by Stefani, Z.
“No, I’ve been her secretary for years. I know how she acts when she’s having an affair. She’s obvious, and she doesn’t care if anyone sees her. Hell, I’ve seen her boyfriends more than I’ve seen her husband. Besides, she’s always in an amazing mood when she’s having an affair.”
“Then what could it be?”
“I don’t know, but I would like to find out. Would you like to help?”
Gloria grinned. “I’m down for anything that might ruin Lila, no matter how slight the chance.”
“I don’t know what we’re looking for, but I’ll help too,” Reese added.
“We’re looking for anything suspicious. Keep your eyes open right now, and pay attention to your surroundings.”
“You’re so dramatic.” Reese rolled her eyes. “Let’s go get some coffee.”
“I’m discussing a possible snake in the midst, and you’re worried about coffee?”
“Yes, I’m having coffee with the biggest snake of them all. Well, that is if you decide to join me for coffee, Adele.” Reese grinned smugly.
“Brainless bitch,” Adele scoffed.
“Suspicious slut,” Reese smirked.
“You’ll see; I’m right about this. I’ll prove it to you,” Adele snapped before she turned around and left.
***
Julian, his father, and his cousin Royce, retraced the detectives’ steps and talked to every possible witness. They also talked to Julian’s neighbors to find out if they had seen anything on the day of the wedding. Unfortunately, there were so many people in and out that it was hard to remember anything. However, none of them remembered seeing Heaven.
Julian and his family got into their cars and drove around the city looking for any trace of her. They went to Gavin’s mother’s old house and searched that neighborhood. It was the first time that Julian realized how endless the city really was. He would never find her at this rate. He’d never felt so useless.
***
“Have you done it yet?” Lila asked Gavin, using the cell phone that couldn’t be traced to her.
“Not yet,” Gavin answered.
“What’s the fucking holdup?” she hissed into the phone.
“Relax, you should be happy; it gives you more time to spend with Julian.”
“It doesn’t work like that. She needs to be dead so that I can console him. He is convinced that she’s still alive, and he’s consumed with finding her. I haven’t even seen him since it happened; he’s too busy searching to answer his phone. He doesn’t even come into the office. He’s obsessed…it’s intense. You need to get rid of her quickly, and you need to leave proof so that he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that bitch is really dead.”
“Fine.”
“I mean it, Gavin, hurry up! I want him now; I can’t wait another minute!” Lila cried desperately.
***
Julian drove aimlessly down the city streets. He’d been driving for hours but couldn’t stop. He had a large cup of extra-strength coffee in the cup holder. There were five empty cups in the trash bag in the back. Royce was asleep in the passenger seat and Julius was stretched out in the back.
Julian answered his cell phone, “Yeah.”
“I’m re-searching the area by work; I want to check the nooks and crannies,” Ian told his brother.
“You should probably sleep; we’ve been at this all night. Don’t you work in the morning?” Julian asked. He looked at his watch, to see that it was three a.m. He appreciated all of his brother’s help; it meant a lot to him.
“I can’t go home; my soon-to-be-ex wife has moved her boyfriend in. Besides, I feel better searching for Sevigne. I can’t sit in some hotel room when I could be out searching.”
“I agree.” Julian felt the same. He couldn’t sit in some room doing nothing when he could be out searching.
“I’ll check in with you soon,” Ian said before he hung up.
***
“It’s taken care of,” Gavin told Lila.
“She’s dead?” Lila gasped.
“Yes.”
“Really?” Lila squealed with joy.
“Yes.”
“Finally! The wicked bitch at last is dead!” she sang.
“I’ve never heard you so excited,” Gavin chuckled smugly.
“How did you do it? Did she suffer?”
“A little.”
“Only a little? That bitch deserved worse,” Lila spat. “Did you plant the evidence to prove that’s she’s dead and gone?”
“Not yet.”
“You should hurry. So when are you planning to take care of my husband?” Lila asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean when are you going to kill him?”
“I thought you were going to take care of that yourself?”
“Are you serious? You know what the agreement was! You are supposed to kill my husband after you kill Heaven!” Lila snapped at him.
“I never agreed to that, I agreed to give you a month with Julian. If you want your husband dead, then you’re going to have to do it yourself.”
“I can’t! I need him dead so I can be with Julian.”
“Then get a divorce. Besides, Julian will be dead before you know it; you might need your husband’s support.”
“You’re traitorous, back-stabbing bastard! You better leave Julian alone, or I swear I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Gavin stopped her from finishing her threat. “If you try anything or if I feel the least bit threatened, I will frame you as my accomplice. I will call the police and tell them where to find the evidence. But first, I will call your husband and let him know about your little plan to kill him.”
