The screech of the doorway jolted Chloe up from her slumber. Since sleep was all she could do these days, her eyes flew open immediately hungry to feast on something other than the dreary state of this place. It was Drake, walking in with her meal just on time. For kidnappers, they fed her remarkably well three times a day.“Hey, stranger.” Drake smiled at her as he approached, his dimples popping out. She returned the effort, the weight on her chest lifting when he walked in. If it wasn't for Drake, she might have gone mental just a little bit.During her food breaks, he would extend it by an hour or two just to keep her company. He's dry jokes and witty humor always uplifted her spirit and for the first couple of days it kept her afloat pushing away thoughts of the future but after almost a week, she needed something more.She needed to know the truth.“Hey, what's on the menu?” She sniffed the air just as the food came down. Usually he was supposed to tie her hands and legs so sh
Initially, when the door was first kicked open, Chloe thought it was one of the other goons, which she hadn't seen since that first night that they'd kidnapped her but when the guy stepped in, the first thing she noticed was the shoe, since the rest of his figure was in the dark.Hid end, quality loafers…the kind that costs about $1000 per pair.Immediately, she knew that this must be the leader of this rag-tag gang and she stood up straight.Thankfully, her legs were bound and while the rope around her hands was a bit loose, she could handle it in such a way that he wouldn't know.Drake stiffened, moving back two paces when he saw the stranger. “S-sir, I didn't know you would be coming in today.”Today? What does Drake mean by today?Has this guy been coming around and she didn't know about it?This place must be bigger than she initially thought.“I thought I'd come in and see my investment up close.” The stranger's smooth baritone voice rolled out the words.That voice…It sounded
It turns out that Ivan was up to something, having found a clue in one of the guy's from the CCTV footage.“What's up?” Sean breathes out, rushing into the room. He made sure to see Amber out before rushing down here. “What did you find?”“Look at this guy,” Ivan pointed at the monitor’s screen. “Luckily, for us he turned around and looked directly at the camera. I managed to scan his brain through the police database, hoping I might find something.”Sean took another look at his friend. “I didn't know that you had access to the cops system like that. Color me impressed.”“How do you think I get to be so good at solving my PI cases? All you need is to grease a few hands and it's all set.” He tapped more on the keyboard. “Anyways, the guy's name is Clive Andrews and this is his address. I figured you might need it.”Ivan scribbled the guys address on a piece of paper, handing it over to Sean who skimmed it and folded it up. “Thanks man, hopefully this guy will lead right to Chloe.”Se
“Any sign of her yet?” Sean asked, crunching on his potato chips. Ivan was looking into the binoculars squinting so he could get a proper view of the house that they were trying to look into. “No, not yet.”“I think we should go in,” Sean suggested.Ivan turned around to look at him as if he was crazy. “Go in and do what? Or have you forgotten that this Camille lady could be armed to the teeth?” He queried. “If she is indeed the one that took Chloe, we need to be careful.”“You're right.” Sean agreed, having glossed over that fact.They spent the next couple of minutes in silence while Ivan was busy watching the house from this distance, trying to get any new information. So far, all they've gathered is that this Camille woman loves ordering pizza. If he was mistaken, she should have ordered at least five pizzas today.After that Clive's youngest brother gave us a tip on Camila, we let him loose with the promise of him not saying anything to anybody about our presence. To ensure he ke
Sean woke up to the sounds of screaming from the other side of the room. He tried to jerk against his rest but they were too tight for him to move an inch.Someone cleared their throat, informing him of their presence. Sean started, turning around to catch sight of the person. “Welcome back from your slumber, I was wondering if you weren't going to wake up again.”Sean opened his mouth to talk but the sound of screaming, louder than before came through this time and it was one that he was not able to to avoid.“Who's that?” he asked the stranger.The man shrugged, “Who do you think it is?” Sean had a very good idea of who the person was, seeing as the voice sounded familiar.It was his friend, Ivan. The screams and pain went on for so long and it was in such a manner that it's eventually got to him.If Sean had only listened to Ivan's warning they would not be in this position, with him tied up against a chair and Ivan in the other room going through God knows what at the hands of
Chloe stared down at her hands and saw that the thorn-like rope had left a pale red mark around her hands. She knew at that moment that she would forever be scared of ropes, and it was almost funny to her, she let out a small laugh to follow up the thoughts and it jolted the prison guard back to reality.“What is funny?” Drake asked her, iciness dripping from his voice. Since Clement came the day before, he had become aloof and indifferent with her, none of his previous kindness was existent, almost like she had hallucinated it. He hardly spoke and when he brought in her meals it was always in bad graces, muttering only monosyllabic responses.“Am I not free to have my own thoughts now?”Chloe snapped back at him and he leaned closer, his eyes glinting in rage.“I don’t want you going crazy under my watch. Because that means you wouldn’t be as useful to my boss and that’s a downside to me.” He said to her and she wondered how much they were even paid because this level of vileness had
