuse for why she wasn't good with relationships. Joan made her realize that she was wrong.
Ava didn't want to live with regrets. Didn't want to become another missing woman who ended up dead at the hands of a madman. She jerked her legs in frustration and realized that the rope binding them to the chair came loose. She stretched her legs in front of her and groaned at the sensation. There was hope yet.
Chapter 19
As Jones went to check on the investigation, Tyler laid out the rest of the items. There were pictures, documents and notebooks.
"What's this?" Nick asked as he looked down at the pictures. Something clicked as he picked a small photo in the evidence bag. "Is this what I think it is?"
Michael and Joan moved closer for a better look as well.
"What is it?" Stan asked.
"These documents and pictures identify Kevin DiPalma as Antonio DiPalma's son," Tyler said. "He's been going by Smith, which is the reason he was never flagged."
"Do you think he's the one that took Ava?" Nick asked. Small things started to fall into place. "He was very interested in Sharon's case. I'm sure he would have seen the pictures and information we posted online. Ava wouldn't have been suspicious of him."
"It's possible," Tyler said. "Jones is running his name as we speak. We're trying to locate him, but nothing so far. He's not in his residence."
"What does this all have to do with Sharon?" Stan asked. "Did this DiPalma kill my daughter? And is his son now the one who took Ava? For what purpose?"
"We're still trying to put all the pieces together," Tyler assured him. "Unfortunately, we think there is more."
"What do you mean?"
"We suspect Kevin is also responsible for the death of Adam Walker and Frank Mitchell, the original investigator on Sharons' case."
"Let me get this straight," Michael said with an edge in his voice. "You're telling me that that man who killed two people, if not more, is the same man who took my daughter?"
"Mr. Reed," Tyler told him calmly. "We are doing everything we can to find your daughter. We will find her."
"This is Sharon all over," he said as he sank into his chair and looked over at Stan. Joan dabbed nervously at her eyes with a tissue.
"No, Michael," Stan shook his head. "This is not like Sharon. We know who took Ava. We know who the murderous son of a bitch is, and we're going to get her back."
"Why would Kevin kill Adam Walker?" Nick asked.
"I don't have an answer for that yet," Tyler told him. "But I know we're getting close."
"Could Adam have anything to do with that man's death? Kevin's father?" Michael asked. He was sitting down again, tapping his fingers nervously on the table.
"It's unlikely. DiPalma's death was deemed an accident," Tyler said. "Dangerous roads, bad weather. A driver not familiar with road hazards loses control of the car and ends up in the water. It happens more often than you think."
"What does this all have to do with Sharon and the documents she hid?" Stan asked. "You said before that they were records. What do these two men have to do with those records?"
"We think something was going on at the gallery that wasn't exactly legal. The accounts Sharon documented point to off-shore accounts for multiple shell corporations," Tyler said. "According to the RCMP records, they had the gallery under surveillance. I'm still trying to get more information on what they were investigating."
"When this all went down, Kevin was just a kid," Nick said. "Why would it matter to him now if his father, who's been out of his life for years, was connected to Sharon's death? Nobody knows their connection, so why bring it up?"
"I don't think it's his father's connection that prompted it all," Tyler said as he picked up one of the documents in the clear evidence bags. "It's his mother's."
"Who is his mother?" Michael asked.
"Elizabeth Northam," Tyler said. "She has a lot more at stake if this came out than any of them."
"Are you kidding me?" Nick said in disbelief. "Elizabeth Northam is Kevin's mother? How did we miss that?"
"That's exactly what I asked myself," Tyler said. "Why would a mother hide the existence of a child? Nothing in her records states that she has one."
"According to this birth certificate," Nick said as he looked at it. "Kevin was born in Vancouver. That's far from home."
"The way it's playing out for us is that Elizabeth's father didn't approve of the relationship," Tyler explained. "DiPalma was an artist and not exactly a good one. Based on what I've found about him, Northam wouldn't allow his daughter to get involved with someone like that. They were never
married. At least there are no records of marriage anywhere. Maybe that was to hide the relationship from her father."
"That would explain why she flew across the country to give birth."
"More than that," Tyler handed him several other documents. "Looks like Kevin was raised by DiPalma's side of the family at least till George Northam died."
