Although it was a Friday, she wasn’t scheduled to perform that evening. However, she had been contemplating for a few days and was ready to discuss the real path that had brought her to burlesque nearly five years ago. She’d called Mistress Coco the previous day to find out if Sean had finished filming for his documentary. Finding out that he had a few more scenes he wanted to film, she decided to ask if she could reshoot her portion. She wanted to be honest about the time in her life which led her to find burlesque.
“Hey Sean. I’m ready when you are,” Stacey merrily sang when she found Sean. She was ready to open up, and couldn’t help the lightness she felt being able to be honest.
A few minutes later, Sean had his set up in place and was ready to begin their shoot.
“All right, so what brought you to burlesque?”
This time when Stacey fingered the tiny scar between her knuckles, she didn’t feel the need to deflect or lie. Sitting upright, taking notice of Rihanna’s Diamond, playing in the background, she began her recount of the friend in recovery who introduced her to burlesque.
****
Andre felt the foreign feeling of nervousness as he completed a few work emails. He decided today was the day he would open up to Stacey about his fears on love and marriage. Stacey’s ability to open up to him made him want to share everything with her. He needed to tell Stacey how much he loved and wanted a future with her.
Now, as he sat at his desk finalizing emails before he ended his day, he felt anxious to get this over with. Since it was a weekend in which Stacey wasn’t performing, he’d made plans to have dinner at his home catered, where he would open up about the time in his life that caused his desire for marriage to shift. Andre planned to tell Stacey that she was the one woman who made him want to confront his fears and change them, just so he could keep her forever. Tonight would be the night.
The ringing of his office phone brought Andre out of his reflection.
“Mr. Collins, it’s Ms. Coleman on the line for you,” his assistant chimed.
“Hey, babe. How’s your day going?”
“It’s going great!” Stacey happily responded. “I left work about a half hour early, to meet Sean at the Black Kitty to retape my segment. I just finished and am walking out now.”
Andre nodded. She’d told him about going out to her first burlesque show with a friend she’d met at the eating disorder clinic. She’d told him about how in addition to allowing her to get through the ending of her ballet career, discovering burlesque helped her to cope through recovering from her eating disorder.
“I can’t wait to watch it when it comes out.” Andre was sincere in his tone. He was proud of her for being able to be candid. “I’m proud of you, babe,” he told her honestly. “And speaking of being honest, I wanted to talk to you about something tonight.”
“Oh, that soun—” Stacey’s words were abruptly cut off.
“Stacey,” Andre’s voice was alarmed. A nervous chill ran through his veins when she didn’t respond. He soon heard a ruffling noise and what sounded like a male’s voice.
“STACEY!” Andre roared into the phone, but to no avail.
“Gimme the phone, bitch!” Andre could make out a male voice.
Andre couldn’t believe what he’d just heard on the other end of the phone. He pulled out his cell phone, quickly redialing Stacey’s number and hoping what he’d heard was just some sick joke.
“Answer the phone,” he mumbled over and over as he dialed. “Fuck!” He yelled so loudly, his assistant was startled enough to run into his office.
“Get Raul on the line now!” he instructed. “Tell him Stacey’s in trouble!”
Andre jumped into action. He didn’t have time to go into shock or second guess himself. The longer they waited, the greater the chances of something perilous happening to the woman he loved. He’d only been recently able to admit to himself that he loved Stacey and now she could be in trouble.
“Raul!” he barked into his office phone, “Something’s happened to Stacey. I was on the phone with her and then all of a sudden she was cut off. I heard male voices in the background right before her phone was disconnected. Now, I can’t get ahold of her. Her phone keeps going to voicemail.” He recounted the last few minutes as he paced his office. Andre knew Raul’s security expertise and opted to entirely bypass contacting the police. He knew Raul could assist in circumstances where police hands were tied. And right now, he knew time was of the essence. The quicker they acted, the better the chances of getting Stacey back unharmed.
“Where was she coming from?” Raul asked in a calm, yet commanding voice. Andre could tell he was going into action mode.
“She was in the parking lot of the Black Kitty. She just taped a segment for that documentary.”
“All right, I’m sending Lorenzo over there now to investigate. Where are you?”
“In the office.”
“All right, don’t move. I’m on my way over.”
Andre nodded even though Raul couldn’t see him, before hanging up. He knew the next phone call he had to make would be especially difficult, but he didn’t want to leave anyone in the dark about what’s happening. He knew he wasn’t overreacting. Something had happened to Stacey, and her family needed to know.
“Mrs. Stevens, it’s Andre. I’m sorry to have to tell you this....” he began to tell Stacey’s aunt, while running his hand through his hair.
Within the next few minutes, Andre was on the phone with Stacey’s aunt, uncle, and both Quincy and Jabari. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Quincy began arranging travel plans, but Andre already had his assistant arrange a private plane to transport the entire family to Atlanta. Andre knew they all would want to be here to help get Stacey back.
Andre hung up with Stacey’s family just as Raul and two of his employees entered his office. The grim expression on Raul’s face told Andre he didn’t have good news for him.