Sean didn’t think he was going to stop the search all of a sudden because of an encounter with the ‘almighty Camille’. The young boy had made it seem like she was a scary sort and maybe she was, maybe there was steel somewhere but he realized their weakness was something he had at his disposal, something as vain as the possible engine of the whole affair, money.“What about Clement?” He blurted out, the thought suddenly occurring to his mind. “He does hate my guts a whole lot.”“So you’re saying he is the one doing all these terrible things? It sounds like him but it also sounds unlikely.” Ivan was saying but they both knew the possibility was 95% over 100.“Don’t play neutral detective, pick a side. He has been quiet about the whole thing for too long and it’s very unlike him.” Sean was saying, they were muddled up in a motel a mile away from that environs. Ivan knew something was brewing there and they didn’t need to be far away but he also didn’t want to raise Sean’s hope high.Iva
They settled in a corner of the pub, Ivan and Sean on one side and Camille sat pretty opposite, she had the air of someone who felt in charge and her cockiness was enraging Sean.Ivan noticed and patted him on his arms, urging him to remain calm. Ivan leaned forward and pushed one of the beer bottles Fatima had brought, towards her. It was her third bottle.“So, you are here to see your former captor, get a closer look?” Camille asked as she took a large gulp of the lukewarm drink, Sean had taken a bottle and decided he had enough but she was still going at three. It definitely pointed to some kind of celebratory mood.“No actually, we need your help on something,” Ivan told her and Sean watched as his friend delved into an Oscar award-winning act, his face twisting into a concerned one.“Recently, one of our friends went missing, we didn’t know if it was a voluntary ghosting or an actual case so we are being more on the low profile side. She was last seen in this area, I was hoping s
“So you’re going to do the wedding before you start to show? Why not do it after?” Maeve asked as they lay upside down on the couch. She had a permanent smile on her face these days and Amber liked to joke that she was receiving great sex from Ivan. They had been under the covers for way too long and finally announced their relationship over Sean’s takeover dinner last week, of course none of them were surprised even Mrs Lambert had teased them about it. Sean had passed all the requirements and Clement was serving Jail term for the next two years. Sean knew if he came out he would seek revenge again but he was going to gloat in the beauty of having a wife with him, at the end of the takeover night when he was crowned CEO, he went down on one knee and proposed to Chloe.“Sean wants it soon,” Chloe answered, fidgeting with her sheets.“Sean wants it or you want it? You don’t listen to what he says and he does all you ask!” Amber retorted and they laughed.“I don’t think there’s any ne
The beep from the EKG monitor was the only sound present in the room. Sean had sat just as he was seated throughout the night, holding Chloe’s hands as she received the treatment, the doctors had done a mini surgery and removed the bullet. He also cleaned up the injury and she was still unconscious, Chloe’s eyes had only fluttered open once in the night and the only thing she had said was “Sean” and she went back to sleep.“Are you sure I shouldn’t switch with you? You’ve been keeping watch throughout the night.” Maeve asked him her concern was clear in her eyes. Sean scoffed and shook his head.“No. This is my fault, all of it is my fault and now she is probably fighting for her life.” Maeve sighed. “She's not fighting for her life. The doctor said she’s safe, all that’s left is for her to receive proper treatment. Allow the nurse to stitch up your wounds and let me spend time with my sister.”Her final words did the trick, Sean nodded and stood up, pushing back the chair. “If she
“Your stupid boyfriend is here! How did he locate us?” Drake panicked as the police officer’s voice sounded from the speaker again. He didn’t know how to act or what to say.“Don’t ask me” Chloe muttered under her breath, feeling her chest bustling with emotions, she was finally going to be away from the shackles of captors and ropes!“You have bad taste in men.” He concluded and she raised an amused brow as he continued. “Listen to me, just agree that you wanted to stay away, that way nobody gets hurt. Not you, not me.” Chloe pretended to be lost in thought. A few seconds before her head snapped up and she looked at him.“No, I won’t be doing that, I'd rather die than let you go scot free and I mean that in every possible way.” She snapped at him and immediately he pulled out a knife again and wrapped his left hand around her neck, he placed the knife on her neck and led them downstairs, Chloe groaned in his hands, acting up to hide this year that she felt when he pressed the knife a
