Once we reached the ground floor, there was a loud “ding-ding,” and a man’s pre-recorded elevator voice said, “Parking Garage.”
Sticking my head out, I looked both ways, and then pulled Ava out of the elevator. “Okay, sweetie. I need to investigate something. Can you stand right here by the elevator and wait for me? I might be gone for a couple minutes, but then I’ll be right back. Do you think you can do that?”
She shivered in her towel. “It’s kind of cold down here. But I think I can do it. Are we solving a mystery or something?”
“Something like that. I’ll give you more details when I get back in just a minute, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll wait. I promise.”
“Good girl.” I smiled, kissed my finger, and pressed it against her nose.
“What’s going on?” Ash said loudly, scaring the living daylights out of me. I brought him up to speed then told him I had to go. I’d just spotted the black BMW from my premonition. Dodging around other vehicles, I hurried toward the car. I figured the biggest miracle of all miracles was that no one else was in the parking garage. Lucky for me, the BMW was unlocked, and I quickly spotted the trunk button and pressed it. I ran to the back of the car and groaned when I caught sight of Izzy. She was whiter than a sheet of paper and looked dead. At least her eyes weren’t open.
Bracing myself, I took a deep breath and touched her cheek. Her skin was extremely cold, and I couldn’t detect any Essence. Bowing my head, I thought I might burst into tears. How could all of this have been for naught? What was I going to do with Ava Rose now? What would Kieran do if he caught me?
But then I felt it, a small tinge of energy. That was all the motivation I needed. I placed both hands on Izzy’s face and poured my Essence into her. “Come on, Izzy. Feel my energy. Soak it up.”
A minute later, she gasped for air and sat up. “Lexi! What’s going on?” She rubbed her head. “What happened?” Her short brown hair was a mess, and her bangs were sticking to her forehead. Her normally luminous green eyes were dull and glazed over. “No. No. Don’t answer that. They…they did it again.” She started rambling, and it came out rushed – a mix of inarticulate words. “They stole my Essence. Again. But not all of it. They didn’t know it. But I did. I held on. I hid some. In that secret spot. A trick my mom taught me. It worked. Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe it was you. You saved me.”
“Shh,” I said. “We don’t have time to worry about that now. What matters is that you’re alive. You’re strong. And I need you to pull it together and listen to me. I have a plan to get you out of here, but I need you to listen very carefully and do exactly as I say.” She nodded and I helped her out of the trunk. I continued drilling her with Essence as I told her about my premonition, about Ava Rose, and about my plan for how they were going to escape together. When I felt confident we were on the same page, and that she was strong enough, I went to get Ava Rose.
I introduced them. “Ava, honey, I need you to pay attention. Okay?” Her eyes grew wider, and she clutched her towel a little tighter. I held her shoulders, supplying her with Essence as well, and said, “Uncle Kieran knows some dangerous men, and they might come here.” She gulped and started to ask why but I told her how important it was to listen first. “You know how Uncle Kieran has a lot of money?” She nodded. “Well, these men are upset about it and want some of that money for themselves. That’s why you and Izzy are going to sneak out of here. We are afraid these men might show up here, and we don’t want you to be here when they do. They are dangerous. Now, where’s the car Maya drives?”
She pointed to a navy-colored SUV, so I nodded at Izzy and we worked our way to the car. While Izzy opened the back hatch and climbed inside, I gave more instructions to Ava. “Okay, so you and Izzy are going to hide in the back of Maya’s car, and pretty soon she’s going to drive out of here and take you both with her. Only...” I paused, trying to think of some kind of excuse that made any plausible sense, but nothing did, so I finally said, “Except she is going to pretend like you’re not in the car, and you’re going to be super quiet and pretend she doesn’t know you’re in the car either.”
“Why?” By now Ava looked and sounded terrified. I felt so guilty, but this was better than the truth.
“Well, Uncle Kieran thinks these men might have some kind of listening devices or something, but if you’re super quiet they’ll never know you’re in the car.”
