Never without you, p.17
Never Without You, page 17
“He… hello?” I stammer once I hit the answer button. I don’t know who it is because I’ve smashed up the screen. What the hell was I thinking, behaving like that? “Hello? Noah Holden speaking.”
There is silence at first. Or at least no words, just a little whimpering sound. I almost hang up, but something tells me not to, and it seems that going with my gut today is going to work out. I hope at least.
“N… Noah, it’s Kelly.” My blood runs cold as I hear her voice. I have wanted her to call me, but not like this. I can already tell by her tone that something bad has happened. “She’s gone, Noah. Bronwyn. She was gone this… this morning when I woke up. And there was this water, and the police think that it was spiked and I was drugged and I didn’t know… no one broke in so it has to be someone who knows where we were… and now I don’t know where she is and…. What if something bad has happened? Who has her?”
“What?” I can hear what she’s saying but I don’t get it. She isn’t making sense and the words that I can pick out from her rambling are too horrible to fathom. I must be mistaken. “Where are you, Kelly?”
“Police station. They want you. You need to come because they have to talk to you…”
If I am right, then this is a serious crime for which I might be a suspect. I need to get my ass there as quickly as I can, to eliminate myself so they can start focusing on who has done it. And there is only one person that I know who is crazy enough to act out in such a fucking insane way. After our phone call last night, maybe I pushed Liv over the edge, and she something. This whole one night stand to stalker thing has taken a very dark turn, and I am concerned for how this is going to turn out.
The kidnapping of a young child is about as bad as it can get though, it surely can’t go any worse?
Chapter Thirty
Kelly
“I… I don’t know what else I can tell you.” My head is pounding, my heart racing, I have been throwing up all morning long. This is like the worst hang over that I have ever experienced in my life, and it just keeps getting worse, but I need to help get Bronwyn back. My life is over without her. “I took the water before I went to bed, and while I don’t necessarily remember buying it, I always have bottles of water in my fridge, so I don’t get thirsty in the night. I… I got in to bed and watched Bronwyn for a while but must have gone to sleep. Or passed out, whatever the hell those drugs did to me.” I shudder violently. I don’t know how someone can have done something so calculated. It’s sick. “Then I woke up in the morning, feeling like shit, to find her gone. Of course, I panicked and screamed the house down, but tried to tell myself that maybe she had gotten out of her crib or something, not that she can, but I looked everywhere…”
Oh God, I’m trying so hard to be strong, but the sobbing won’t stop coming for me. Every time I try to talk things through, I can’t get because I am a mess.
“I just can’t believe that after being through such a horrible time, now this is happening to me…”
None of it feels bad anymore though, not compared to this. Losing my only child, my baby, and knowing that she is out there and could be with anyone, with anything happening to her, it’s crushing me. It’s hard to breathe, my lungs don’t even want to get any air in, so they aren’t trying hard. It’s almost like my body is trying to kill me, because of course I blame myself. It doesn’t matter if the blood test has shown signs of some sort of drug, I’m her mother, my maternal instincts should have kicked in. I should have saved her.
“I don’t understand what’s going on.” I plead with the officer, begging for answers. “How is this possible? How did someone get into my house without any sign of a break in? And not just once, but twice. One to put the bottle of water in my house.” Urgh, that’s violating enough without everything else. “And then for Bronwyn. I don’t get it. It’s planned, isn’t it? Someone knew that they were going to do this to me.”
But why? What sort of sick satisfaction could anyone get from doing this to me? I keep getting asked who my enemies are, but my brain is too scrambled to think of anyone. Anyone that knows where I am and would act so crazy anyway. This is on another level entirely.
“I’m here!” All of a sudden, Noah bursts through the door with a manic look on his face. “It’s her, isn’t it? Olivia Ayres? The one who has been stalking me and threatening Kelly. She did this.”
“Really?” I can practically feel all of the color draining from my face. “You think that she would go this far? I mean, I know that she’s said some things, but acting on it is a bit different…”
I have considered her and even mentioned her name to the police because of the threats, but I have found it hard to really believe she would do such a thing, but Noah looks so convinced it’s hard to ignore.
“She started on me again last night,” Noah gushes, but he isn’t really looking at me. He’s talking to the police officer. “She was texting me from the moment that I got home, telling me that she was still following me, and she knew that I was back.” I have to admit that gives me chills. All the pieces are starting to fit together. “I tried ignoring her, but she didn’t stop, so in the end I made the stupid decision to call her up and tell her once and for all, again, to leave me alone.” He slides into the seat beside me, his legs jittery with nerves and probably anger as well. “She wound me up, she kept telling me that she had the police basically wrapped around her fingers, which gave me the impression that she assumes she can do anything… so to wake up to this…”
He makes a sweeping gesture with his hands, suggesting that it’s all tied up because it makes sense, and I have to agree with him. I thought about her as a person of interest even before he told me all of that, so now I have to be convinced, don’t I? He was an asshole to her, and he wanted to punish the pair of us. The best way to get to me is through Bronwyn so I guess she probably thought that would hurt him as well.