Sean would remember to give Amber a hug when next he saw her because apparently, she had the foresight to dial 911 and halfway through their pummeling, the cops showed up. The whole place was surrounded, escaping was out of the plan, Clement wanted nothing but to pluck out his brother's eyes but the cops had their own plan which involved he conflict ending peacefully.Everyone of them including Maeve and Amber were placed in the vehicle and driven off to the station. Only Drake and Chloe were not there which made pissed Sean off especially when he had his eyes on her less done twenty minutes ago.His first instinct had been to drag her out of his arms but holding on to Camille had made that impossible. Camille now sat at the corner of the van looking out the window wondering how she had managed to end up in this exact place again. Maeve was all cuddled up on Ivan in a cozy position, and he made a mental note to ask Ivan what was going on between them later.“Amber,” he muttered an
Waiting for Clement didn’t take long, he came forty minutes later, the sound of his car was the first thing they heard and it was Drake who brought their attention to it. Amber, Maeve and Ivan immediately left, then Sean followed with Camille and stood behind the large banister at the living room exit, hiding his view.Sean's heart was racing at a mile per minute and he prayed that nothing went wrong so they were able to get Chloe. Camille wanted to say something but he pressed his hand over her lips firmly. “If this goes wrong because of you, trust me I will invent ten thousand ways to slowly kill you, so shut up!” He hissed.“If you don’t have something reasonable to say then I swear I will shoot you right here right now” Clement growled as he walked over to where Drake stood with Chloe, he bent toward her and held her chin. “Hello Chloe, I trust they’ve been treating you poorly.” “You don't need to worry about me, it seems you have bigger problems,” she said to him, and he chuckle
The gun remained on Drake's head and the knife remained on Chloe’s neck as the three of them walked into the building again. If Ivan knew better he would have taken the risk and fought her out of Drake's hands, but who was going to believe a man hardened by life’s many struggles would hesitate to cut his prisoner's neck wide open. The knife to her neck was causing Drake to feel sick in the stomach but his fate would be much worse if he let her go without Clement’s consent. “We’re in here!” Maeve called shakily from what looked like it used to be the living room of the mansion, when the three of them came into full view and Ivan saw that Sean had Camille he dropped his weapon. “What in the hell happened here?” He gasped, subconsciously shielding Maeve from any stray bullets that may be fired.“Sean, Maeve!” Chloe cried out loud, all her emotions concentrated into that one word. She wanted to say more and even run into all their arms but Drake placed his palm over her mouth. Ivan watc
Their plan was in motion and the girls had proved to be more useful than not. Sean had suggested Trevor stay back while the rest of them spread out in Aviline, a slim in downtown New York.It was a spot where the low or the lower class lived, just like Trevor had described.The young man was more useful than not and Sean was going to make sure he fulfilled his promise, but first…“Have you texted Clement?” Sean asked Ivan and he nodded, in response, bringing out the phone to show him the text.Amber and Maeve were standing a few feet away from them, lost in their own discussion. It was going to surprise Chloe to come out and see that her sister had made a friend in Amber who she originally hated a lot.Ivan flashed the phone in front of him reading the chat out loud.“Yes, you said ‘Chloe is missing, have you heard anything from anywhere that suggests foul play?’” “Well I guess that’s convincing enough. Andrea is back in the house as back up. She will call the cops if we don’t show up
“If you honestly say a word, I’ll stuff my hands in your mouth.” Dufus threatened and she was quiet, she had lost strength and zeal, her despair was crawling over her and she wondered how long this torture would have to go on for.After Drake left, he didn't come back and instead they sent this Dufus guy to take over because she hadn't seen him since then almost like Drake couldn't stand the sight of her.From the beats and pieces of conversations that she heard she realized that she was being moved, as they handled her roughly, pushing against her as she got in the car, shoving her roughly into the new space before pulling off a blindfold.This new place that they took her to was even worse than the last, dank corners with rusted irons scattered about. The smell was horrible and she could see that a section of the ceiling was leaking, leaving a puddle on the floor. The conditions were worse than jail and her heart bubbled with hatred for Clement.If she ever saw him, she would proba
They settled in a corner of the pub, Ivan and Sean on one side and Camille sat pretty opposite, she had the air of someone who felt in charge and her cockiness was enraging Sean.Ivan noticed and patted him on his arms, urging him to remain calm. Ivan leaned forward and pushed one of the beer bottles Fatima had brought, towards her. It was her third bottle.“So, you are here to see your former captor, get a closer look?” Camille asked as she took a large gulp of the lukewarm drink, Sean had taken a bottle and decided he had enough but she was still going at three. It definitely pointed to some kind of celebratory mood.“No actually, we need your help on something,” Ivan told her and Sean watched as his friend delved into an Oscar award-winning act, his face twisting into a concerned one.“Recently, one of our friends went missing, we didn’t know if it was a voluntary ghosting or an actual case so we are being more on the low profile side. She was last seen in this area, I was hoping s