The Love I Never Knew: Contemporary Romance Mystery (Ariadne Silver Romance Mystery #1)

by Morris Fenris

  II

  It was just as Larry had expected – the photograph that Ariadne had received by post was not enough to give the police a lead on locating Eugenia. Nevertheless, it had enough clues to fill in some of the pieces that had so far been missing from the whole mystery puzzle.

  The reopening of the case was once more giving Detective Hatfield some sleepless nights. The forensic team with Phoenix Police had been working tirelessly to establish some worthwhile data from the photograph but had not been able to make much headway. The postcard had passes around too many hands so finding a clear fingerprint from it seemed an improbable task. However, the identity of the man in the picture – Eugenia’s lawfully wedded husband – had been established.

  The young groom went by the name of Damien Garvin. He was on the police records for being a petty thief and street hustler in Phoenix. Damien had been convicted on numerous occasions for the illegal possession of drugs and stolen goods, and had even served few months behind bars. Though the police always kept tabs on him, he never proved to be a headache for the force and seemed to have a way around with the law enforcers. He had gone off the radar around three years ago at exactly the same time that Eugenia was kidnapped but no one could have ever imagined that the two disappearances were linked – while she was from a well to do family in the city, Damien was a typical gutter-rat!

  Larry stayed up at night. His hunch that Eugenia had staged her own kidnapping had been confirmed long back, now it was reinforced a little more. What remained to be established was how the two of them had possibly met and hatched the plan that they did. A number of theories formed in his mind but one of these struck him as the only possible reasoning.

  “First thing in the morning,” he told himself, “There are certain things I need to know from Ariadne and Lucien to tie up the loose ends in my theory.”

  ***

  “We have identified Eugenia’s husband,” Larry said, addressing Ariadne and her husband as they sat down in the latter’s drawing room for a discussion. Then he revealed his identity.

  The couple could hardly believe their ears. Eugenia their bright, well-educated, and highly-talented daughter running off with a petty thief? Lucien had a good mind of having another go at the detective but held himself back. Ariadne spoke, “Are you sure of that Larry?”

  Larry put on a grim look on his face. “I know this will be difficult for you to accept but the truth cannot be altered. Besides, the face recognition software does not lie. Nevertheless, the question is how the two of them came to be acquainted in the first place.”

  Lucien and Ariadne exchanged glances. None of them had any clue on this subject. The detective spoke again, “Tell me, was Eugenia behaving a little strangely just before she was kidnapped?”

  Both parents remembered how Eugenia had been regularly returning late from her classes and how she seemed to be slowly distancing herself from them. Ariadne mentioned this to Larry, “I would often rebuke her for returning late, but she insisted the delay was because she was spending more time in the library doing her lessons. We thought something was fishy but before we could find out more this whole thing with her disappearance came about.”

  “Hmm…,” the detective said thoughtfully. This, he felt, was an important piece of information. He decided to share his theory with the couple.

  Larry was well aware that Eugenia, having had successful treatment in the United States, was able to move freely with the help of her prosthetic. She would go to school and return home on her own for, at fourteen years of age, she was obviously old enough for that. Damien could have met her on one such occasion. It was hard to tell how the events might have played out since all of this was a mere hunch, but the obvious thing is that the two of them became friends. Also, Eugenia may have told Damien that she was the only child in an affluent family who lived in Phoenix. This could have further cemented their relation and it is easy to believe that Damien may have insisted on that. She was also having issues back at home with her parents over coming late, and this could have created a feeling of anger and mistrust in her mind. Damien, upon hearing of this, may have insisted that they run away and settle down elsewhere to lead a happy life. The issue of finances must have come up and that’s where Eugenia probably agreed to stage her own kidnapping. While she was not mature enough to recognize true love, her anger towards Ariadne and Lucien could have forced her into taking such a drastic action.

  Larry finished talking and then sat quietly. The two people in front of him did not move. Lucien looked like he was in some kind of daze, still unable to comprehend the true motive behind his daughter’s actions. As for Ariadne, she could very well make sense of what Eugenia had done. Desperation, she realized, could drive a person to do really crazy things and this she had learnt from her own life!

  III

  The whole idea of getting a formal education never really appealed to Eugenia. She despised having to read a whole lot of text that was taught in school. Though she never fared badly, her heart was never totally into studies. It was music that she considered to be her soul-mate. All that Eugenia wanted to do in life was have a thorough knowledge of music; this was once instance when she did not mind putting in the long hours of studies. And then there was the piano! If Eugenia could have her way, she would spend the rest of her life harping on the keys of a grand piano.