“But where is she?” I practically scream. “She has my daughter somewhere and anything could be happening.”
“As you already know, Kelly,” the officer tells me as calmly as he can. “We have police out searching for her and following up any lead that you have given us, including that of Olivia Ayres…”
“So, you will go to her house?” Noah jumps in. “You’ll find her? Because she has Bronwyn, and if you guys aren’t going to get her quick enough then I will get out there and look for her myself…”
I already know how that one is going to go down because they won’t let me out either. Apparently, they don’t think that I am in any condition to be a part of the search party. Also, they desperately want me to go for medical treatment after their on sight medical staff determined that I have been drugged, but I’m not going anywhere. I feel okay now, apart from a bit hazy and a huge headache. But I’m not going anywhere. I need to be here at the hub of things.
“Actually, Noah, we need to interview you,” the officer continues. “So, I think that it’s best for you to take a seat.” I watch Noah does exactly as he commands. “Thank you very much. Now, Miss Ford…”
“Wait.” I hold up my hands to shut him up. “What is going on here? Is Noah being interviewed as a suspect? Because I really don’t think that you should waste your time. I know that it won’t be him…”
“It’s very nice to hear that you have such faith in Noah, Kelly, but we have to talk to anyone who is in your life right now, because we don’t know who has information. It may even be something that doesn’t immediately seem like it’s relevant but turns out to be a vital clue. As Noah has had these dealings with Olivia…”
I nod, immediately understanding what has to be done, and start to walk towards the door. Just before I exit the room, I shoot him a grateful look for doing whatever he can to help me. He doesn’t have to, he doesn’t owe me anything, but even after the strange events of last night, he still came straight away to assist me. I find him giving me the exact same look back, which I think must come from me not blaming him at all. But I’m not going to, when I know that he can’t be capable of something awful. My experience just knows…
As I leave the room, I’m hit by a wave of sadness that we weren’t together last night, that he was with his new girlfriend, because maybe we could have put a stop to things. Noah could have prevented Bronwyn from being taken and we would all still be together. I wouldn’t be alone.
I need to speak to someone, anyone, someone who knows and understands me. I want to speak to my parents about all of this, but since they don’t even know that me and Chris had a baby, it will be a bit of a weird one. Instead, I call the closest person that I have here, the one person who knows a bit about my real life. Much as I would like to speak to Julia, many don’t know about me and Noah, they don’t know that Liv has been threatening me as well as him, they don’t really know Bronwyn.
“Hey, Shannon,” I say with an emotional crack in my voice. “I need you. It’s Bronwyn.”
I can’t explain further, but I don’t need to. I can already tell that’s she’s coming for me, and finally I will have someone to lean on for support, as I slowly lose my mind without my baby girl by my side.
The polystyrene cup of coffee is cold. Almost ice cold, that’s how long I have been holding it for. Shannon got it for me the moment that she arrived at the police station to support me, but I haven’t been able to drink a single drop of it. It smells bitter and nasty, rather than something I need to function. I guess I’m not me at the moment, and by the way I feel right now, I won’t ever be me again. How can I be?
“Kelly?” It’s Noah, it takes a bit for me to find the energy to lift up my head. “I finished my interview. So, I was wondering if you wanted me to sit with you?”
Of course I want that, but I shake my head no. “I have Shannon here,” I tell him quietly. “She’s been called in for an interview at the moment, but she’s going to stay with me afterwards.”
“Shannon, the nanny, of course.” Despite my insistence for him not to stick around, not that I was very fierce on that front, I suppose, he takes a seat beside me. “Well, I will wait with you until she gets back.”
I don’t know why, but this annoys me. I guess my emotions aren’t exactly in a rational place right now. “I don’t need babysitting,” I snap while edging away from him. “I’m doing fine, thank you.”
“I know. I never said that you did.” He looks incredibly awkward, but even that isn’t enough to make me feel bad for my harsh words. “It would just make me feel better to know that you have someone with you when you get news.” He sees the horror on my face and immediately tries to swallow back his words and change their meaning. “Because, you know, if you need to get somewhere to check in on Bronwyn wherever she is…”
But it doesn’t matter what he says now, the damage is done. He has just confirmed all of the worst fears that I have been trying my hardest not to consider. I can’t really imagine that something bad has happened to my baby girl or I will die. Piece by piece, little by little, and I need to be strong for when she’s found healthy.
“You should go,” I shoot to Noah coldly. “I’ll be much better going to see Bronwyn alone.”
But while he doesn’t reply, he doesn’t go either. I suppose I can’t make him however much I want to, nor can I lash out because I will end up in a cell on the most horrific day of my life. But I can turn away from him and let him see how fuming I am, because he needs to know that. I don’t blame him for this, it’s entirely my fault, but he doesn’t need to be sitting there to remind me of every single mistake that I have made to bring me to this place, does he? That’s just mean…
Chapter Thirty-One
Noah
I call Liv for what feels like the hundredth time, needing her to pick up the phone already. Sure, I know that the police have already said that they’re headed out there to see her, but I’ve lost all trust in them and what they can do. If I can do anything to put an end to this sooner, I will. Only I can’t, because she won’t pick up the phone. Doesn’t Liv realize that this only makes her more suspicious? All the time all she has wanted to talk to me and now that I’m trying to, she doesn’t want to. What does that say about her?