Chapter 20
Stacey’s lids felt as if they were held shut by glue. She felt dizzy and attempted to grip her head with her hand, but discovered both hands were bound together. She felt a hard, lumpy surface beneath her. Realizing she was laying on a bed, Stacey tried again to pry her eyes open. Finally opening them, it took a while for her gaze to focus. The room she was in was dark, but in front of her she could see a door that was slightly ajar, with light streaming in from what she assumed was a hallway. Stacey attempted to sit up but was hit with a wave of dizziness that had her slumping back to the bed. Closing her eyes, Stacey willed herself not to lose the contents of her stomach from the dizziness and nausea.
“Yeah...I got her…Both of them...” Stacey could just barely make out the far off male voice. Closing her eyes once again, she attempted to strain her ears to listen in on the conversation. When she heard heavy footsteps, she stilled.
“I said they’re here!” The frustrated voice nearly shouted.
Stacey could hear her heartbeat speed up as goosebumps rose on her skin. She tried to slow her breathing in an attempt to appear to still be sleeping. She had no idea where she was, who had taken her, or why. The man’s voice she heard wasn’t familiar at all.
As the footsteps got closer, Stacey couldn’t help the jump in her heartbeat.
Just breathe, she told herself, forcing her brain to concentrate on inhaling and exhaling slowly so as not to give away the fact that she was awake from whatever drug they’d used on her. She nearly cried out in shock and fear when the footsteps stopped at the door and she heard it forcefully push open.
“Yeah, I said I’ve got them both. The black broad and the other one. One’s still sleeping. The other one you banged up is in and out. Anyway, let’s discuss my payment...” the voice trailed off as he turned and moved further away from the room, closing the door behind him.
The other one? Stacey wondered who or what this man was referring to. More importantly, as her brain fog began to lift, she wondered who the hell this man was. Who was he on the phone with? It
sounded as if this man was paid to kidnap her. But who would want to kidnap her and for what? All these questions fired off one right after the other as Stacey searched for answers as to what the hell was happening to her.
Peeling her eyes open once again, she saw she was in the center of an empty room except for the cot she laid on.
“Mmm.” Stacey jumped at the groan that sounded like it came from behind her. Twisting her neck to look over her shoulder, Stacey could only see more darkness.
“Help me,” a barely audible whisper sounded.
Stacey could tell this was the voice of someone who had been hurt or was struggling, physically. Peeking at the door once again to make sure it was closed, she inched her body over as best she could with her hands bound, making sure to make as little noise as possible. Once she was finally on her other side with her back to the door, she tried to focus her gaze again in the darkened room. In the corner of the room, she could make out a figure. It looked to be a person. A woman with long dark hair.
“Are you awake?” Stacey whispered to the woman. “Hey, hey,” she called, when the woman didn’t respond. “Are you awake?”
She flinched when she realized she’d spoken louder than she intended.
“Hmm. Pl-please don’t hurt me,” the figure in the corner shrilled.
“Shhh,” Stacey shushed, looking over her shoulder again at the door. “I’m not going to hurt you. Do you know where we are?”
“I-I...don’t know. M-my head hurts s-so bad,” the woman cried, holding her hand to her head.
“Were you hit?” Stacey asked, trying to discreetly slide off the bed to get to the woman to help her.
“Y-yes. I th-think so,” the woman slurred.
Stacey wondered if she had been drugged or if the woman’s injuries were what was causing the sluggishness. Inching her way off the cot to make as little noise as possible, Stacey scooted over to the corner towards the woman. She could make out that the woman was dressed in a pair of jeans and a sleeveless shirt. She had long, dark hair that partially covered her face.
“Hey, can you look at me? I won’t hurt you. I promise,” Stacey attempted to console the woman.
Slowly, the woman lifted her head and used her bound hands to push her hair out of her face. Stacey forced herself to not let the gasp escape her lips when she took in the swollen eyes of the woman’s face, and her quivering split lip. It was very apparent someone had done a number on this woman. Even in the darkened room, the bruises on porcelain skin were apparent.
“Oh God,” Stacey murmured as she tried to assess the woman’s condition. The woman widened her eyelids and Stacey could just make out the hazel eye color. For some reason, the woman’s eyes seemed familiar to Stacey. Just as she had that thought, the woman’s eye that was least swollen widened even more in shock
“Oh my God! Stacey,” she gasped.
Stacey’s body went rigid as recognition settled over her. “Maria,” she gasped.
****
“What the fuck is taking them so long!?” Andre barked at Raul, referring to his men who’d gone to the Black Kitty to investigate.
“They’re on their way back now,” Raul reassured him.
They were set up at Andre’s office, awaiting Raul’s men. They had called and said they’d found the smashed remnants of a cell phone. They bagged the evidence and were bringing it back to Andre to have him confirm whether or not it belonged to Stacey. They also went to check to see if Mistress Coco had security cameras in and around the building.
Raul tried to shift Andre’s focus. “They’ll be here in five minutes. Let’s go over who could possibly want to hurt or harm Stacey.”
