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He left, once again shoving something against the door. A moment later the outer door opened and closed and I gathered my remaining strength to lunge for the door.
“I’ll get us out of here,” I promised.
“No, sit back down and be quiet.” My mother was honed in on the camera, a mixture of loathing and horror in her eyes. “It’s a livestream,” she hissed, once again covering her face. “He sees everything. And he’s not the only one watching.”
Tremors spread through my arms and legs, and I sank to the floor beside the tub, unable to tear my eyes from the glowing green light.
“What do you mean?” I whispered. “What if I just smash it, tear it down?”
She shook her head miserably. “I tried that. Look where it got me.” She let out a shuddering breath. “I shielded you from a lot during your childhood, sweetie. But there’s some real sickos out there. This is all a show to them, and we’re the stars.”
I could barely breathe, let alone find an answer. I curled up in as tight of a ball as I could between the toilet and the tub and hid my face against my knees. The thought of someone enjoying my terror kept me as still as a stone, choking back tears I would have rather died than let fall.
“Aleksei will find me,” I said, more to soothe myself than anything else.
My mother sighed. “I really hope so, before it’s too late.” But there was no hope at all in her voice, and mine was dwindling fast.
Chapter 25 - Aleksei
After speaking to Sofia, I went back to speak to the employees of all the shops up and down the street. Someone at the stationery store said they’d been having a smoke break out on the sidewalk and saw someone who might have been Theresa.
“Dark, reddish black hair,” I said, holding my hand up at my shoulder height. “About this tall. She was wearing a blue checkered dress.”
“Yes, that was definitely her,” the young woman said, not picking up on my urgency.
“Was she walking? Did she speak to anyone? Did she get in a car and drive away?”
“Oh, yeah, there was some guy parked in front of the grocery store. She talked to him for a few minutes, then got in and they left. He was illegally parked.”
As patiently as I could, I asked her to describe the man and his car. She waffled back and forth between dark brown and black hair, and whether or not the car was white or silver, but it sounded like it might have been her fake fiancé. I wracked my memory for his name. Donny something. I’d spent so much time forcing myself to pretend he didn’t exist, it was difficult to bring his face to the forefront. But I had something now. A tiny lead. And if she was with Donny, at least she wasn’t in danger. That alleviated my fear but replaced it with fury. Why was she with him?
I returned to the apartment, checking my phone to find she still hadn’t answered any of my messages. My pride kept me from calling her again. For exactly three minutes. This time it went straight to voicemail instead of ringing through. Her phone was off.
I immediately called Ivan to assemble a search party, then hung up with him to call Yuri to get his contacts in the police department to check all the traffic cameras in the area. Whatever it took to find her.
“Calm down,” Yuri said. “Maybe she just needed closure with the other guy.”
“You don’t seem to understand,” I said through gritted teeth. “Whether or not she needs closure, her phone is off. I don’t know where she is. Do you get it now, Yuri? I don’t know where my woman is. The mother of my child. We’re not exactly the most beloved people in Miami right now, either.”
“Okay, okay. I’m on it. I’ll let you know whatever I find out.”
“Good, thank you.” I could hardly breathe. I’d never been so scared in my life.
“Hey man, it’s going to be okay,” he told me, ending the call to begin the task I gave him.
I called Nikolai with some foolish hope and explained the situation. “They were staying at your hotel,” I told him. “Before they moved to an apartment.”
“It’s unlikely he went back there if he’s up to something shady,” Nik said. “But I’ll check. And give me the apartment address. I’ll find someone who can see if anyone’s still renting under his or Theresa’s mother’s name.”
I gave him all the info I had, and then could only wait. Within a few minutes, he called me back. “Not at my hotel under his name, but we’re running security footage in case he used an alias. The apartment they were renting was vacated two days ago. My contact said they left in a hurry.”
I thanked him and hung up before releasing a stream of frustrated curses. Where was she? I was certain she hadn’t left of her own volition. The girl at the shop had said she’d gotten into Donny’s car on her own, but he had to have tricked her. We were linked somehow, Theresa and I. Maybe it was the baby, maybe it was just the fierce, overwhelming love I had for her, but I knew she needed me. And it killed me that I couldn’t find her.
Yet. Because I would find her, and if a hair on her head had been so much as rumpled, I was going to tear whoever had her apart
I headed to Ivan’s house on the waterway, just so I didn’t have to pace alone while I waited to hear something from my search party. By the time I got there, the guy I sent to check the art galleries she had done shows at reported she hadn’t been seen at the first three that morning, but he was still making the rounds.
Ivan’s wife Reina greeted me with a comforting hug, trying to reassure me as she plied me with tea.