“Fucking hell,” I mutter. “What the fuck is going on? I don’t get it.”
Shannon stares at me with confusion in her eyes. We barely know one another, so I don’t know what this look means, but the icy chill that shivers down my spine suggests this isn’t good. I step closer to her, willing to throw myself in to the lion’s den if it means that I get to know what’s going on with Kelly. She’s the most important person in all of this and I can see her falling apart. I just wish I could make her feel better.
I hate myself; I realize. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have done anything to threaten Bronwyn’s safety.
I should have guessed, shouldn’t I? That it would end up this way for me and Kelly with Liv. I should have known that it wasn’t just threats and that she was able to do something dangerous. If only I insisted that we stay at the hotel instead of allowing my stupid pride to get in the way, nothing would have happened.
“Any news?” I ask Shannon, with a quiet moroseness to my tone. “They said anything yet?”
“They are still looking for some names to go and research,” she replies, shooting anger through my body. I have already told them who to look for, who is doing this, why waste time? This is why I don’t trust them. “They have been asking if either of us have had anyone recently come back into our lives, as a surprise or something like that, someone with a history or whatever, so I presume you might get this too.”
“Grace,” I whisper without much thinking about it. “She’s back, they might want to know about her.”
“Who the hell is Grace?” Kelly demands, snapping back to life, which I presume is to be expected since this is the life of her daughter at risk. But I didn’t mean to throw my ex under the bus. She didn’t do this.
“I was with Grace a long time ago,” I tell Kelly, but I’m unable to meet her eyes. “A long time ago, and we have been split up for a while. But she turned up at the university to go out for a coffee yesterday, to catch up. I mean, this definitely isn’t something that she would have done, but I need to tell them.”
“How did you know that she didn’t do this?” Kelly is utterly fuming with me. “It’s a bit suspicious that one minute we’re okay, the next your ex is in town and we fall apart, followed by my child being kidnapped.” She pushes Shannon off of her and she stalks over to me with steam practically flying out of her ears. I half want to run to get away from her, but I know that she needs a punching bag, so I’ll stay to be that for her. Even if she has gotten things all wrong. “What the fuck is it that you do to women, huh? To make them so crazy. I think you do to them what you did to me. You make them think that you share something real when in reality, you don’t give a shit. Now, because of you, I lost my child.” Her voice cracks and tears begin running down her face. “Because I fell for you, I lost the most important person in my life, and all that you can do is stand around barking on about exes of yours. More crazy women wanting to take me down. So, why don’t you run off back to your ex and leave me the hell alone, huh?” She flings her arm wildly behind her. “Go and tell the cops about this woman so they don’t think that you are involved in the whole thing, then leave me alone.”
Wow, I don’t know what to say to that. She seemed to really have faith in me a moment ago, she told the cops that I had nothing to do with it, but because of Grace, she’s done with me. Because I met up with her to get some closure, now I have become a target for her rage. I part my lips with a hundred and one arguments to shoot back at her, but Shannon silently shakes her head at me, advising me that this is a bad idea. That defending myself isn’t what Kelly needs from me right now. She wants me to be quiet and take the yelling because I have to.
I don’t want to leave it there, but I don’t see what choice I have, so with great regret I step away and head back over to the police receptionist to tell her that I have something else to discuss with the officer. I know that Grace hasn’t done this, she doesn’t have any grudge against me at all, nor is this within her personality, but I have to give them everything. Plus, this gives me a chance to push them back towards Liv again because she needs to be examined. There has to be someone looking into her, I’m certain that she has done this. So sure, that I will fight until the bitter end to make sure that they find her and get Bronwyn.
I can’t stand listening to Kelly cry any longer, it’s killing me. The police have taken her cell phone now in case she gets a call asking for a ransom and this has broken her even more. Her sobs are tearing me apart from the inside out, and I don’t know how much longer I can take this. I’m stressed out.
“I need to get out of here,” I mutter to myself. “I need to join the search.”
If I can do that, then I will feel much better. Sitting around and waiting for something to happen isn’t my style. I need to take action, not stay in one place and wait. Since I don’t have any faith in the police, I want to be the one to address Liv, to demand that she gives Bronwyn back. I don’t want to leave Kelly here by herself when she’s falling apart, but since she’s so mad about me and Grace, she doesn’t want me to be here anyway.
“Am I needed?” I ask the lady behind the reception desk who’s starting to get annoyed with me now. “Do I need to be here, because this is stressing me out. I can’t stand it any longer.”
“Er, I don’t know.” She gives me a funny look. “I will check.”
I don’t know what Kelly is thinking of my attitude, she probably hates me even more if that’s possible, but this is something that I need to do. I have to get out of here before I explode. I don’t turn around to see her and Shannon while I wait for my answer, but I can feel their anger burning in the back of my neck. I would love to tell them that I’m trying to do my best here, but I don’t. I will just have to hope they see that later on.