“Oh no! Then why aren’t you sneaking out too?”
I grabbed her little hands. “To be extra safe we’re taking different cars. I’ll be coming along soon. Hopefully, these men won’t even show up here. But if they do, we want to make sure you’re somewhere safe.”
“So you’ll go right after us?”
“That’s right, sweetie. But until then, I need you to listen to Izzy and do what she says, okay?”
I don’t think Ava was very convinced, but I had her so scared she climbed into the back of the SUV and crouched down. Quietly, Izzy and I said good-bye. If she made it out, the plan was for her to contact Sienna and Michael for help right away. They were with Jason, so it wouldn’t be long before the whole Bellingham Circle was in on the situation. Hopefully, they’d still have time to catch a flight to Oklahoma City. We said our good-byes, and Ava Rose waved as I quietly closed the back door to the SUV. She looked just like she had in my snapshot.
Racing against time, I backtracked my steps. I propped open the laundry room door, used Vincent’s key card to get into the pool room, and even managed to place the key card back on the table. I paused mid-stride when his high-pitched snore came to an abrupt stop. But he simply rolled onto his side, and when he took up snoring again, I high-tailed it out of there and ran to the laundry room. Somehow, I even managed to climb up the laundry chute, which wasn’t easy. Without my rubber-soled tennis shoes for traction, I never would have made it. I was breathing heavy and sweating, though. I went up several floors to get back to Kieran’s room. Once there, I immediately turned the elevator camera on and then hastened toward the bedroom. I didn’t even pause to glance at all those pictures on the wall. I’d already seen them, and there was nothing else to gain except anger. Besides that, I was under a serious time crunch.
Within ten minutes of being in the basement, I was safely back in my room. I breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to initiate part two of my plan. Hurrying over to the bedroom door, I banged on it and called out to James, “Hey, I’m hungry. I want to talk to Maya about getting some lunch. Is that allowed? Or am I forbidden from eating, too? Besides that, it’s getting stuffy in here. Can’t you take me for a supervised walk or something?” I tried my best to sound annoyed like usual.
“Hold on. Hold on.” I heard him talking into his walkie-talkie.
A couple minutes later, Maya arrived with a sandwich, some fresh fruit, and an iced tea. “You have to eat in your room,” James said smugly, allowing Maya in. She placed the food on the table and politely asked if there was anything else I needed.
I smiled brightly. “Now that you mention it, yes there is. Kieran said something about a dress and some accessories you were picking up for me today. I was wondering if you were doing that soon, because I’d kind of like to take a look at it, try it on, and make sure it fits. You know, that kind of stuff. Besides that, I’m in need of something to do after I eat lunch. I’m getting pretty bored,” I said loudly so James could hear the irritation in my voice.
“Deal with it. I am,” James called back and took a bite of the sandwich Maya had given him.
“Oh, I can go and pick up the dress right now. Unless you want something else from the kitchen first?”
“Thanks, Maya. I have plenty of food here, so that would be great if you could get it. The sooner the better.”
“Very well, then. I’ll have your dress here within the hour,” Maya said, dipping her head slightly before exiting the room.
For the next ten minutes, I waited on pins and needles by the window. When I caught sight of Maya’s navy blu
e SUV heading down the street, I did a celebratory dance and jumped up and down on my bed like a little kid. Pulling myself together, I sat down to eat my lunch and pass the good news onto Ash.
Not fifteen minutes later, I heard James yelling in the hallway. Suddenly, my door flew open, and I knew it was show time. He stomped into my room and looked all around.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Can I come out now?”
He ignored me and spoke into his walkie-talkie. “Well, Vincent, you better find her. And you better find her now. I don’t know how you can lose one little brat kid?” Fuming, he shoved his walkie-talkie back into the holster on his hip.
“What?” I shouted, jumping up from my seat. “What’s going on? Are you talking about Ava Rose?”
“Yes,” James snarled.
“I thought you said she was swimming.”
“She was.”