***
As soon as Kevin left, Ava increased her efforts of getting freed from the ropes. She didn't have any time to waste. When Kevin came back, that could be the end for her. He made it clear that he wasn't going to let her go, and she wasn't going to test that theory. If he was going to kill her, she might as well make it as difficult as she could. She was done being a victim. All the anger raging through her gave her strength she didn't know she had.
After some effort, she was able to bring her wrists to her mouth and tried to loosen the rope. By rotating her wrists back and forth, she was able to slacken the rope just enough to maneuver the knot, enough to pull at it with her teeth. The rope wasn't budging at first, but after a few minutes of trying, she could finally wiggle her hands free.
Ava almost cried as she saw the raw skin on her wrists. But there was no time for self-pity. Ignoring the pain, she clenched her hands to get the circulation going again. When the numbness subsided, she started working on the ropes, tying her to the chair. By expanding and contracting her muscles as much as she could, she was able to loosen the rope just enough to make some space between her and the chair.
Her arms were still tied to her body with the rope, and she was still bound to the chair. The rope wasn't that thick, but there was a lot of it. She could loosen the outer rope enough for it to fall, but the other was one tighter. Ava tried to sway back and forth to loosen it as much as she could.
Somewhere in the distance, she heard footsteps approaching. She needed to get out of the binds before Kevin got back. Desperate to get the ropes off her, she whimpered as her arms rubbed against the rope. She was close but wasn't fast enough.
A light suddenly went on. One of those creepy blue lights came from the bulbs sticking out of the walls on either side. She didn't notice them before. Then again, she was a little preoccupied with staying alive.
There was a loud thump as if he dropped something heavy on the floor. Loud footsteps followed. He was on her before she even registered what was happening.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Kevin yelled. He grabbed her by the throat and squeezed so hard she almost blacked out. "I told you not to try anything. Didn't I? But you don't listen. They never fucking listen."
He was going to kill her. She was sure of it. There was no talking him down anymore. His face was red with fury, and his hands tightened around her neck. She didn't come this far to let him win. He didn't notice that the ropes binding her feet came free. He also made the mistake of standing over her, his legs straddling hers.
"Fuck you," she managed as she kicked up her legs with everything she had and kneed him straight in the balls.
Surprise flashed in his eyes as he bent over in pain, loosening the grip on her neck. Not taking any chances, Ava shut her eyes and aimed her forehead into his nose with all the power she could muster. She heard a slight crunch as his blood trickled down his face. She felt a small sense of satisfaction. But this was far from over.
As Kevin groaned on the floor, she managed to free herself and started to remove the rest of the ropes. She still wasn't completely free, but at least she was out of that damn chair. As she fought against the remaining restraints, Ava could finally see the rest of the space where he held her. There was a doorway just down that creepy hallway that could be her ticket out.
She managed to get herself up, but her muscles were so stiff she almost fell on the floor. Ava reached under her shirt until she found the panic button. She pressed it down several times as she tried to crawl away.
She didn't notice the rope tangled by her feet until Kevin tugged at it. She stumbled and fell on the concrete floor. Pain shot through her as her knee connected with the ground. Kevin, his face filled with rage, managed to bring himself up. He winced as he moved towards her.
Ava desperately tried to claw away, but he was almost on top of her. It was then she saw the pile he dropped on the floor. There was a tarp, more ropes and a shovel. She didn't want to think about what he planned to do with that.
"Let me go," she yelled as she tried to kick at him.
"I told you that you're not going anywhere," he growled. "You broke my fucking nose, you stupid bitch."
She clearly didn't kick him in the balls hard enough. He was bleeding as he grabbed for the rope and reached down to her feet. He was going to tie her up again. She wasn't going to make it easy. As he bent over her feet, she kicked as hard as she could. Those kickboxing lessons started to pay off.
He swore again, clutching at his nose. Ava managed to get to her feet and grabbed the shovel, ready to smash him with it. At this point, she didn't care if only one of them would be coming out alive. As long as it was her.
"You're going to pay for this," he told her. He was on his knees, holding himself up with one arm while wiping his nose with the other. "I should have killed you when I had the chance. I should have taken care of that assistant of yours too, just like I did the old man. There will be time for that, but for now, I'll settle for you."
