The Girl that Fled (Bliss Book 3)

by Veronica Soliman

  "At my son's house. He has a whole conspiracy he wants to share with me about how his dead wife is actually alive. Silly boy doesn't want to let her go and move on. He doesn't see the good that Magdalene is... I'm sorry. Sometimes I just can't keep my mouth shut." She smiled.

  "Heh, I get what you mean." Eleanor replied, a bored look on her face while her brain began to go crazy. She was about to enter the den of lions disguised as a lamb.

  She was about to go back home and now she knew she'd better be the best damn actress on the planet if she was going to pull this night off.

  Chapter 8: Punishment

  ~??~

  Josiah was heartbroken. He had thought Bree- Eleanor- whatever her name was- trusted him enough to wait. He thought she wouldn't pull a stunt like this. But all he had left of her was a small note spelling out three obnoxious letters.

  I.O.U.

  She'd stolen money from him and scurried away, not caring who she trampled on in the process. He was planning on keeping her secret no matter what, in fact he believed he was actually starting to fall in love with her. In love with a married woman- how insane was he to think he could compete with the owner of Carnegie Hall. Adam Carnegie was stunning, powerful, perfect in every aspect and everyone could see that Josiah didn't compare.

  He felt used, insulted actually, but mostly hurt as he sat in the hotel room sulking away.

  A sudden sound pulled him out of his phase as the doorknob moved. It was as though someone was trying to break their way in. He stood up, walking toward the peephole and looked through. There stood a man wearing a detective hat, his eyes downcast as he knocked this time.

  "Open up, room service." The man said.

  Josiah looked around, maybe he'd gotten in trouble somehow. But wouldn't someone tell him that he'd been arrested, not say it was room service. Josiah contemplated for a few more minutes as the knocking grew louder, more abundant, and exceptionally annoying,

  He pulled the door open just as the man outside was about to land a hand on the door again, but before he could stop himself, landed it straight on Josiah's face.

  "I'm so sorry bro," Zac said, stifling a laugh and rubbing his fist.

  "Who the hell are you?" Josiah glared, rubbing his injured temple. "Did you have to knock that hard?!" He groaned, knowing there would be a bruise there tomorrow. Zac was one of the finest detectives in the world, he knew how to play the part he needed to get the information he needed. No wonder Adam had hired him, and he wasn't about to soil his reputation now.

  "Room service," he held up a dustpan and stepped inside the messy room. A feminine scent filled his nose, "you're into that stuff man?" He asked, swishing the air in front of him with his hand.

  "No man, my girlfriend is out right now," Zac smirked, realizing he had found the correct hotel room before tossing the dustpan aside and crossing his arms over his chest. "She'll be back..."

  "Interesting." Zac pondered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He glanced at Josiah's concerned eyes and the red spot he'd left on his forehead, "Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not actually room service." Zac laughed.

  "I never could have guessed! Woah!" Josiah smirked sarcastically, "and this whole time I thought the dustpan automatically meant you were gonna clean this entire room...What the hell do you want? Get out of my room." Zac flinched, annoyed at the sarcasm as he clenched his fists, then unclenched them to let out a breath.

  "The thing is, my girlfriend, needs a place to stay, she's about to give birth soon and I have no cash." Zac smiles.

  "What the hell man! It's a hotel! Birth downstairs or something. Why are you even on this floor?" Josiah was quickly unwrapping any of Zac's hideous ideas and Zac was quickly getting annoyed.

  "Look, can I just... " he took a deep breath, knowing how easy this would be if he went about it the right way. "You called the police earlier reporting a Bree Walker missing correct?"

  "Yes?"

  "Well I'm here!"

  "You're not Bree... unless you just suddenly got super good at costumes." Josiah eyed him skeptically, a confused look filling his expression.

  "Of course, I'm not Bree you moron, sorry that was unprofessional, but that girl can't possibly be that good... costumes. Hm, interesting. What does she disguise as?" Zac knew the next few seconds would be critical, he needed to pay attention to Josiah's reaction.