I started trembling, trying my best to put on a good show. “Well, where is she?” I screamed hysterically. I ran up to James and continued shouting. “How could he lose her in the pool room?” I grabbed his arm. “Oh no! So help me…if that idiot let her drown, I’ll kill him.”
At that precise moment, Kieran walked into the room. A look of surprise crossed his face. I think because James was in my room, and I was screaming hysterically. “Who are you going to kill, Lexi?”
I ran over to him, trying hard to force tears to my eyes. I felt success as wet drops rolled down my face. “Kieran, James just said Vincent has lost Ava Rose in the pool room. We’ve got to get down there. She might need me.”
Kieran looked from me to James, his eyes widening. “Is this true? What’s going on?”
Nervously, and rightfully so, James filled Kieran in with what few details he had. Kieran turned crimson red and looked from James to me. “Has Lexi left this room?”
“No, I’ve been locked up all day. Now let’s get going. We’re wasting time,” I yelled.
“Shut up,” Kieran said. “I’m talking to James.”
“Lexi hasn’t left the room,” James said adamantly. “I’ve been right outside the door the whole time, and Vincent was supposed to be watching the kid.”
“You’ll stay here,” Kieran ordered, pointing at me. “And you’ll come with me,” he said, grabbing James by the shoulder. “How hard can it be to find one little girl?”
As the door slammed shut in my face, I smiled and muttered to myself, “Damn hard.” Then in order to keep up the charades, I banged and kicked on the door and shouted, “You can’t leave me here. What if Ava needs me?”
After a couple minutes, I stopped the antics and took a breather. For once, I’d devised a plan and executed it perfectly. Now I just hoped Izzy and Ava would be able to slip out of Maya’s car unseen while she was picking up the dress.
CHAPTER 21 – SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE
Pacing the floor with arms crossed, I waited impatiently for something to happen. Anything. But nothing did. Time dragged on, and not once did I hear voices or any other sounds. It was eerily quiet. Despite my earsplitting pleas and loud banging on the bedroom door, no one came to let me out. Even more surprising, no one came and ordered me to put a lid on it either. I’m not sure if no one heard me or if I was being ignored on purpose.
I started fidgeting when I saw Maya’s car returning down the street. Finally, the moment of truth had arrived. Something was bound to happen now. At the very least, Maya would bring me my dress, and I would be able to gauge her temperament – determine if she’d discovered Ava and Izzy in the back of her car or not. But much to my disappointment, a good half hour passed and Maya never showed up. That was worrisome, because earlier she’d promised to have the dress to me within the hour, and she had excellent follow through. The clock continued to tick.
Had I failed? A queasy, heavy feeling originated in my gut and slowly twisted its way up my chest and tightened around my heart. Suddenly, that cramping sensation launched itself upwards like a rock that’s hurled into a mucky lake. The splattering mud coated my brain with dark sludge, casting shadows of doubt and stealing away my confidence. This caused all kinds of horrible illusions to form in my head. Maybe Ava and Izzy had been discovered and brought back. Maybe Kieran was torturing them right now. Maybe my part in their escape was being pieced together, and Kieran was planning how best to punish me. With a lunatic like him, anything unimaginable was plausible, and I didn’t want to go there.
I was teetering on the brink of insanity when I heard the bolt on my door. I took a deep breath. I’d already thought it through and had planned for this moment. When Kieran stepped inside, I rushed toward him and nearly knocked him over. Getting up in his face, I let loose a string of frantic, rapid-fire questions about Ava. I asked him where she was, if she was alive, and if she needed my Essence.
Ordering me to calm down, he looked at me like I was the lunatic. And maybe I was. Shaking his head, he said, “She’s just fine. Calm down.” With a swipe of his hand, he waved away my concerns.