“He’ll never believe you. No one will; you’re a desperate murderer,” Lila said arrogantly.
“Listen,” Gavin said before he pressed play on the mini tape recorder.
Lila listened as he played back the tape of their last conversation.
“You son of a bitch,” she hissed.
“I recorded every conversation we’ve ever had. So you might want to rethink your plan to take me down. And definitely forget about your plan to save Julian. Nothing can save him now,” he said with a chuckle before he hung up the phone.
Lila was furious and scared all at the same time. Gavin could send her to prison for life with those tapes. She needed to get rid of any evidence he had. Most importantly, she needed to take care of Gavin once and for all. She had to do something; she couldn’t take this lying down. The only way out of this mess and to get what she wanted was to kill Gavin; it was the only solution. Heaven was gone now, so it was the perfect time. She grabbed her handgun and headed back to her car.
Captured
Lila walked into the old house, but didn’t see Gavin anywhere. She held her gun in her hand as she looked around the main floor. She made her way to a door that was heavily secured with brand-new locks. It wasn’t something one would expect to see in a dilapidated house. She turned the handle to find that none of the locks were secured, and opened the door to see a basement.
She walked down the basement steps, but she stopped halfway upon seeing Heaven. Lila turned around and ran back up the stairs, but Gavin was blocking the doorway.
“You said you killed her,” Lila fumed, aiming the gun at him.
He grinned. “I said a lot of things.”
“You never intended to kill my husband, did you?” Lila shook her head.
“No.”
“Were you really going to kill Heaven?”
“No, but I may be forced to if I can’t get her to submit to me. However, that won’t be anytime soon. I want her way too much to kill her right now.”
“I can’t believe you lied to me.”
“I’ve been lying to everybody since day one. Why would you be any different? Do you think that I had some loyalty to you because you helped me get Heaven? You wanted her gone just as much as I did. You did this for your own selfish reasons. I never intended to kill her, unless I had to.”
He looked to the side of Lila and gasped, “Heaven?”
Lila fell for it—she turned to look behind her. At that exact moment, Gavin pushed her with all of his might. He pushed her so fast she didn’t have time to shoot. Instead, she fell down the flight of basement steps before landing at the bottom with a sickening thud.
Heaven jumped back in shock seeing Lila hit the basement floor like a broken doll.
“If you’d listened to me beyond your own selfishness, you would have realized that I’d always intended to kill you, Lila,” Gavin spoke as he walked down the steps. He stood above her with a mocking smile on his face before her grabbed her by her arms.
Heaven cringed when she saw Lila’s arm flop back; it was obviously broken at the elbow and possibly the wrist. Lila let out a deep, guttural cry of pain as Gavin dragged her. She began to scream hysterically as Gavin chained her to the wall.
“No!” Lila screeched when Gavin grabbed her leg and cuffed it. Her leg was also broken, but it didn’t stop Gavin from manhandling it.
Heaven turned her head from the horrific scene. Lila was a horrible woman, but even she didn’t deserve that.
“Don’t feel bad for her,” Gavin said upon seeing the odd look on Heaven’s face. “She wanted me to kill you so that she could have Julian all to herself. She’s the reason you’re here now. Julian had that house secure, and he never let you out of his sight. I would never have been able to get you without Lila’s help. Never! Don’t forget that.”
“I’m not going to forget anything,” Heaven vowed as she glared at Gavin.
***
“When she didn’t come to work this morning, I thought that she was just late, but she’s still not here. She actually missed a day,” Adele said, smiling from ear to ear.
Reese was shocked. “She’s never missed a day.”
“This is like paradise; I couldn’t have asked for a better gift! An entire day without Lila the Strain in my ass.”
***
Lila’s personal phone had been ringing off the hook all morning. Normally, her secretary Adele would go in and answer it, but last week Lila warned her not to enter her office until further notice. Adele sat at her desk, debating whether to answer the phone. Lila was absent today, and the phone had been ringing long enough for Adele to assume it was important. Without another thought, she ran into the office and answered the phone.
“Mrs. Strain’s office.”
“Put Lila on the phone,” the caller barked.
“She’s not in today, may I take a message?”
“What do you mean she’s not in today? She scheduled this meeting with me, and I’ve been waiting for her for over two hours. I’ve called her cell phone, house phone and her business phone, but she won’t answer.”
“We’ve been unable to reach her as well, sir, but if you leave a message, I will give it to her the moment I see her,’ Adele said politely.
“Tell her that her soon-to-be-former client called, and he’s pissed off! I’m actively seeking new council,” he barked into the phone before hanging up.