“No one!” Andre shouted. Taking a breath to calm himself, he tried to recall anyone who would want to harm Stacey. He thought about every conversation they had. Not once had she ever mentioned being scared of anyone, in the past or present. She wasn’t someone who made enemies. She was a damn social worker for goodness sakes!
“She doesn’t have any enemies. No one who knows her would want to hurt her,” he said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. “She’s a fucking social worker! She helps people for a living and she dances. Maybe…” Andre’s voice trailed off as a thought came to him. “What if this is tied to her dancing? A few months back, there were two different pricks who propositioned her after they saw her perform. One was at the club and the other was at this ice cream shop we went to,” Andre recounted to Raul.
“Good, this might be a lead. Give me a description of the men,” Raul requested pulling out his pen and taking paper from Andre’s desk. For the next few minutes, Andre gave Raul a description of the men who’d approached Stacey. His memory of both were good seeing as how he’d yoked up both men to get them to back off Stacey. He’d never forget either of their faces. He began to wonder if the men had something to do with Stacey’s disappearance, or if it was someone else from the club. The fact that Stacey was taken while at the Black Kitty began to point towards it being someone connected to the club.
Andre also remembered to the previous year when Mercedes, Raul’s wife, was being stalked. Though her stalker turned out to be a sister she never knew about, the woman had taken on a part-time job at the Black Kitty to gain access to Mercedes. Andre wondered if something similar could be the case with Stacey. He shared his thoughts with Raul.
“I doubt it’s the same type of thing. She hasn’t received any notes or calls of a threatening nature, right?”
Andre shook his head. “She practically lives with me. We haven’t spent a night apart in months. I’d know if someone was threatening her.” He sighed. Just as he finished, Raul’s men, Lorenzo and a second man Andre wasn’t familiar with, entered his office.
“Boss, this is what we found,” Lorenzo told Raul, handing him the bag that held the broken pieces of the cell phone.
“This look familiar?” Raul questioned Andre, holding the bag for him to see the contents.
Immediately, Andre recognized the phone and the pieces of her case that held the image of a little ballerina twirling around. His heart sank as the complete realization that someone had taken Stacey settled in. Up until then, he had been hoping against hope that maybe her phone had just died and she couldn’t get in touch with him. Seeing the phone he knew was hers broken, intentionally, in Raul’s hand made it real for him.
“Son of a bitch!” he shouted at the same time he slammed his fist into his desk. He felt like a caged lion, unable to get to the woman he loved.
“Hey man, I know what it’s like when the woman you love is in trouble. The best thing you can do is to keep it together. For her,” Raul consoled.
Andre knew Raul spoke from experience. He’d heard about when Mercedes’ stalker had lured Mercedes to her place of work and held her at gunpoint.
“I’m fine,” Andre stated, shaking off his frustration. The last thing Stacey needed right now was his frustration. She needed his clarity and for him to do everything in his power to bring her back home, safely. “I’m fine. Were you able to get anything from the security cameras?” Andre asked, turning his attention towards Raul’s two men.
A grim look passed over Lorenzo’s face. “No. Apparently, the club doesn’t have security cameras. We asked the owner and a few patrons who were inside and no one saw anything. Didn’t notice any cars that appeared strange. We’re gonna keep asking.”
Andre nodded and sighed, checking his Cartier watch. “Stacey’s family is scheduled to land in about ten minutes. I’ve arranged for a car to take them straight to my place. I think we should head over there to meet them.”
The rest of the men agreed and within minutes, they were headed out of the Excel offices and on their way to Andre’s condo. Andre knew that until the time Stacey was back, his place was going to be the command center of this investigation.
****
“Stacey! Oh my God! They got you!” Maria cried at the same time she winced in pain. “I’m so sorry. I tried to stop him,” she mumbl
ed.
Stacey’s body slumped against the wall as the air left her lungs. She was left stunned from realizing who the woman was in the corner. This was Andre’s former girlfriend or whatever she had been to him. Stacey could not wrap her head around the fact that she was sitting face to face with Andre’s ex, and they both had apparently been kidnapped. She let her eyes trail over Maria’s bruises and disheveled clothing, barely able to make it all out due to the darkened state of the room. Stacey didn’t let herself dwell too long. She knew she needed information in order to help them get out of there. She remembered hearing Maria say she tried to stop him. That must mean she knew, or at least had an idea, of who it was that took them.
“Maria, who did this to you?” she asked, sitting up
“Uh, I’m so sorry. I tried to stop him,” Maria continued to mumble, as if she were in a trance.
Stacey grabbed Maria’s bound hands with her own, trying to bring her back to the present moment. “Maria, it’s okay. This isn’t your fault. I just need to know who did this to you. To us. Who kidnapped us?” she asked calmly yet assertively.
“It was J-Jennings,” Maria blurted out just as the door flung open and the room was illuminated from the light turning on. Both women jumped, turning towards the entrance.
“Oh, I see you two have become acquainted,” a male voice jeered from the entrance.
Stacey observed the man who was about five-ten with sandy blond hair and a stocky build. She squinted thinking he looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. The sneer he wore on his face spoke to his very unfriendly disposition. Stacey heard a whimper beside her from Maria and instinctively went into protective mode.
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