I stood open-mouthed, staring at him incredulously. Seriously? The fact that he’d said she was “just fine” elevated my concern but also piqued my curiosity. Had Maya brought her back? Had he checked the surveillance footage and found that the elevator camera had gone on the fritz? “Just fine,” I shrieked, smacking my hands together in front of his face. “What the heck does that mean? Last I heard she was missing. That she might be in the bottom of the swimming pool. I want to know what happened. And what are you doing about Vincent? How did that imbecile lose her in the first place?”
In answer to my questions, he flat out lied. I tried to control my astonishment as the lies rolled off his tongue. “Ava went exploring like any curious kid would do. She slipped out of the swimming pool while Vincent was sleeping and used her key card to get into the game room where she practiced her pool game.” He was nonchalant, like the whole thing was no big deal. His story grew phenomenally. “Eventually, she wandered up to the rooftop and fell asleep in a lawn chair.” Obviously, this was all a bunch of crap. So what was really going on? Despite his attempts at remaining calm and sounding composed, I knew he was agitated. He spoke an octave higher than usual, and the tone of his voice was off.
“I want to see her now,” I demanded. Since he was creating such elaborate tales, and I didn’t sense any threat from him, I assumed I was not a suspect. This was a good time to push him a little bit.
“That’s out of the question,” he replied smoothly. “I moved her to her room, and she’s fallen back asleep. She’s exhausted.” His mouth set in a grim line and his demeanor darkened. His ugly round, bald head reminded me of a white bowling ball. Glaring, he started going off. “I’ve been too soft with you – allowed you too much freedom. You will be sequestered for the rest of the day.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not.”
In protest, I stomped across the room, picked up the nightstand and threw it at him. “You are cruel and cold-hearted,” I yelled. He caught it, but he was not in the least pleased or entertained.
He slammed it onto the floor, and it actually splintered into pieces. “You will see her tomorrow,” he said punitively. His gaze wavered as he spoke, which was surprising. Typically, he was a master at deceit, always looking me straight in the eye without flinching or blinking when telling a lie.
And that’s when I fully comprehended what was going on. He had no idea where Ava Rose was. And he had no intention of telling me she was missing. Miraculously, he still hadn’t clued into my role in this matter. Then again, James had assured him I’d been in my room all day and Vincent was such an idiot it was totally believable he could lose a little girl. I bet Kieran was burning with rage, trying to figure out where exactly Ava Rose had gone off to. If I had to guess, I’d say he hadn’t realized Izzy was missing, too. I mean, why would he? Obviously she was believed to be dead or she wouldn’t have been thrown in the trunk in the first place.
I almost smiled. He was putting on a good show for
me, but acting was not his forte. I was much better at it than he was. I was surprised steam wasn’t coming out his ears, though. He was such a control freak by nature, and failure was totally unacceptable. Knowing that a child had disappeared despite all his high-tech security systems had to be driving him insane. However, somehow through it all, he kept his wits about him and understood he had to hide the truth from me. If I had any reason to believe Ava Rose was still missing, I’d come unglued – hysterical even. That would screw up his plans for a nice subservient linking ceremony. And that was the most important thing to him right now. His concerns over our “perfect little linking” was clouding his judgment. He should be delving deeper, trying to find out if I’d been involved with Ava in some way. But he wasn’t, and that was a pleasant surprise.
“I want you focused on our linking,” he said roughly. “To do that, you’ll need privacy, time to get ready, and a lot more solitude. He paused and glanced at the time on his cell phone, his lips forming a crooked smile. “Just a few hours more.” Looking eager and excited, he ran one hand over his smooth, ugly head. “I will leave you, and Maya will bring in your dress and things. I expect you to look amazing.”
“This is crazy,” I raged, making sure my face was a mask of unveiled hatred. “And dressing up is asinine.”
He took a step toward me, and I wanted to move back as he shook a finger in front of my nose. “Our linking is an extraordinary event. We will be considered royalty among the Ray-pacs. Tonight we will have several witnesses, all who will be expecting a show. And that’s what I intend to give them. Perception is everything, and you will play your part. And you will play it masterfully or all the people you love will die.”
Dentelle #3 Guardian series Page 35
