Sparks Fly (An Aleheather Story/AU)

Chapter 24

"Come on, pick up," Courtney urged as she peered over Alejandro's phone and saw Heather's name on the screen. "What are you waiting for?"

Alejandro swallowed as he felt a wave of nervousness in his stomach. Holding his breath, he picked up and put his cell on loudspeaker so Courtney and Duncan could listen in too.

"Heather, mi amor! Where are you?" Alejandro exclaimed. "Did you get my calls and texts? I've been so worried."

On the other end of the line, Nathan had also put Heather's cell on loudspeaker mode. Heather let out a nervous laugh as her gaze shifted to the knife Nathan was holding in his hand. "Yeah, sorry, um, my phone died and I didn't get a chance to charge it. I'm at my sister's place right now."

Alejandro frowned. "Your sister?"

Heather bit her lip. "Yeah, my older sister Amanda...she just went through a really horrible breakup so I'm going to be staying with her for a few days for moral support."

A lump formed in Alejandro's throat. He didn't know how to respond. "Right," he slowly said. "Is- is there anything you need?"

Heather swallowed as she continued to stare at the knife in Nathan's hands. "Um, yeah...could you bring me my work laptop? I'd like to get some work done here. I'll text you the address."

Alejandro felt his heart drop. "Okay. I will."

"I love you Al," Heather suddenly said in a soft voice. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Alejandro instantly froze, the knot in his stomach tightening. "I love you too, mi amor," he gently said. There was silence for a few moments, before the call ended on Heather's end.

"Well, it sounds like she's fine," Duncan said, stifling a yawn.

"No, Heather is not fine! She's been kidnapped!" Alejandro immediately exclaimed. "And I bet Nathan is behind this! He probably wants her laptop so he can steal confidential work information."

Duncan raised a brow. "Dude, are you sure about that?"

"Yes," Alejandro firmly replied as he began pacing up and down. "This whole conversation just then was so suspicious. She said she's with her sister right now, but I know she's not close with her siblings. Even if she were going to visit her sister, she would definitely tell me beforehand. And aside from that, she called me Al, and she knows that I hate being called Al. This must be her way of telling me that she's in danger!"

A look of surprise flashed across Duncan's face. "Wow, that's some good detective work."

"If I can't figure out when Heather is in danger, I don't deserve to call her mi novia," Alejandro replied. "And also, it's actually kind of obvious that something's wrong."

"So we call the cops, right?" Courtney frantically said. "What are we still waiting for?"

"If Nathan sees the cops, what if he overreacts and does something dangerous?" Duncan argued.

Alejandro continued pacing up and down, his emerald green eyes flickering with determination and anger. No one hurts my Heather, he thought to himself. I must figure out a way to rescue her without sacrificing Illuminate's company secrets.

"I say once we find out the address of where Heather's at, we blow the place up," Duncan added. "Simple and effective."

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Blow up the place Heather's also inside? Nice going, Duncan. Not to mention you'll just end up in jail. Again."

"Isn't it technically self-defense this time though?" Duncan innocently said as he scratched his head. "Besides, we can somehow lure Heather out, right?"