  Josiah's eyes widened and his lips parted slightly as he shook his head, "we role-play... Uh... in bed. She likes to pretend to be a cat...err snake..." It was evident that he was lying, but Zac wasn't about to push further than he had to, Josiah's face was morbidly red. Either this man was embarrassed, or he was lying and either way, Zac had his answer.

  "Interesting. Nevertheless, I'm the police. Did she leave anything behind after we left so we can find this Bree for you?" Zac walked further into the hotel room, sniffing around like a dog. Roses is what it smelled like and he made a mental note of that.

  "Show me your badge first, then I'll show you." Josiah said, raising an eyebrow. For some reason, he didn't trust Zac. He watched him fidget, searching the inside of his suit pocket for a possible badge.

  "Damn it, I must've left it in my car, hold on a second." Zac lied through an easy-going smile, knowing that he'd lost all chances at befriending the skeptical hooligan in front of him. He turned around, pretending to walk out, then in a class split second, he whipped back around, hitting several pressure points and when that didn't work, he punched Josiah and with a "What the hell don't touch me man," Josiah was out.

  Zac took it upon himself to wander freely around the room. He spotted a note on the dresser reading three simple letters as a smile, wider than a kid on Christmas, erupted across his face. This case was way easier than he'd anticipated as he recognized the handwriting.

  He may have just solved the biggest mystery in the world as of this moment, pride filled him as he walked out with paper in hand, stuffing it in his suit pocket. He shut the door behind him, glancing at a sleeping Josiah as he chuckled evilly, earning some looks when he slammed the door shut, and walked out of the hotel into the frozen air.

  ~??~

  Mrs. Carnegie watched Eleanor sip her tea slowly, her delicate fingers holding tightly onto the glass. She couldn't help but notice a small white line on her ring finger, surrounded by a slightly darker shade of skin around it. Eleanor had taken the gloves off and returned them once she felt warm enough to do so and the painful piercing was gone.

  "Have you been married before?" Mrs. Carnegie spoke blatantly, staring at Eleanor's delicate fingers.

  "N...No," Eleanor nervously laughed, "I had a family heirloom on my finger. Let me tell you Mrs. Carnegie, it was gorgeous with a red diamond in the center and it was made of pure gold. Unfortunately, when I proposed to my boyfriend with it, he tossed it out a window somewhere near here. I looked for it for a while, but it was too cold- so I left. It was really expensive and now it's buried somewhere. That's okay though, I hope whoever finds it can get the money from it." Eleanor whimpered sadly, taking another sip of hot tea.

  "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that Elena." Mrs. Carnegie's face filled with concern as she took a sip of her own tea. She looked around, feeling awkward that she had brought such a painful subject up to the poor red-haired girl sitting in front of her. For some reason, she felt an instant liking toward her, a rare comfort that she could only ever feel around her son and this drew Mrs. Carnegie to want to help Eleanor in any way she could.

  A car parked outside, the only car on the road as a man walked out and entered. He was tall with broad shoulder's resembling Adam. He wore a cheap detective hat; a small brown beard filled the majority of what could be seen on his face as cold soulless dark eyes stared at Mrs. Carnegie and Eleanor. He looked young, and his beard looked out of place- perhaps a disguise. This gave Eleanor ideas.

  He eyed Eleanor for a moment longer as he turned his attention to Mrs. Carnegie.

  "It's going to be a while; Mr. Carnegie’s home is about an hour drive from here
." He spoke as Mrs. Carnegie gracefully stood up, her giant coat, fit for a queen, was slowly falling off her shoulder as she lifted the brown fur fabric and pulled it over her shoulder. It swayed behind her as she moved from the sepia lighting of the comfortable cafe to the exit.

  "That's fine, just keep the heater on high and drive safely. It is getting quite dark."

  "Yes, Mrs. Carnegie. Are we bringing the redhead with us?" He asked. Eleanor wanted to comment back, she wanted to point out that she had a name, but she said nothing.

  "Yes, we are bringing Elena with us." Mrs. Carnegie tossed a smile in Eleanor's direction and followed behind the man. She walked a short way behind them, wishing she could stay in the warmth of the restaurant as the doors opened and the freezing air flew in to battle the warmth. She quietly followed behind them, anxious now and in fear of tarnishing her new name.