Adele frowned; it wasn’t like Lila to keep her clients waiting. Sure Lila was a conniving bitch, but she was also a punctual bitch. Adele looked down at her desk and saw a real estate file. Her nosiness getting the best of her, she opened the folder.
“I thought you weren’t allowed in here anymore,” Reese said, and Adele looked up to see her fellow secretaries standing in the doorway.
“I’m not, but the phone was ringing off the hook. Seems Miss Perfect forgot she had an appointment with a client today,” Adele said, still looking at the paperwork in the folder.
“Well, come on, let’s eat; I’m starving.” Gloria said.
“Come here and look at this,” Adele said holding the folder out to Gloria.
“What is it?”
“Lila Strain just bought a dilapidated house out in the middle of nowhere.”
“What?” Gloria grabbed the folder.
“Maybe it’s a fixer-upper,” Reese said.
“There’s no fixing that house,” Adele frowned.
“For real,” Gloria added after seeing the picture of the house.
“Why would a rich, married lawyer want a shitty house like this?” Adele asked.
“Especially in that area,” Gloria added.
“Maybe that’s where she has her rendezvous with her new boy toy,” Reese giggled.
“Not at that place,” Gloria said in disgust.
“Let me see,” Reese asked and Gloria passed her the folder.
“She’s up to something…I can feel it,” Adele warned them.
Gloria nodded. “First Heaven goes missing. Now Lila doesn’t show up for work, misses an appointment with a client, and she can’t be reached. Something is definitely going on.”
“What if it’s Gavin?” Adele gasped.
“Gavin’s in prison,” Reese reminded her.
“He escaped, jackass,” Adele snapped at her.
“Oh yeah.” Reese nodded.
“Do you think Lila’s disappearance has anything to do with Heaven’s disappearance?” Adele asked as they left Lila’s office.
“That’s a good question,” Gloria answered.
“Lila started acting strange right around the time Heaven disappeared. Maybe he kidnapped Lila too. Maybe Lila witnessed him trying to abduct Ms. Deville or something,” Adele added.
“That seems a little far-fetched, don’t you think?” Reese shook her head.
“Not really. After working with Lila for so long, I’m sure Gavin would love to kill her. Who wouldn’t?” Adele tried to apply reason. “Wait! What if Lila’s working with Gavin?”
“Wait a minute,” Reese shook her head, “don’t you think you’re going a little overboard now?”
“How so?” Adele asked.
“I know Lila is a bitch, but a murderer? That’s a little far-fetched. Lila’s too daft for such an elaborate plan,” Reese mocked.
“Lila is anything but daft. She’s conniving as well as calculated. Besides, we had no idea that Gavin Grant was capable of murder either,” Gloria added.
“My sentiments exactly. So stop trying to be the voice of reason, Reese…it doesn’t suit you. You need a brain for that,” Adele said condescendingly.
Gloria shrugged her shoulders. “It could all be coincidental. But, Lila’s sudden absence is suspicious. Maybe Gavin did get her.”
“We could only be so lucky,” Reese added as she lathered on another layer of lip gloss.
“And maybe that house is somehow connected.” Adele looked at Gloria. “This could be important information; maybe the boss should see this.”
“Good idea,” Gloria agreed.
***
Gavin wanted Heaven more than he had wanted any other woman, but he was incapable of being with her. His mother had been angry that she had a boy and afraid that her son would take after his father. She refused to let him procreate, and leave a child out there on their own. So she made sure that he would never be able to have children.
The side effect from her home surgery was more than impotence; it was a life sentence of chronic pain. He was unable to have sex, and was reduced to fixating and obsessing about something he could never do. He wanted to strip Heaven naked, but the physical pain from his botched surgery and his malfunctioning penis would be too much to tolerate.
“Are you hungry?” he asked with a sadistic smirk.
Heaven wanted to scream at him and hit him in the head with the metal cuff around her wrist. Instead, she sat quietly, glaring at him.
“I know you’re hungry; it’s been days since you’ve eaten. All you have to do is beg me, and then I’ll feed you.” He spoke to her as if she were an animal, or a disobedient pet. “Eventually, you’ll beg; you might as well get it over with.”
“I prefer starvation,” she countered with her poker face in place.
He grinned sadistically as he pulled out a bag from the local fast-food joint. He continued to smile as he show
ed her the food and began to eat. Heaven wanted to rip the cheeseburger from his hands and eat it while repeatedly stomping on his head. Instead, she sat there watching him, silently letting him know that he couldn’t break her.
“Smells good. I’ll be sure to get one of those once I get out of here,” she said, trying to shake him up. If he were trying to make her uncomfortable, then she would make him uncomfortable in return.