  At a crossroad near her school, Eugenia often found a young man selling some stuff out of a handcart. Whenever, he showed up there would be a large crowd near his store and he would sell out all his goods in a few hours. She would often wonder about what the man could possibly sell that would make his business in such high demand. One evening as she approached the crossing, she found the young man standing by his cart. There weren’t many customers about that day and Eugenia though it would be a nice opportunity to check out the things that were being sold on the cart. She was about to head over when all of a sudden four men appeared on a couple of motorcycles. They were armed with sticks and rods. The young man seemed a little startled to see them but before he could react, the men were all over him. They beat him mercilessly with their weapons and ransacked his cart. Then they left on their motorcycles and left the young man to die on the streets. The few customers who were around had run away as soon as the four men pounced on the salesman. Now, the street was pretty empty except for Eugenia and the bruised young man.

  Though she was young, Eugenia had a good presence of mind. She realized the man was in need of medical attention. She located a public telephone booth nearby and called up 911. When her call was answered, she narrated everything that had happened. The operator asked her for the location and thanked her for the call. Eugenia walked back to where the man was lying on the road and knelt down beside him. He was breathing heavily and bleeding from a deep gash on his forehead. For a brief period he opened his eyes and looked up at Eugenia, trying to smile through his broken teeth. Soon the paramedics and police arrived. They took down a statement from the girl and left with the man. Eugenia prayed for his speedy recovery. That would be the day when she reached home late for the first time!

  Over the next few days, Eugenia often wondered how the man was doing. She felt a little uneasy so when one evening she found the man back in his usual place, a feeling of joy swept up in her heart. She went up to the man with a look of glee on her face. The man noticed her and gave her a smile. The signs of that ugly fight were not visible on him. Eugenia smiled back at him and started looking through what he was selling. She could not find anything attractive save for a pair of silver bracelets that caught her attention. However, she was sure that she would not have the money to buy it. Nevertheless, she decided to ask the price.

  “How much for those?” she asked, pointing at the bracelets.

  “Sixty dollars,” the man said, picking them up and handing the pair over to Eugenia. She felt a little shy. “No thank you, I don’t have the money.”

  “Take it, for you it’s free,” he said, putting on a wide smile. Be
fore she could say anything, he continued, “Consider this to be a sign of my appreciation for what you did the other day.”

  Eugenia blushed. Never before had any man treated her with such love and respect except her father. She held out hand and accepted the bracelets. She was at a loss for words and simply left for home. The bracelets remained hidden among her books. Eugenia did not want her parents to find out anything about what had passed over the past few days.

  Slowly but surely, the two of them would develop a good friendship and understanding. She found out that he was called Damien and was a small businessman by trade. Damien, on his part, came to know that Eugenia was from one of the well-to-do families in Phoenix. He realized that she was starting to fall for him and decided to make full use of her simplicity. Damien would show up in front of her school every evening, sometimes even without his cart just so that he could spend some time with her, or so he would have her believe. Initially, they would just have a brief chat every before Eugenia returned home. However, the disbelieving nature of Ariadne and Lucien brought out the rebellious monster inside her. She started crossing all limits and would spend even more time with Damien, hanging out in malls and coffee shops around town. This extended to weekends when Eugenia would simply leave home without informing her parents and return home late at night. One evening, unable to bear the chidings of her parents, she proposed to Damien that she would love to disappear. For him, this was like music to his ears. Damien always took more interest in her wealth rather in the girl herself. They hatched the whole plan of Eugenia’s kidnapping and decided that a ransom of two million dollars would be good enough to fulfill their dreams and make them happy in life. Eugenia had just one condition to throw in – she would agree to the whole plan of staging her own abduction only if Damien would let her keep part of the money for paying for her tuition at Julliard. He readily agreed to it, though his true intentions lay elsewhere. However, he was not stupid to reveal his true intentions to his prey. Over time, though, Damien would realize that Eugenia offered more than just a short-term solution to his financial woes. She was a rare talent in the art of playing the piano. Soon, Eugenia started looking less like a dollar symbol to Damien; he could see her becoming a star and that meant more fame and bigger sums of money to roll around in. He decided he needed a change of plans!

  ***

  As soon as the two million dollar ransom came into their hands, Eugenia and Damien went wild with joy. They did everything that one would expect a young couple with loads of money to do. Though Eugenia was from a well-off family, never before had she understood the meaning of material pleasure. Now, with all the money at her disposal, she went around buying expensive jewelry for herself. Her wardrobe underwent a total makeover, cheap clothing now replaced by high-end global brands – Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Caprese. As for Damien, it was a story of going from rags-to-riches. He started living the life of a king. A man who had never managed to ride anything beyond a decades old Fiat was suddenly the owner of a Cadillac ATS Coupe and a Lincoln MKZ, cars that were signature possessions of the richest in America. They had some excellent luxuriant holidays in the posh settings of Florida and California. Their little pot of gold bought them all the happiness that money could possibly buy. Before long, however, the gold was gone and the young couple was left behind with an empty worthless pot.