"Not today, asshole," she was ready to smash the shovel in his face as he was about to lunge at her. Out of nowhere, two shots rang out somewhere behind her. She ducked, hoping the bullet didn't hit her. It only took seconds to realize it wasn't aimed at her.
Time moved in slow motion. Ava watched the surprise on Kevin's face as he looked down at the small hole in his chest. His hand reached for the spot only to fall away. Blood soaked through his shirt, and he slumped to the floor. Slowly, Ava turned around to face the shooter.
***
Jones came back into the room with a folder and more pictures. He set them down on the table as everyone stared at him with hope.
"It turns out that there are no vehicles registered to Kevin Smith," he told them. "But there are two registered to Kevin DiPalma."
"Let me guess," Nick said. "A dark sedan and a black pickup truck?"
"Bingo," Jones smiled at him. "We also managed to locate Kevin's apartment, and our team is going through it right now. Kevin, as it turns out, was on a lot of powerful medication. He's been hospitalized before as well and spent some time in a psychiatric facility."
"He seemed so normal," Nick said.
"With the right medication, anyone can lead a functioning and productive life," Jones shrugged. "We won't know all the details about his health until we speak with his doctors. That will take some time."
"You know, I keep thinking that maybe if I paid more attention to him, I could have spotted something sooner," Nick said as he sat down. "If we dug more into his background, maybe we would have found the connection."
"You couldn't have known," Jones told him. "The image he projected was what he wanted everyone to see. An ordinary guy that doesn't stand out. He wanted to be forgettable."
"It was him that followed me, tried to run us off the road," Nick realized. "Was he also the one who set off the dry-ice bomb?"
"We're looking into all of that right now."
Joan walked over to Nick, placed her hand on his shoulder. There was regret and pain in his eyes when he looked at her.
"You got Ava the panic button," she said as she smiled at him warmly. "She used it to alert us that she was in danger. She had that because you gave her that little device."
"I appreciate you saying that," Nick said. "It still doesn't make me feel less guilty."
"She wouldn't want you to feel guilty," Joan told him. "Ava has a good head on her shoulders, but she can be reckless. She wouldn't have gotten the button herself because it wouldn't occur to her. She wouldn't see the need for it. But you did. That alone will save her life."
Nick looked around the table. Stan and Michael nodded in agreeme
nt. There was no anger, no blame in their eyes. There was more he could do to find her.
"Detective Jones," he said. "Have you searched for any properties near where the Mitchells live to see if Kevin owns any of them? The car came from that area. He must have a place there somewhere. Maybe that's where he took her."
"We are looking into that," Jones assured him. "Now that we know the connection to Elizabeth Northam, we've expanded our search for properties in her name or anything to do with her company."
"Have you gone to talk to her?" Stan asked. "Maybe she knows something that can tell us where that man took Ava."
"We're unable to locate her at the moment," Jones said. "We're looking for her as well."
Just then, Nick's phone vibrated, and so did Michael's. They both looked down on the screens just as Tyler rushed back into the room.
"It's the alert," he said. "Looks like Ava activated the panic button again. We're tracing it now."
"Please find my baby," Michael said as he stood up and walked towards Tyler and Jones.
"We'll get her back, Mr. Reed," Jones said as he grabbed his phone. "If he has her stashed somewhere out of town, we'll have to reach out to the locals for assistance. I'll make some calls."
***
"Never leave a man to do a woman's job," the woman said with a smile. "Am I right?"
The gun was now pointed at Ava. The woman strolled towards her, never breaking a smile. She wore dark gray dress pants and a cream blouse under a leather jacket that matched the pants. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun, not a strand out of place. She seemed perfectly at home, even if she was overdressed for the occasion. When she was close enough, Ava finally recognized her.
Elizabeth Northam glanced down at Kevin's body lying on the floor between them. She kicked him slightly with her boot.
"Is he dead?" she asked.
"I... I don't know," Ava fumbled.
"Well, check," she ordered.
Ava kneeled beside Kevin, slowly setting the shovel down beside her. She checked for a pulse, but there was none. When she looked down, she noticed something poking out of his pants pocket. It looked like a phone.
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