  They slowly stepped through the rising snow, their feet becoming numb and soaked as Eleanor kept a distance.

  "Zachary. Is that any way to talk to a lady!" Mrs. Carnegie asked, a smile on her face.

  "Well, I don't consider red over there a lady," he eyed Eleanor, noticing a familiarity about her that he couldn't place. Maybe if she'd cleaned the dark black makeup off her face then perhaps, she'd look appealing. "and I'd like to know why you're bringing a hobo along! Adam won't be pleased." The man didn't give another glance at Eleanor as they took their seats.

  "Hush child, I'm just being a good citizen, couldn't leave the poor girl out here to freeze."

  "Who says she's poor, she could sleep in the cafe, maybe she's one of those people who pretends to be poor and begs for money when she actually has millions made already." His eyes scanned Eleanor's body, a sparkle beginning to show as this man named Zachary began to get on her nerves. He winked at her and Eleanor grew uncomfortable.

  "If I wanted to beg for money, I would've done it on a day when cars and people were actually out..." Eleanor replied. They sat in the car, waiting for Zachary to start the engine and the heater.

  "Zachary!" Mrs. Carnegie almost fainted.

  "Call me Zac." He said, winking at Eleanor this time as warmth filled the car.

  Chapter 9: Finding Demeanor

  They drove in silence, the first thirty minutes going by painfully slow as nobody spoke in the car. Eleanor stared out the window, spotting her ugly reflection. That was probably the first time in her life that she'd called herself ugly. Her freckles had faded, and her eyeliner had stained her whole face. Not only did she look like she had two black eyes, but she looked like someone had taken some water-balloons filled with paint and threw them at her.

  She looked like she was trying to become a different race as well. Eleanor groaned as Zac turned the music up in the car, he hummed along to the tune as Mrs. Carnegie snored beside her.

  "So, where you from?" He asked.

  "What's it to you?" Eleanor spat, she didn't feel comfortable around this guy and she wasn't about to spill her beans. She didn't trust him.

  "Feisty," he commented, tossing his hat aside as the temperature in the car burned her. "I assume you're from another country. England perhaps?"

  "How'd you know?" Eleanor faked her astonishment and for the millionth time that day, felt like she deserved a role as a Hollywood actress.

  "The accent," he laughed, lowering the heater so he could hear her better.

  "Where are you from?" She asked, feeling chattier now as Mrs. Carnegie's snores lightened and disappeared.

  "Born and bred here. Jersey's my home." He said.

  "Zachary, it's getting quite cold in here." Mrs. Carnegie shivered, yawning loudly as he turned up the heat. Eleanor noticed the bead of sweat forming on his face as he tilted the air vents toward Mrs. Carnegie.

  "Is that better?" He asked, driving slower than ever and stopping on an icy road. Eleanor could recognize this street, realizing they were getting closer to Adam's home. Closer to the road where she'd faked her death. She had nightmares of this street, she regretted ever coming- but the past is in the past and you can't change it, only attempt to make the future better.

  "Yes, much. Could you fill me in on the details of your investigation?"

  "Mrs. Carnegie, I'm not sure you realize that you've let this... this redhead into your car and you don't know if you can trust her or not. So, I plead you, please don't ask for details until after we get there."

  "Darling, she already knows, it slipped. But I would like to know who planted the silly idea that Adam's dead wife might still be alive into his head!" A sly smirk formed on Zac's face as he shrugged.

  "She might actually be alive; we found her fingerprints in quite a few places. Her handwriting is everywhere too. I do think that this Bree girl he's searching for is actually Eleanor in disguise or something or someone close to her and keeping her hidden. We also suspect that she might have been the murderer of Mr. Carnegie." Eleanor gasped, covering her mouth in silence as Zac turned his eyes to her, questioningly.

  "That's crazy! Eleanor was such a sweet gal, let her memory remain innocent in peace and stop this silly investigation. Honestly, sir detective-hat, I really think you're looking for something that you can't grasp because the poor girl is dead! Do something else with your life than creating stupid stories like this." Eleanor shrugged, a cool smile returning to her face once she'd hopefully convinced Zac that he was an idiot.

