by Jill Sanders
“What party?”
“The party we held for his campaign. You were supposed to be upstairs, asleep. But, instead of falling asleep, you broke into his study and took his paperwork and made…”
“Paper airplanes.” He closed his eyes and remembered watching each carefully crafted paper airplane sail off the balcony, raining down on the heads of the large gathering below. He’d released more than a dozen of them before his father had snatched him up. He remembered hearing laughter, and feeling like he’d lightened the dull party up.
But the next week he’d been packed up and hustled onto a plane towards America to live with his grand-mère.
“Oui,” she nodded. “That was just the last time. You had interrupted several meetings of his…” She paused, her eyes looking more tired now.
He could remember running into his father’s office on multiple occasions. Sometimes he’d begged for his father to play with him, other times he’d been trying to escape the nanny. He’d even hidden in one of his father’s cupboards during a meeting, then had been caught when he’d fallen asleep and had started snoring.
“I was nine,” he growled out.
“Oui, and your father had no patience for you.”
“What’s he going to do with the new kid? Ship him off too?”
“No.” She looked down and a tear slipped down her cheek. “Apparently now he is ready to start a family. He’s already released a press release.”
“But…” He sat up. “Your divorce…”
“Was finalized two days ago in the tribunal de grande by his avocat. His reach in the court is pretty high up. I wasn’t aware that the property was only in his name, which means… I have no title to any of it.” Her eyes met his. “I’ve been left”—her chin rose— “with little more than the clothes on my back. It appears that now, I am the one he wishes to sweep under the rug.”
He felt anger so strong he almost vibrated with it.
“What does your lawyer say?” He stood up and walked towards the window to look out at the dark sky.
“I couldn’t afford one,” she responded softly. “I was removed from the house, without any jewelry or clothing.” She closed her eyes and this time, more tears streamed down her face. “Like a maid who had been caught stealing.”
“We’ll go public with this,” he growled out. “He can’t do that to you.” He turned and walked over to her, gathered her up in his arms. “I don’t care what you’ve done to me in the past, no one deserves to be treated like this after almost thirty years of marriage.”
His mother almost collapsed into his arms. “I don’t care about any of it. My only wish is to get back the time he took away from us.” She leaned back. “I would have never let you go.” More tears streamed down her face and she reached up with a shaky hand. “You were my most prized possession.” She smiled. “You were the thing I wanted the most in life.” She leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. “I should have fought harder for you.”
This time it was his eyes that were wet as he wrapped his arms around his mother and held onto the first woman he’d ever loved.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Mother, why don’t you come in here and join us,” his mother said in French, smiling up at him.
He turned around and saw his grand-mère walk into the room, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Why don’t we go into the kitchen and enjoy the crème brûlée I made earlier?” his mother added.
They were just walking into the kitchen when his cell phone rang. Seeing the number for the resort, he picked up.
“This is Adam,” he answered.
“Adam, it’s Sarah. Is Lilith still there with you?”
“No.” He frowned as he glanced down at his watch. “She should be there already. Have you talked with Jerry yet? He might be running slow.”
“Jerry never picked her up. He’s at the dock now and she’s not there.”
Instantly his entire body was on alert. “I’m heading to the dock now.” He hung up and rushed from the room.
“Adam?” his mother called out. “What is it?”
He turned, his eyes meeting his grand-mère’s. “Lilly never made it to the dock.”
“We’re coming with you,” his grand-mère shocked him by saying.
“Is Lilly—?” His mother started to say, only to have his grand-mère pat her arm.
“Oui.” She gathered her purse and both women followed him out.
He drove double the speed limit and pulled up in front of the docks in less than five minutes. Jerry was there, on the phone, pacing the landing. When they pulled in, he glanced over and frowned.
“Anything?” he called out, holding the phone away from him.
“No.” He scanned the road and cursed at the darkness. Even with the streetlights on, the road leading to the pizza place was dark.
“I’m heading up the block and looking closer,” he called out. Since his mother and grandmother were already out of the car, he told them to wait there and took off on foot.
His mind raced over images of her laying in the gutter, bleeding. But when he reached Ed’s Pizzeria, there was still no sign of her. He opened the door and glanced around, wishing he knew more people in town.
When he spotted Sarah’s mother, Crystal, sitting with a younger woman, he rushed over to her. “Have you seen Lilly?” he interrupted their dinner.
“No.” Crystal frowned at him. “Why?” Just then her cell phone rang. Glancing down, she answered it. “Hi, yes,” She looked up at him. “Adam is here now. No,” she answered, then stood up. “I’ll help.” She hung up and looked down at her friend. “I’m sorry, Karen, we’ll need to reschedule. My daughter is missing.” She took his arm and rushed out of the room.
“Where did you see her last?” she asked once they were outside.
“Right here.” He pointed to the ground. “My grand-mère and I were sitting in there.” He pointed to the table by the window. “She got a call from Sarah and…” He took a deep breath. “I wanted to walk her to the docks.”
