Light (The Shadows Series) (22 page)

Phillip gives me a nod of his head and her family follows me down the hallway. He sets Linda down in a leather chair by one of the windows. He doesn’t leave her side, his hands rest firmly on her shoulders. I can’t imagine what they feel right now. Robert won’t stop moving. He is pacing furiously back and forth in front of the fireplace. I have no words to offer them. I drop myself onto another leather chair, letting my head fall into my hands. All of my hope lies on Evan. God knows that he will have info before the police do.

The doorbell rings again, and I lift my head looking towards the door.

“I had Robert call, Kayla. It is only fair for her to be here. She’s like a sister to Eve.”

I nod my head in response and once again, words fail me. Kayla rushes into the room with Paul slowly following behind her. I am surprised when she rushes to me and not to Eve’s parents.

“Theron, please, tell me you know something. Tell me you have a lead on this.”

I turn my head away from her, I don’t know anything. I have nothing to offer her.

“God damn it, Theron! You fucking look at me! Tell me you aren’t just sitting here waiting for the police to find her.”

“No. I sent Evan for her. If anyone is going to find her, it’s him, not the police.”

“Thank fuck. Has he called?”

“Whoa! Everyone stop right there. Who the fuck is Evan and why the hell do you think he can find my sister. What the fuck are you trying to pull? What aren’t you telling us?”

“Evan is ex-military. They retired him with honors after his last mission. He is head of my security now. He’s using his skills and contacts to find her. His means at finding information aren’t exactly legal, but he will find her.”

“This is all fucked up. You’re fucked up! If it wouldn’t have been for you and your crazy dysfunctional family, my sister wouldn’t be missing right now.” Robert is screaming at me. I take everything he has to throw at me. I am caught off guard, as he rushes at me, hitting me square in the jaw. I fly back into my chair, falling to the ground, but I don’t get up. I allow him to continuously pound me into the ground. Phillip and Paul run to his sides, yelling at him to stop, but he doesn’t and I don’t try to stop him. They grab him by the shoulders, dragging him off me.

“Robert. That’s enough. Beating a broken man isn’t going to bring her back. Can’t you see he’s dying without her right now? You and I both know that we can’t stop Eve from doing whatever she has set her mind to. You can’t blame him for that.”

I push myself to my feet, grabbing my jaw. Shit that hurts. “I know she’s missing because of me. Don’t you think that I know that? I hate myself. All we can do is wait. Either the detectives or Evan will let us know when they have something. Until then, all we can do is wait.” I set my chair back up on its legs. Glancing at the table beside me, I notice
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
laying on the table. My fingers brush its spine. Holding it up, I inspect it. As I turn the pages, I can smell the draw of the pages pulling me in. Now, I get why she smells the books. A soft smile plays on my lips, as I remember finding her in here, sniffing one of the books, as she sat in the chair. It fades quickly, leaving my heart feeling empty and hollow. I will die without her.

“That’s her favorite.” Linda sniffs and I look over at her. She wipes her nose again and nods to the book in my hands. “That’s her favorite. She can recite most of it word for word.”

I hand the book over to Eve’s mom, as my phone rings. The whole room is silent. No one breathes as I answer it.

“Theron...Fucking Christ! When was the last visual on him? Okay, have them run everything on him…run her too…Fuck, Evan. She knew them…Find her. Call me when you fucking find her. Do you hear me? Fuck the God, damn police! I don’t give a shit, you fucking call me first!” I am furious. Anger penetrates through my body. I drop my phone onto the table, and my eyes meet Kayla’s. None of this makes any sense. Kayla walks to me and places her hand on my arm. I can’t look away from her.

“Kayla…I don’t…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Just tell me.”

“Did you work with a Benjamin Harper?”

“Yes. Tell me it isn’t him. No, no, no. It can be him. Why would he do this?”

“My question for you Kayla, is why Anne would be with him?”

“What?” Kayla’s legs fall out from underneath her and I catch her in my arms. Paul grabs her from me and carries her over to the sofa. Eve’s family is staring at me, wanting answers and all I have for them is more questions.

“Evan was able to gain access to the security footage from one of the buildings across the street. There was a suspicious car stopping in front of the building letting out a man, and then it drove away. He ran the plates and they belong to a Benjamin Harper. His informants say that Ben used to work with Eve. There was also a female they were able to capture a visual of driving the car. They believe it to be Eve’s friend, Anne. He is alerting the police of what he has found now. He is putting a price on Ben’s head. It won’t be long before he messes up. Someone will see him or recognize him.”

“A price? Like the fucking mob? How can you do that?”

I turn, facing Robert. Ice flows through my voice as I whisper harshly into the air, “Money can buy anything, even people.”

It has been an hour since I have heard from Evan. It is just past seven o’clock. The sun is starting to set. The fear of the night and darkness eat at me. Rebecca has brought us drinks and some snacks over the past couple of hours. The food has barely been touched, but we’ve run out of coffee twice. The room is quiet and the tension is palpable in the air. My phone rings, every feeling of hope that I am holding onto rushes to the surface. I swallow twice to find my voice, as I answer the phone.

“Theron…Thank fuck…Don’t move unless you have to. You wait until I get there. Inform your men. Anyone who so much as touches her before I get there will be personally eliminated by me. I mean it, Evan. You wait for me, unless you don’t have a choice. Do I make myself clear? Good.”

I run my hands through my hair, taking a deep breath I turn to face her family. “Evan found her. Ben has her locked up in a house on the other side of town that he is renting under a fake name. They don’t have any visuals on her yet, but they believe her to be either in the basement or attic. They have visuals on Anne and Ben, but nothing on Eve, yet. I am going there now. Phillip, Robert, you may join me if you like. Paul stay here with Kayla and Linda. I don’t want to risk anymore lives, if I don’t have to.”

