by S. Van Horne
“Mr. Shields, we got everything we need. We’re going to go through everything and will be in touch with the family once we figure out what we’re going to do. Please, contact us if anyone hears from Ms. Shields,” Detective Walters says.
There’s a knock on the door, and I run to open it up, hoping its Len. Seeing it’s a girl from the party earlier just deflates me.
“Hey, I heard that Len’s missing, and I think I need to tell you that I probably was the last to see her,” she starts fidgeting.
“Please, come in and take a seat. Any information you can share would be grateful,” I step back and wave her in.
She sits down and explains everything that was said in the bathroom. When she finishes I see red and want to scream out. She glances at me, and then looks down at her shoes.
“Stephanie filled me in on what you said to her, and now I feel awful. I hope it wasn’t what I said that caused her to leave,” she whispers out.
“Ma’am, I’m Detective Edmonds, and this is my partner Detective Walters. Is there anything that you left out or can think of that you might not think important?”
“No, I just feel horrible for what happened.”
“Well, here’s our card. If you think of anything else, please get in touch. Thank you for coming and telling us this information,” Edmonds hands her a card.
Eagle walks Stacy to the door and then closes it and turns to face me.
“So that changes a lot of things. Ms. King might be right and Len just stepped away after her altercation in the bathroom. We’ll give it about forty-eight hours and then see if we can go from there. Right now everything’s stating she walked away due to the bathroom situation,” Detective Edmonds states as he gathers everything up.
“No, you don’t understand. My daughter wouldn’t ever do something like that. Something isn’t right here. You have to do something,” Pops pleads.
“Sir, we have to follow protocol and this is what it’s saying to do. We’ll be in touch and remember to contact us if things change,” Walters states as he walks out the door with Edmonds right behind him.
“Len wouldn’t do this. What are we going to do, Tony? Our daughter wouldn’t ever just walk away,” Momma Connie says, holding on to Pops.
“I’ll find her. I don’t care how long it takes me. I’ll find her alive and bring her back to where she belongs. I promise on everything that I am. I’ll find her,” I tell the whole room.
I decide there’s nothing left for me to do here, so, I pack up the room and kiss everyone goodbye. It’s time to get to my office and see what Lucky and Sin have found. I’ll stop at nothing to find her. Even if that means doing things that wouldn’t be looked kindly upon by the law. Nothing will stop me… Nothing!
LEN
I have a massive headache when I wake up. My first thought is I shouldn’t have drank that much last night at the party. I’m definitely going to have to relax today since I have to go to work tomorrow.
Slowly stretching, I realize quickly that I’m not in my bed. The sheets aren’t as soft as mine. I don’t know where the fuck I am.
Opening my eyes and sitting up steadily, I glance around the room and it’s huge! I realize that it’s a basement. It’s set up like a studio apartment, except it’s missing a kitchen. There are no doors or walls separating the rooms. It’s just one big huge loft-like area. It’s pretty nice, actually. The bedroom area’s done in soft blues and whites. There’s a queen-size bed, from what I can tell since I’m still on the bed. There are nightstands on each side with a blue lamp on each one. On one of them is a bottle of water and what appears to be two pills and a note. There’s also a picture behind the water but I can’t make out the image. Deciding to check that out in a second, I glance over to the other nightstand and see a dresser right next to it.
Across from the bedroom area is an open bathroom. It has a toilet and a claw tub with a shower attached to it. There’s a shelf next to the tub that has shower items on it. A towel rack is next to it as well. There’s a mirror above the sink that’s by the toilet. It’s pretty plain.
I turn back to see what is in front of me. I see a living room set up. There’s a couch, two chairs, a coffee table, two end tables with blue lamps on each, and a TV on the wall across the couch. Behind the couch, there’s a dining room table and a small fridge in the corner. That’s pretty much it.
There are windows around the room, but they are very small. Just big enough to let in some light. Then, I notice there’s one door next to the TV. I don’t know what to make of this room. I don’t remember how I got here. Something isn’t sitting right with me. I need to think back to what happened, but my mind is still fuzzy from drinking.
Reaching to the nightstand I grab the glass of water and the pills. I glance at the medication and see it’s Motrin. Dante must have left them for me. I swallow them then put the glass back and grab the note. I briefly read the note, I freeze in fear as the night comes back to me.
MY LEN,
I KNOW YOU’RE PROBABLY WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE. IT’S OKAY. YOU’RE SAFE NOW. I LEFT THESE FOR YOU BECAUSE I KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE A HEADACHE. THERE’S SOME FOOD AND WATER IN THE FRIDGE AS WELL. THERE ARE CLOTHES IN THE DRESSER FOR YOU. I ALSO BOUGHT YOUR FAVORITE SHOWER SUPPLIES. I HAD TO GO TO WORK. I’LL BE HOME AFTER MY SHIFT ENDS. WE’LL TALK THEN, MY LOVE.
