by CR Robertson
“I’ll search for any properties listed under either of her parents’ names. The Council is going to have our ass for this,” he murmured with a dark smile on his face.
“They need to find out first,” I replied. “If we get her back, they never need to know she’s even alive.”
Adrenalin pumped through my veins since we finally had something to work with.
A phone rang on a top screen.
This is Cassandra, leave a message.
“Cas, what the hell is going on? Jordan was here asking questions about you and hinting he knew you were using a different name. Call me. If you don’t, I’m heading to your hideaway this weekend.”
“That’s Megan’s phone,” Jordan said without looking up. “I guess she does know more than she said. Looks like someone is going to be punished for lying to me.”
The smirk on his face said he would enjoy doling out that punishment onto her bare ass. Jordan was one of the masters in The Twilight Rooms and excelled at teaching the new subs.
“There are a few properties still in the family name. Most of them have been rented out over the years, but two of them remain empty. Guess who the solicitor was involved in the original contracts for the property lettings?”
I groaned, lifting a pen to twirl it through my middle three fingers like a mini baton. “She kept herself on the periphery of her old life, as if she couldn’t fully let go.”
“Makes her an easier target to find if anyone is still looking for her,” Ash said, rubbing his eyes. We’d been at this for days without a let-up.
Her apartment now had CCTV in it that I could watch remotely in case she came back. Right now, I needed a shower and some decent whiskey. I’d worry about the rest tomorrow.
“Can we get eyes on that property?” I asked, throwing the pen on the desk.
“Yeah. It’ll take me a few hours to organise,” Jordan replied, steepling his hands under his chin.
“Go home tonight. She hasn’t done anything so far to alert anyone. Let’s be honest; if it’s anything to do with the Council, your phone would have rung by now.”
Jordan barked out a hollow laugh. “Isn’t that the truth.”
“I’m heading to The Midnight Rooms,” Ash said. “Any takers?”
“Maybe later,” Jordan replied.
“Nah, I’m heading home to try and actually get some sleep. At this rate I’ll be a zombie by tomorrow. Maybe my whiskey collection will help me.”
Pushing myself to my feet, I waved to the two men still sitting at our operations centre. It was set up to look like an IT company, when in actuality, only the three of us ever worked here. Every desk had access to different systems worldwide, and the main desk with all the screens interfaced with most of them.
My apartment felt cold and empty, even with the fire blazing. I’d spent most of my adult life craving my own company, but the past two months had changed me. I needed to find bras hanging on door handles and long hairs in the shower. Suddenly, the pristine cleanliness of my home felt devoid of life. Tomorrow I was going to visit every single property on that list until I found Cassandra and brought her home where she belonged.
***
Chapter Six
Cassandra
Three days and I was already beginning to crumble under the strain of being away from my tiny apartment in a part of London where no one would ever think to look for me. Worse was the fact that I missed Xavier. The longer I stayed away, the more I rationalised what had happened the other night.
I’d stopped seeing my therapist years ago, believing I’d buried the past. One gunshot was all it took to bring it all tumbling back to torment me. The memory of the metallic scent of blood sent bile burning up the back of my throat again that left me hunched over the toilet.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I kept all of Dad’s properties because it was my last link to the life I had before fate intervened and I ended up in the care system with a new name and a really bad haircut. I bought this small house a few years ago close to my old home. Every time I needed to be close to them, I stayed here for a few days and walked the perimeter of my old home, never daring to go in.
Dad’s business partner told me never to return, and never to let anyone know who I really was. The only person who did was Megan because I’d been young and scared in that home filled with bullies. She was the only one who gave a damn about me, climbing into my bed and holding me when I cried in my sleep.
I wanted to go home and sleep in my own bed, drink tea while watching the city lights, and fall asleep in Xavier’s arms because they were the only place I’d felt safe.
His words kept echoing in my head. Those men would have happily raped and murdered me. They would have tortured him. What was the etiquette toward those who would mutilate and murder you?
All I knew was that right now I was scared, alone, and miserable.
There was no WIFI in the house, if I needed to check anything on the internet I had to pop down to the library and use the community WIFI there. You never realised how much you needed access to the world wide web, even to download a new book on your Kindle.
The shock had upset my stomach and I could barely keep food down the past few days. My time off work was nearly up, and I needed to make a decision about what I was going to do. I had annual leave that I could take, but that was probably just postponing the inevitable.
Xavier had probably already moved on and returned to his previous life. He tended to avoid drama and had zero tolerance for anything that looked like it would drag him into it. It was the number one reason he sidestepped his father since he always wanted him to be a poster boy for the company.
Popping a ding dinner in the microwave, I propped my hip against the counter and stared out the window. It was times like this I craved my mum’s advice. We used to talk about my problems as she brushed my hair. Our very own mother-daughter therapy sessions. What would she make of Xavier and the men he associated with? Would she have tolerated a man like that around her children?