Crystal laid a hand on his arm. “It’s okay, everything will be fine.” She patted his arm. “Then what?”
He shook his head. “She started walking towards the docks.”
Just then Crystal waved and called out to someone. “Joseph.” She waved the man over. Even out of his uniform, Adam recognized him as one of the town’s police officers. “Have you seen Lilith Brown in the last…” She glanced at him.
“Half an hour,” he supplied.
She relayed the info to Joseph, who called back as he crossed the street. “No, why?”
“Seems she missed the ferry to the resort. She got lost somewhere between here and the dock.”
The man frowned and glanced down the street. “Who was the last one to see her?”
“I was,” he broke in. “My grandmother and I had dinner with her here.” He nodded to the pizza place. “Could this have anything to do with the threatening notes she was receiving?” he asked, fearing the worse, but needing to know what the man thought.
“What notes?” He turned towards him, giving him all of his attention.
“The notes I gave your partner. He put them in her file when he came out to discuss her case.”
Joseph shook his head. “I don’t understand, what file? We haven’t had time to look into anything but the initial break-in with the wine, which you solved for us.”
He looked between the pair. “But he came out to the island.” He frowned. “He asked Lilly more questions. I gave him the notes we’d found.”
“I’m sorry.” Joseph shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that. Why don’t we head down to the station and we can ask Carl ourselves?”
***
There was something she was supposed to do. Her mind refused to focus. Her fingers itched like she’d been playing a game of tug of war and had lost grip of the rope in her hands.
Her mind was too foggy to register the fact that she was swaying. The
gentle rock of Adam’s boat had lulled her to sleep the night before, wrapped in his arms. Reaching out now, she felt for him, but came up short when her hands refused to move. She tried again, but this time her eye snapped open when she realized that her hands were tied together.
When she tried to sit up, she was held down. This time her eyes found the rope that crossed her chest. Suddenly, the swaying of the boat caused panic to rush through her.
She started screaming and kicking out, only to have the door yank open on the small cabin as Carl walked in, smiling down at her.
“Good, you’re awake. Now you can see your new home.” He walked over and took her hands. She jerked back and tried to scoot away from him as tears slid down her face.
“Where am I?” she asked. Her throat felt raw and sore.
“Home.” He smiled. “We’re home now.” He reached down and easily lifted her up into his arms as she fought him. “Hey!” He growled and squeezed her tight until she stopped fighting. “That’s no way to act after I saved you.”
“Saved me?” she gasped.
“Sure.” He shook his head as he carried her up small stairs out onto the deck of a small boat. “You had just lost your way a little.” He glanced down at her. “That Frenchman messed with your mind.” He chuckled. “But now that you’re home, everything will be normal.” He moved slightly and nodded towards a row of lights.
From what she could tell, they were at the base of a bluff. An old dock led up to a small house buried in a thick forest of trees. It was too dark to tell, but she was sure there wasn’t another building or road nearby.
“Where are we?” she asked again, still catching her breath from when he’d squeezed her chest.
“I told you”—he shook his head— “we’re home.” He started walking up the dock, towards the lights. This time, she kicked and fought harder, causing him to lose his grip. She hit the dock with a thud, losing her breath again, banging the back of her head hard against a plank of wood.
“Stop it!” he shouted at her. “There’s no reason for you to fight. I’ve told you, you’re home now.” He growled out as he tried to gather her once more in his arms.
When she didn’t stop, he reached back and she felt his knuckles connect with her jaw, just before everything went dark.
The next time she woke, she was lying on a soft cot in a dim room lit by a simple gas lamp.
“I didn’t have enough time to prepare your room like you’d like it.” He glanced around. “But I thought you’d understand since you moved up the schedule some.” He twisted around and flipped a pocketknife open. He was still wearing his uniform, his gun tucked and locked into his belt. Her eyes ran over the gun and pepper spray, which were locked into place with simple buttons.
Could she get to them in time? Should she try? So many questions ran through her mind.
“Why am I here?” She tried to remember what had happened to her on the dock, but couldn’t. Her mind was too fuzzy.
He stopped what he was doing and chuckled. “This is where you belong.” He rolled his eyes like she’d just simply forgotten that she was supposed to be here.
“Is this your home?” she asked when her hands broke free.
“No!” he growled out and wrapped his hands around her raw wrists, causing her to gasp in pain. “This is our home.” He looked around the sparsely decorated room. “Just like I promised you all those years ago.”
She shook her head. “You promised?” He shook her shoulders and then dropped her back onto the cot. Her legs were still tied together, forcing her to realize she couldn’t run for it just yet.
“Sure.” He turned and smiled down at her. “When you showed up here, you got off the bus, broken and confused. I made you a promise then, when I first saw you, that I would keep you from harm.” He looked around. “I’m sorry it took so long. I had to get things ready for you.”
She glanced around and felt her skin crawl. The place was a dump. There was no carpet on the floors, just exposed wood planks that ran the length of the one-room place. The fact that the lights were lit with gas instead of electricity made her question if there was electricity to the house.