YOURS ALWAYS
I put the note back on the table. I reach around the bottle and pick up the frame that is behind it. Still with my head fuzzy I look down at the image and try to focus on what I’m seeing. The picture is of me from college smiling and carefree. My arm is around someone and it takes me a moment to try to focus on who it is. I realize who it is and then I remember now who I saw right before I blacked out. It was Dr. Steven Adams who went to school with me, and we started our residency together. He asked me out twice; once in college and once after Dex and I broke up. I said no both times.
It wasn’t that he was ugly. He was just not my type. He’s kind of on the short side and has a quirky personality. He was nice, but just didn’t know how to socialize with people. I tried being his friend, but he just didn’t seem to understand how friendships worked.
Shortly after our residency started, he went to another part of the hospital. I don’t work with him due to that reason. He works mostly with cancer patients. We don’t get many of them in the ER. Those we do we send upstairs to the cancer floor. I only see him here and there when walking around the hospital.
I gaze back at the photo in my hand and can tell that he photoshopped himself into the picture. I place it back on the nightstand and slowly crawl out of bed. I glance down and realize I’m still in my clothes from yesterday. I’m glad for that. I walk over to the door, hoping it’s not locked, but I know it will be. I jiggle the door handle and, yep, it’s locked. I see a small box on the wall by the door. It has a call button. I press it. Nothing happens. I’m assuming it’s an intercom system. I walk over to the fridge and open it. I see some small bottles of water and some containers that have food in them, I’m guessing. Closing the door, I glance up at one of the corners and see a camera.
Shit, he can see me from anywhere in the room, except the bathroom area, from what I can tell, unless it’s one of those cameras that move. But it doesn’t look like it.
I walk over to the end table and try to pick up the lamp. I’m thinking I can attack him using this. I can’t lift it. I squint and kneel down closer, I can see it’s bolted down. I start inspecting all the furniture better and see everything is bolted into place. I run over to the dresser trying to pull out the drawer all the way out and it stops short of falling out of its tracks. I realize I’m trapped.
I sit back down on the bed and try to think of a plan on how I’m going to get out of here. There’s no phone, so calling someone is out of the question. I can’t scream because I don’t know how close he lives to someone. I start to freak out when I remember my black belt. That’s what I need to do. I’ll h
ave to overpower him and get out of the house.
With that thought in place, I go to the dresser and decide I need to take a bath and get on something that I can run in. I grab a pair of yoga pants, tank top, and t-shirt from the open drawer. I open the top one and find socks, bras and underwear. I glance at the tag and realize that they’re my exact size. They all look brand new, too. I slowly close the dresser and walk over to the tub and start the water.
As I get cleaned up, I realize that Steven has been planning this for a while. He knew what size I was and bought all this stuff with me in mind. I’m hoping that I can still get away.
After I’m clean and dressed, I go and look into the other drawers. The last two just has jeans, blouses, and sundresses in them. I notice that there aren’t any shoes. I wonder how long he’s planning on keeping me in this room.
I walk back over to the TV and turn it on. I stop on the news station, hoping to find something on there about me going missing. I sit down on the couch and watch.
About two hours later, I realize that my hopes of being on TV for missing persons isn’t going to happen. Laying my head back, I try to think of what I’m going to do once I get out of this room. I’m going to have to figure out where I’m at first and then try to find the nearest police station. This is a nightmare that I’m not sure how I’m going to get through. I start to doze off with thoughts of how I’m going to explain to the police that I was kidnapped and how I got out.
I awaken to a tickle on the side of my neck. I quickly remember where I’m and jerk off the couch and get in a fighting stance. I look around and see Steven standing behind the couch where I was sleeping. I look over to the door and see it’s closed. I run over and try to open it. It’s locked. I hear Steven give a chuckle and I look back at him.
“Love, it won’t open for you. I’m the only one who has the key. Do you think I would leave it unlocked? Now, why don’t you sit down so we can talk and figure out what punishment you’re going to get for not following my rules?” he asks as he walks around and sits in one of the chairs.
“No, let me out, Steven! I don’t know what’s going on here. I want to go home now. If you let me go, I promise not tell anyone about what’s going on and who took me,” I tell him as I try to reason and assess the situation.
“No, now, sit, Len, or you’re going to be sorry for not listening. Oh, and I guess I should tell you this now, if you’re thinking you can overpower me, think again. I’m a second degree black belt master. Now sit!” He shouts the last part at me, causing me to jump. “Len, I know everything about you, my love.”
Shit! I know I’m no match for that. I should have continued my training, but I’d figured black belt would be enough for me to know how to defend myself in any situation. I never thought that I would be in this type of predicament. I mean, honestly, who would think they would be? I slowly walk over to the other chair across from him and sit down.
“Good girl. Now, let’s talk about what you did wrong. You kept flirting with other men in front of me, you kissed another man that wasn’t me, and I’m sure you gave him what belonged to me as well. Didn’t you, little Len? Well, that means for the next three months, you’re going to have to make it up to me. I won’t touch you until then. I thought about doing it, but decided that we need to be married first. It’s the only way to do things. I mean, Mother has been on my case about finally giving her grandchildren, but she taught me I had to marry the woman first. She’ll be so happy to know I finally got her. Now then, let’s start with dinner. As you can see, I brought dinner from your favorite BBQ joint. Show me your gratitude and be the good housewife I know you’re going to be, love,” he tells me with a sinister smile spreading on his face.