Robert grabs my arm, as I walk away. “What will you do when you find her?”

“I’ll take her home with me, where she belongs.”

“And when you find Ben?”

“For his sake, I hope the police beat me there. I plan on killing him.”

A
warm breeze blows across my skin, I am back on the beach again, and I find myself sitting on a dock with my toes just barely in the water.

 “Have you decided, yet?”

 I turn my head, and my heart breaks, knowing this is only a dream. “I thought that you left me. Didn’t we already say our goodbyes?”

 “We did, but I think you need me now. Are you going to go to him?”

 “Yes, I’m just not ready, yet. I’m so tired, Matt. I can’t find the strength to open my eyes. I don’t want this to be real. I want to wake up warm and safe in my bed. What if when I wake up, everything I had is gone? What if I don’t get to see him again?”

 “Ssh. Don’t think like that. He’ll be there for you, I promise.”

 “How do you know? What if I’m hurt too badly, what if they took my happiness from me?”

 “I don’t know. I just do. I can stay for a while if you want, but I’m going to need you to try and open your eyes soon. Staying here won’t help you. If you stay too long, I’m afraid you won’t be able to go back.”

 “Just stay with me a little while. I just need to rest a little longer.”

 We sit on the docks for a while longer. My head is resting on Matt’s shoulder. I hear someone call my name, but I don’t see anyone else around. I look up at Matt with questioning eyes. He smiles as he says, “Go. Open your eyes for me. Just try.” His voice fades and I feel something wet on my skin.

A warm cloth brushes over my eyes, and I try to pull back my head. It doesn’t matter, I know that I can’t go anywhere.

 “I’m sorry that it’s gone this far, Eve, but I can’t go back. I hate the way your face looks. Ben got a little carried away, but I calmed him down. Can you try and open your eyes for me?”

 “No.” My voice is barely a whisper. My head is throbbing. My body is in so much pain that I am having a hard time focusing.

 “I need you to try. Ben is going to call Theron with a deal. If everything goes right, we’ll leave you here and we will be out of the country before anyone finds us. Theron is just going to finance our little trip. Once we have the money, and we make our landing, I’ll call from a prepaid phone and let him know where you are.”

 “I don’t understand, why?”

 “Eve, we have been over this already. Your boyfriend got involved and took something I wanted from me. Now I am taking something of his. The only difference is that I’m giving what I took back.”

 “No.” I swallow trying to wet my throat. I feel nauseous as I try to open my eyes. My left one won’t open at all, but my right eye opens just barely enough for me to be able to see around me. My vision swirls and sways. My thoughts won’t process. I can’t form the words that I need to say. I try to focus on Anne. She is sitting at the end of the bed that I am tied to. Trying to gather my bearings is wearing on me. My head lolls to the right. I notice that the windows are boarded up with what looks like some kind of cabinet doors. There is old gray and red carpet on the floors. It looks like the ceiling has some kind of carpet on it as well. My stomach knots, as I tr to focus on the room around me. I close my eye and take a deep breath through my nose. My mouth fills with spit and I swallow. I have nowhere to go if I get sick now.

 “Damn, Eve. Any color you had left in your face just disappeared. How far down are your thoughts taking you?” Anne laughs, as if she has just told some kind of joke. Stretching with my fingers on my left hand, I can make out the edge of the bed, letting me know that I am closer to the edge of the bed on that side. Turning my head to the left, I feel a sharp pain sear through my cheek, as my face lays against the mattress. I have little room to move with my arms, but I can’t move my legs at all. The knot in my stomach rolls and I know that I can’t hold it back anymore. I push my shoulders to the left and vomit, trying my best to get it on the floor and not the bed. I don’t want to lay in my own puke.

 “What the fuck, Eve? Jesus Christ! That’s just disgusting.”

Loud footsteps enter the room. “What’s disgusting?” It seems Ben is back.

 “Eve just vomited all over the place. I didn’t sign up for this shit. We were supposed to keep her until we got our money. In no part of the deal, did I agree to almost killing her, or cleaning up her puke. This is fucked up. Did you call him, Ben?”

 “Yeah I called him. He has the account numbers. I am watching the bank. Once it is transferred, we are ready to go. Car is packed.” His loud footsteps get closer to the bed. He grabs my face, gripping my cheeks in his hand and turns my head to the right. He holds my face still, as he smacks my left cheek. Pure white fire burns through my body. “Bet you could use some of that ginger ale now, couldn’t you?”

 I say nothing. Tears slide down my cheeks, as I try to catch a sob trying to escape my throat. With every breath I take, my chest pinches. I am fighting so hard to keep my focus. I moan out in pain, as someone tries to move my legs.

 “What the hell would ginger ale do for her? She’s puking because you’ve beat the shit out of her.”

 “Not where it would really count, I haven’t. She better hope it doesn’t come to that.” His footsteps fade and I hear Anne call after him.

 “What does that mean, Ben?”

 “Oh, Eve, she doesn’t know. Tsk-tsk. Look whose keeping secrets from her friends. Eve is pregnant, Anne. Surprise. Surprise!” He laughs as his voice trails off.

 “Pregnant? Fuck. Eve, I didn’t…I didn’t know…I’m sorry.”

There is a loud crash downstairs and Anne takes off. I hope someone else is here, someone who can help me. I swallow a couple of times, to wet my throat and take a couple of deep breaths to fill my lungs with air. I scream with every single breath that I have left. I scream for Theron, I scream for me, and I scream for what we were supposed to have.