“You…” She took a breath, thinking. “You built this place?”
He smiled. “With my own two hands.” She watched his shoulders straighten. “Just for us.” He walked around. “Of course, there’s still a lot to do.” He waved his hand around and began talking about things he had planned. She barely listened as her eyes scanned the dim room, looking for an escape.
There were only two windows, which appeared to be boarded up from the outside, and the one door, which he was currently blocking. Not to mention that her legs were still tied together. She knew that it was a long run down to the dock and what she could only assume was the only boat available.
Her options were not looking good. She felt herself shiver with fear.
“Are you cold?” he asked, taking a step towards her.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I’m sorry.” She shivered again, trying to control the shakes.
“I’ll start a fire.” He rushed across the room to a large stone fireplace. A pile of wood sat next to it, giving her an idea. All she had to do was play along with his delusions. It was the only way she saw to survive until Adam could come for her. First things first, she moved her hands behind her back and removed the ring from her finger, making a point to shove it on her other hand.
She doubted Carl would understand or allow her to keep it if he knew that she and Adam were engaged.
She remembered all the games her stepdad had played with her and knew exactly what she needed to do. Taking a deep breath, she readied herself for the game.
“If you untie my feet, I can help you make a fire,” she said in a polite voice.
He glanced over his shoulder and frowned at her. “It’s the man’s job to start a fire,” he said, leaning over the kindling and striking a match.
“Well, how about I boil us some water or heat up something to eat?” she said, trying to sound positive.
“No, I’ll take care of you tonight. Besides, I think I gave you too much morphine.” He shook his head. “I should have double-checked. It was wrong of me.” He growled and then stopped when the fire took hold. Standing up, he turned towards her, a huge smile on his lips and his eyes sparkling like he’d just won the lottery. “Now, what would you like? Chicken noodle or tomato soup?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Adam stood impatiently waiting as Joseph talked to his captain about Lilly’s case. When he was done speaking, the duo walked over to where he and Crystal stood.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Carriveau, Joseph has explained your situation.” He shook his head and smiled over at Crystal. “Hi, Crystal.”
“Hi, Tom.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes and Adam could see the worry had tripled since he’d pulled her from the pizzeria.
“I’m sorry, there’s not a lot we can do. If Carl was working on a file, he didn’t tell anyone else about it.”
“Is that normal?” Adam broke in.
“Well, it’s not not normal.” Tom chuckled.
“What about Lilly? Can you put out the word to look for her?” Adam questioned, feeling his patience slipping.
“I can have my guys keep an eye out for her, but there isn’t a lot to go on. Like, if someone saw her being shoved into a car, or if someone saw her being attacked?”
“My god!” Crystal almost screamed. “Tom, this is my daughter we’re talking about. Do something!”
He turned on her and gave her a look as if to say, ‘Calm down.’
“Don’t look at me like that. I took that girl in when she was thirteen. She’s mine.” Her eyes narrowed and her small frame seemed to grow a few more inches.
“I’ll put the word out to my cars. I’ve got a few out right now.”
“What about Carl?” Adam asked.
“Carl?” Tom walked over and looked at the board. “Carl got off duty about an hour ago.”
&nbs
p; Adam looked over at Crystal. “Right when Lilly went missing.”
“Hey now,” Tom said, “I don’t like where you’re taking this. My guys are all—”
“Where’s his desk?” he barked out to Joseph.
“There, next to mine.” He pointed, following Adam.
“You work with the guy.” He turned when he noticed that the desk was spotless. “Anything off about him?”
“Lots.” He rolled his eyes. “The chief wouldn’t hear any of it since we were short staffed and Carl was a home-grown.”
Adam glanced over at him in question.
“Born and raised in Silver Cove,” Joseph supplied.
“What are we looking for?” Crystal asked as Adam opened the drawers. He stopped dead at the last drawer.
“What?” she asked, moving closer.
There, in the bottom drawer, was a stack of green papers. With shaky hands, Adam reached in and took the top one.
“She’s mine. Forever!”
He turned to Joseph. “Where?” he barked out.
“He lives a few miles from town.” He rushed out, Adam quickly on his heels. “I’ll drive,” he called out then stopped. “Chief, don’t put out an APB on her. He’ll be listening.”
Tom nodded his head and Adam noticed then that the old man’s face had gone a little pale. Crystal walked over and wrapped her arms around the older man trying to comfort him.
“I knew his old man. I promised to look out for him after he was gone,” he was saying as he and Joseph ran out the door.
“I trained the son of a bitch myself,” Joseph growled out as he drove through town with his lights on.
“Why would he take her?” Adam asked, a million questions in his mind.
“What did the notes say?” Joseph asked.
Adam filled him in as they hit the outskirts of the town.
“Sounds like he’s delusional. I read about it a few years back.” Joseph sighed. “Should have seen it myself. The man was always making up shit.” He slowed down near the end of a drive. “You’ll stay put until I come back for you.” He parked the car and turned off all the lights.