I realize that he’s nuts. I’m not sure how this is going to work out.
“Go fuck yourself!” I tell him.
Rage comes over his face as he stands up and walks towards me. I don’t back down. I know I can defend myself if I need to. He reaches in his pocket and grabs something. He reaches for my hair and jerks me up, and I feel a pinch in my arm before I can reach up to hit him. I start to feel my body relax.
“I wish you wouldn’t have done that, little Len. You will regret that when you wake back up,” I hear him say as darkness takes hold of me once more.
Fourteen
DANTE
It’s been a week since Len went missing. Nobody has had any contact with her and no activity on any of her credit cards. We’ve searched everything trying to find her, and nothing’s coming up. The police are finally starting to work with us and has put out a missing person’s report on her. Pops, Momma Connie, OPG, and Lucky have all done interviews with the news and have a reward out for her safe return. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s really gone for good.
We’re working currently on all the hospital staff that Len works with. We’re scouring their records and doing a little more research that a normal background check doesn’t check for. So far we’ve come up with nothing.
We also reached out to Mace and Coleman to get their teams searching as well. Mace and Coleman served with us overseas and have resources that we don’t have when it comes to situations like this.
A knock on my door startles me.
“Come in.”
The door opens and Julia walks in with a piece of paper in her hand. She smiles sadly at me and walks over and hands it to me.
“This is a list of everyone that I can think of that might have something against Len. I honestly don’t think many people have a problem with her but I’m really wanting to help find her,” she whispers to me.
I take a look at Julia and notice she has bags under her eyes. I also see she has lost weight a bit, and that she isn’t as put together as she normally is. She isn’t taking Len missing well, and it’s understandable. They’ve been friends since kindergarten and went through everything together. I stand up and walk over to her and give her a big hug. She immediately starts sobbing and her knees buckle under her. I hold her tighter so she doesn’t fall and let her continue grieving out her pain.
“Thank you, Julia. It will help out a lot. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m grateful you did. I’m trying to get her back where she belongs. I promise you we’re doing everything we can. The only thing I need from you is to tell me if you see or hear anything strange at the hospital, alright?” I tell her as I rub her back and rock her back and forth.
“O… Okay.” She stutters out and holds me tighter.
“What the fucks going on?” I hear from my door.
I glance over and see Eagle glaring at Julia and me. I slowly pat her back and push her gently away.
“Julia just brought a list of people for us to look into. She started crying and I needed to make sure she was okay,” I tell him calmly.
“Come here, princess,” he tells her as his face transforms from fierce to soft and loving.
She runs and jumps into his arms and starts sobbing again. He holds her close, whispers into her ear, and picks her up. She wraps her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. All I can think is huh as he walks her out my door and down the hall. Seeing them together makes a pain stab at my heart, and it reminds me of what I’m missing. I reach into my front left pocket and rub the metal that I’ve carried with me since that day. I push the thoughts and emotions away before they can swarm me.
I go back to my desk and look down at the paper on my desk. Well, this is a start that will help. I guess I need to get Sin and Lucky together, go to the hospital, and interview everyone on this list. It’s going to be a long day.
We’re down to two people on the list. Nobody’s standing out as being involved in this fucked up mess. I lean back while Sin and Eagle go and get the last two on the list. We’ve been doing this for a week now. That means Len has been gone for two weeks. I just want my baby back and I’ll stop at nothing to achieve that goal.
There’s a knock on the door and Sin walks in one of the last two in
terviews left.
“Hey, Dante, this is Dr. Steven Adams. He went to school and did part of his residency with Len. Dr. Adams, this is Dante,” Sin makes the introductions.
“Thanks for coming in, Dr. Adams. Please, have a seat. We’re just seeing if you know, saw, or heard anything that will help us find where Len is.” I shake his hand and then guide him to the chair.
“Please, call me, Steven. I don’t know how much help I can give you. I haven’t had any contact with Len. I moved to a different floor to finish my residency. I work up in the cancer ward. I don’t get down to the ER very often. She was really nice to me and it bothers me that something happened to her,” he explains.
Something seems off, but I’m not sure if it’s anything Len related.
I make eye contact with Sin, and he nods that he senses something as well.
“We just want to know if you’ve seen someone watching her or something out of the ordinary. Has someone been saying anything or acting weird before or after she went missing? Even if it doesn’t seem like much it might be what’s needed to find her and get her back safely,” Sin says while watching him from the side of the room.
“Not that I can remember. Like I said, I stay mostly up on the cancer ward. I don’t talk to many people outside of work related stuff. I keep to myself and concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing. So, I’m not sure just how much help I can be to you,” he tells us.
He’s starting to get uncomfortable and starts to fidget with his lab coat. I take a minute to study him, and I’m not getting anything from him that shows he has a part in this. So, I decide to stop the interview and let him get back to work.
“It’s okay. Thanks for taking time to talk to us. Do you mind taking my card? If you think, hear, or see anything, you can contact us?” I ask him.