I knew so little about my parents, my memories of them fading around the edges as the years progressed. Sometimes I tried to envisage what Kimberley would look like now and if we’d still be close as we were as children. Their ghosts walked the streets of this small village, their memories haunting that house I wanted to visit with every fibre of my being.
It had been so long, surely no one was still looking for me? I’d visited their grave yesterday. It had four names on the gravestone, telling the world that all of us died in the crash that night. A family annihilated by one tragic accident. It was a miracle I survived, so the story was believable.
The ping of the microwave sounded in the background. I lifted out the unappetising plastic container full of food and put it on a plate. Needing contact with the outside world, I risked putting the battery in my phone. There were several text messages from Megan and one from Xavier, accompanied by a voicemail from Megan. I listened to it, my blood turning cold.
Why was Jordan visiting Megan? Was she safe? She didn’t seem worried about herself, just me. I sent her a quick text telling her I was fine and not to come down. My finger hovered over the reply button to Xavier, but my time was nearly up, and I pulled the battery before I gave in to temptation.
I could only stomach a few mouthfuls of dinner and decided to take a walk through the village. Everything was the same but different—the shops were the same, but the owners and the décor different. The gates to our driveway were rusted from the years of neglect, our family crest barely visible through the overgrown weeds.
Kimberley and I used to swing on those gates to Dad’s amusement and Mum’s displeasure. She called us monkeys and refused to allow us sweets from the tiny corner shop with massive bottles filled with every sweet imaginable.
Pulling the hood of my jacket over my head, I walked along the outside perimeter of the property. Once a year, someone came to ensure the structure of the house was sound and any repair work was carri
ed out. Other than that, the only visitors were ghosts of the past.
No one can know you survived, Cassandra Jenkins is dead. You need to forget everything about your past and become someone new. The Council will never look for an orphan in the care system.
Dad’s partner never knew I put my passport and bank details into the bag with my toys and a change of clothes. Mum once told me that if anything happened to them, I was to take the bible from beside her bed and the documents she made me keep in mine. Inside the bible was a note with several keys to safety deposit boxes with house deeds, documents, jewellery, and money in them. I added to those deposit boxes every month from the day I received my first wage.
My family was already buried when I got out of hospital with a new name and all my hair cut off into a short bob. I saw Dad’s partner only once after I was taken into care. He asked me if I knew where Dad kept his keys. I shook my head and he left.
Sitting at the bus stop, I could see part of our old home. I gave in to temptation and turned my phone on.
Please, Cas, you need to come home. I miss you.
Xavier’s text stared up at me, breaking my heart all over again.
I miss you too, but I can’t survive in a world of pain and violence… I replied.
My phone bleeped immediately.
Come home. Nothing else matters but being with you.
A tear broke free and trickled down my cheek. This was the reason I should never have contacted him. He made me want what I could never have.
Please stop texting me and move on with your life.
My phone began to ring but I turned it off. If I heard his voice, I’d cave and go home to him. Loneliness was a terrible affliction, making you need something you knew was wrong for you.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, climbing over the lowest part of the wall into the garden.
Some areas were overgrown, and other bits had been kept manicured by the gardener that was employed to try and keep the weeds from overtaking the entire house. The red bricks formed arches over the doors and windows, and the gargoyles that Dad loved sat to attention overlooking the driveway.
I held my breath, waiting for Mum to wander out through the patio doors with refreshments for Kimberley and me. The key to the house was back in my house because I never intended to come here. Creeping closer, I pressed my nose to the window into Dad’s study. All his photographs still rested on the shelves, his books all sitting like soldiers on the bookcase. The kitchen still housed Mum’s personal touches in the welsh dresser.
The pond was at the back of the property, the koi swimming slowly under the water. We used to sit on the edge and feed them, letting them take the pellets from our hands, laughing at the way it tickled. It was one of the areas I’d specified had to be maintained in the garden because Mum had built it herself and put every fish in there. They were massive now, so much bigger than I ever imagined.
Movement at one of the windows caught my attention, but the person moved away before I could focus on them.
“Shit,” I muttered, running back toward the low wall I climbed over to get in. I should never have come here. My heart raced and my pulse thudded in my ears. My knee screamed in pain when I landed wrong on it in my haste to clamber over the wall. Even when I got home and locked the front door, I sat with my back to it, hoping to keep out the bogeyman.
Suddenly I felt vulnerable and far from anyone who could help me.
No one in this village even knew me by my new name. They all thought I was called Megan since I tended to turn when someone called it because Megan had always been with me in my youth. The house was owned by the company name I set up for my property portfolio and for anyone searching, looked like it was a rental.
When my body was cold and stiff from sitting behind the front door, I crawled to bed. Impulsively I’d bought a cheap phone with a pay-as-you-go SIM card before I left London. No one knew the number, so they couldn’t trace it. I’d blocked the number from showing on outgoing calls and kept it beside my bed for emergencies.