  "My husband died of a heart attack. I told you both to quit that investigation almost a year ago!" Mrs. Carnegie has nodded along to every word that Eleanor had said, she huffed when Zac raised his eyebrows.

  "You're starting to sound a little suspicious Mrs. C," Zac laughed, turning onto the road leading to Adam's house and stopping in front of a gate.

  The second the car drove through the gates, Eleanor froze. What the hell is she doing? She can't enter into this home; would Adam recognize her. Would Adam recognize her?? Would Adam recognize her???

  But all thoughts were thrown out the window as Adam's hardened face appeared and walked over to greet his mother.

  ➿??➿

  Josiah awoke with the worst headache he'd had in years; his head was throbbing, and he had two bruises on his neck. He touched the painful spots, wincing at the pain. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know if it was the right thing to report Bree or whatever her name was to the police. He just wanted to find her, to take her home. She was lost and he didn't want her to be hurt out in this frozen city.

  And he felt stupid for covering for her, but he couldn't bring himself to trust the cop, detective, or whatever that man was. He groaned as he realized New Jersey was now his least favorite place to be.

  He had about three thousand dollars left. Feeling lost, exhausted, and completely over the drama of the last few days, he decided to get going home.

  He had work to be done back home and didn't want to waste any more time in this wretched city.

  He silently packed his things and tossed them into the back of a taxi. The snow was still present, but salt now covered the streets and far more cars drove over it. He couldn't shake the feeling that this might all have just been a dream and that he might wake up any second with Bree lying beside him. He felt like a yahoo for thinking that, rubbing his hands over his tired eyes as the car drove out of the state.

  He fell asleep as the steady moving vehicle continued to zoom through states until it arrived back in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma.

  "Six-hundred and forty-two dollars and forty-five cents." The driver said, watching Josiah pull the money from his pocket and hand it to the driver as he drove to wherever the next location would lead him.

  He was exhausted as his eyes landed on Jennifer, his co-worker in the doctor's office. He ran a hand through his messy hair as she approached him, laughter present in her eyes.

  "Looks like you and Bree had a fun few days," she grinned, pointing to the bruises on his neck.

  "It's not that... " he said exhausted, yawning loudly and feeling as though he might just sleep right there, in the parking
lot.

  "Well, where's Bree? Everyone's really been missing her cakes at the bakery."

  "She's not here."

  "Obviously not silly, did you drop her off at home, wait, where's your car?" Jennifer was being awfully chatty, something Josiah couldn't tolerate at the moment.

  "Jennifer, can we please talk about this later? I need a ride home; can you drive me?"

  "But you live half a mile from here, can't you walk?" She asked, her bright smiling filling her pink tinted cheeks. She stared at downcast eyes for a few seconds, "Come on. I'll close up early today, it's already noon anyway. You've missed out on a lot."

  Josiah followed her to her car and sat as she drove him home. She followed him inside, sitting on his couch as she blabbed his ears off.

  "I knew that Bree was no good, I could see it in her eyes. So, she just left you like that and where's your car?" But before she could get any more questions out, Josiah had fallen asleep. She brought a blanket and covered him, shutting the door on her way out.

  But Josiah wasn't actually asleep. Who could sleep when they'd just been so traumatized. For a minute, he felt like he had just lost everything, but then again, he couldn't imagine how life had been four months ago before Bree showed up. She had a way with how she portrayed herself- Josiah felt like he'd lost a piece of himself.

  She'd been his sunshine on the rainy days. He huffed. He wanted to find her too, to ask her why she didn't trust him enough to keep her secret.

  He contemplated calling the police but figured that would just make him and his town of Clearwater moving targets in the sight of the media. The name Adam popped up in his mind as he realized it wouldn't be long until Bree is found- especially with the resources that Mr. Carnegie had, she'd be found in no time.

  And she probably deserved what she had coming.

  Chapter 10: Signs

  Eleanor laughed inwardly; she'd been the bug planted in the ear of her villains. Not that Adam was her villain or anything, but she'd figured out a way to sneak into his home unsuspected.