  IV

  Eugenia was fifteen when she had staged her kidnapping and disappeared. She never realized how time flew around her as she slowly matured into a woman, pampered in the laps of luxury by her parent’s two million dollars. Damien, meanwhile, had done his bit to ensure that his star lady would never want to be reunited with her parents. Eugenia was just few months away from turning eighteen when he proposed marriage to her. She could not believe her ears and was delighted with the proposal. Life had turned for the better with Damien by her side and she was sure this was the man who would ultimately lead her to stardom. She immediately agreed to exchange marriage vows. However, they decided to wait till Eugenia was eighteen years old. Then she would be able to get married without the consent of her parents.

  On the day of her eighteenth birthday, Eugenia and Damien bid farewell to life in Arizona and eloped to Reno, Nevada. Here, they visited a marriage counselor’s office and registered themselves as a newly married couple. Damien Garvin was now officially and legally married to Eugenia Valier who would henceforth be known as Alicia Garvin. Alicia was her second name and she decided to take up Damien’s surname to complete her new identity. Then they visited a local parish church and completed the religious formalities of marriage. When it came to the matter of marriage, neither the bride nor the groom held any expectations so exchanging their marriage vows in front of an audience that comprised of an old man and a drunken wreck was more than they could have possibly asked for. However, Eugenia felt the absence of her parents all of a sudden on this special day. She insisted that they send them a postcard with the information of their wedding, just to let them know that she was happy and well. Damien did not see any harm in this for he had already bagged the big prize he was after – Alicia Garvin! So they went to a studio and had their photo taken which was then posted in the name of Ariadne and Lucien to her home address in Phoenix.

  Damien was not totally convinced of Eugenia’s new identity and wanted things to take on a formal look. That meant changing some information in the national data records, a task that was littered with obstacles if done in the legal way. He never had a thing for legal things, so he decided to take the illegal route. He had the necessary contacts in the industry and got in touch with his friend with Paul who, luckily for them, was in Reno on some important “business.” There was nothing in the world that Gertrude Manse could not hack into and the National Archives and Records Administration website was no exception. He made his way into the system and created a new profile in the name of Alicia Garvin, formerly Alicia Hoffmann. Damien thanked him for his services and paid him off. Their next plan was to move to and settle in California. Alicia could feel her dream life slowly starting to take shape.

  They selected Los Angeles as their preferred city to start life in. Once there, the couple rent an apartment in an upscale neighborhood. A good sum of the two million dollars was still left so they did not feel the need to worry about money right away. Alicia felt that she had had enough excitement over the past three years. It was time to get busy with her career and dream. She hunted around for a job as a pianist in the many bars and lounges of Los Angeles, and landed herself offers from four different places. This, she realized, would mean having to commit every evening of the week to work. However, Alicia did not mind and was thrilled at the prospect of being able to make money all on her own. She did not make much and the atmosphere was pretty appalling. Her audience mostly comprised rich, drunken men who did not care a drop for her music as much as they cared for their drinks. However, nothing of this ever seemed to bother her. She was happy with the fact that she was earning but what pleased her most was that she was getting a chance to the play the piano after so long. The auditions for admission to Julliard were not far away and she needed all the practice that she could possibly get before the big day. There was no piano yet in her apartment and she was saving her earnings to pay for the purchase of one. Till then, she would just have to make do with what her workplace had to offer. Alicia would also spend her time at home studying music. Her ambition was to make it big in life and studying music at the premium institute would help her unconditionally. She did not want anything to come in the way of her dreams.

  V

  Two years had passed since that day in Reno when Eugenia Valier became Alicia Garvin. While the couple had lived happily through the first few months of marriage their relationship soon soured as things took a turn for the worse. Whereas Alicia would go about her job of a pianist, Damien had found himself a new companion – drinks! He would remain immersed in alcohol through the day and it was not often that his wife saw him in a sober mood. As for the two million d
ollars, every last penny of that amount had been exhausted long back. Alicia’s expensive clothes had become old with regular use though her jewelry was still safely stored. Damien, on the other hand, had lost possession of his two luxury cars. His Lincoln MXZ had been seized by the police after he was caught speeding along the boulevard in an inebriated condition. It had found a new home in the city car pound and if Damien did not pay a hefty fine for his offence, would be auctioned off. The cops did not want to send such a grand vehicle to the scrap yard. As for the Cadillac, he had exchanged it for a couple of bottles of the finest Malibu Rum! Being broke and drunk seemed to be his new favored way of survival in life. Every night while Alicia tried to concentrate on her studies, Damien would drink and create a racket at home. Very often he would shout at her without any reason and physically abuse her before he would get too drunk to carry on and eventually fall asleep.

  Alicia found it difficult to put up with Damien’s behavior. Her job in the multiple lounges and bars was also proving to be hectic. Often, schedules would clash and she would miss out on performances, thus having to settle for a pay cut. Besides, no big names were ever likely to visit the places where she played so her chances of recognition were slim in such an environment. She craved a change and soon took up a job at an upscale bar restaurant in Malibu, the affluent town in Greater Los Angeles. If ever there was a chance of some hotshot from Hollywood noticing her, this would be the place.