At two-thirty, noises in the back garden woke me and I swore there was a torch that was turned off when I opened the curtain to peek out. Terror rippled down my spine, even as I pulled the duvet over me. I was so intent of running from my past, I’d run headfirst into it.
I grabbed the phone without thinking and hit one of the numbers I’d already programmed into it. There was only one person I wanted to hear the voice of.
“Hello?” His voice was deep and sexy, the way it always sounded when he’d just woken up. “Cas? Is that you?”
“I…” Now I felt stupid ringing since he was the person I was running away from.
“Where are you, baby? Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure.” My voice sounded shaky, even to me.
“What happened?” I could imagine the way he went from sleepy to alert in five seconds, sitting up in bed to trail his fingers through his hair.
“I don’t know.” My fingers played with the end of the duvet. “It could be something or nothing. I guess I’m just seeing shadows where there are none.”
“You need to tell me where you are, Cas. I’ll come and get you.”
“Ugh!” My head banged back against the headboard. “I don’t know why I’m ringing you when I ran away from you.”
His deep chuckle vibrated down my ear to ripple down my back. “You can run from me a thousand times, Cas, just as long as you come back again. That’s what relationships are about. We fight, but in the end as long as we stick together, that’s all that matters.”
“I’m scared,” I finally admitted.
“I know you are, baby, and that’s my fault. Tell me where you are…”
A noise outside made my heart leap. “I think someone’s outside, Zee.”
“Stay on the line. Tell me where you are right now.”
Another noise echoed from downstairs. “Oh, God, I think someone’s in the house.”
“Address,” he snapped.
It fell from my lips, but even as I said it, I knew it was too late.
“Listen to me.” His tone demanded my submission. “Put this phone on silent, leave it still connected to me, and shove it down your bra. Understand?”
I hadn’t got changed for bed, just crawled in still fully dressed earlier.
“Key lock on. Shove it down your bra now.”
“Zee.”
“Now, Cas.”
I did what he asked and hid under the duvet, hoping the noise was an open window and the wind.
A few minutes later, my room door burst open and was filled with men dressed in black. I screamed and tried to struggle but they easily dragged me out of the house.
My mind blurred and nausea crept up my throat again, making me sick in their huge Jeep. One of them cursed and pushed me away from him into the man at my right. This was all my fault. I ran when I should have stayed, I panicked when I should have talked to Xavier.
He would never find me now, because the address I’d given him was useless since I wasn’t there.
The man I’d landed on had wandering hands. When I whimpered in protest, he put a hand over my mouth. I bit down hard, tasting blood when he wouldn’t let go.
“You fucking bitch!” He backhanded me, making me see stars.
“Hey, if you damage her the boss will be pissed. He’s been looking for her for a long time.”
My last thought before the darkness consumed me was that I should have told Xavier I loved him…
***
Chapter Seven
Xavier
The advantage to being the son of a billionaire was that I had access to anything I wanted, any time of the day or night. It took minutes to assemble Jordan and Ash from my house phone. They both lived close by and the helipad on the roof housed one of the company’s helicopters that Jordan was licensed to fly.
Ash sat with a secure laptop on his knee, tracking the location of the phone she’d been using. My guess was that since the number was withheld, she�
�d bought herself one of those small burner phones with a battery life for hours since it didn’t have any apps to drain it.
Even if they patted her down, her breasts were big enough to conceal that small phone. It allowed me to listen into what was being said as it was being fed into the earpieces we all wore. The entire transmission was currently being recorded.
It was a long bike or car ride, but in the air, we were far above winding roads. I didn’t care if we had to steal a car when we got there. All that mattered was getting Cassandra back. Whoever had hit her should just shoot himself right now, because when I got my hands on him, he’d wish that he had.
Another advantage to being Xavier Bartholomew was that it didn’t matter what our helicopter destroyed as it landed, money paid for most indiscretions. That included a few hedges and bedding plants.
“We good?” I asked.
“Yeah, the phone signal is still strong,” Ash confirmed, closing the laptop and switching to his phone.
“We need wheels or we good on foot?” Jordan asked, taking his earphones off as the blades came to a stop.
Ash handed him the phone, because no matter what decision either of us made, Jordan would always decide on his own plan of attack.
“Seriously? They took her to her old family home?” Jordan asked in disgust. “That’s plain lazy.”
“Unless there’s something there they want her to find for them,” Ash countered. “Her father’s fortune has never been claimed, and when I was poking around last night, I discovered the Council wasn’t able to access any of his properties or businesses.”
“Clever man,” I muttered, knowing Dad would have all his businesses and collateral tied up as well.
Our bags contained a mini arsenal, weapons already strapped to our bodies. Tonight wasn’t about asking questions, it was about extracting a person. Everything else could be dealt with tomorrow.
We snapped our night vision goggles into place and jumped down from the helicopter. We were far enough away that they probably hadn’t heard us. They were going to wish they had heard us coming…
