Strictly Business

Strictly Business: Chapter 21

This is dedicated to all my fans (Gavalar, RedScars, saphirestar, SammieDoe, lovingyoutilltheend), thanks for all your support!

Hi guys,

To celebrate my story getting more than 1000 reads, I managed to find some time to finish up my draft for this chapter. I'm sorry this isn't very long. Hope you all don't mind. I'm afraid the dry spell has to continue, it's counting down to 2 weeks to the big day! Exciting! But if I can manage it, I'll definitely try to put up another chapter.

Thanks all!

xoxo

daydreamerzz

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mason paced the floor of the conservatory nervously, checking his watch at every turn. He accompanied the girls back to the house where Joanne was creating looks for Elizabeth with her new clothes. He tried calling Shane again but his phone was still off.

It's been more than two hours since Shane left the restaurant. Mason has yet to receive a call from him. He went up to Elizabeth's bedroom where he found the two of them laughing and unpacking the clothes. "Hey did Shane call anyone of you?" he asked.

"Nope. Was he supposed to?" Joanne asked in return.

"Erm, not exactly. It's ok. Just asking," Mason stammered. "You sure?" he couldn't resist asking again.

"What's wrong Mason?" Elizabeth picked up his uneasiness immediately. "Don't tell me nothing. You look like you have ants in your pants. Where's Shane?"

Mason slumped defeatedly. "I don't know."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Did you see the number the call was made from?" the detective queried.

They were all seated at the large dining table in the kitchen. Simmons and Lucy hovered anxiously in the background. After Mason finally admitted to them that Shane is missing and may be in danger, they called the police straight away. He made the decision not tell them about the photo, afraid to cause Elizabeth more distress.

"No, he only told me the caller had something for him and demanded to see him alone. Shane was a little apprehensive so he told me if he doesn't come back after two hours, something must have happened to him."

"This looks like a kidnap case," the detective deduced. "The kidnappers may call any minute. We'll set up a wire tap on the phones and put surveillance on the property. We'll be ready should the kidnappers contact the family. I'll go brief my men."

He got up from the table and started towards the living room, where his team is setting up base. "Detective Reese, wait!" Mason went after him. "There's something you need to know, something I can't let the girls find out." Mason told him the whole truth.

Detective Reese's face turned even more grim as he digested the new information. "This complicates things. It might not be a simple case of kidnap but an act of revenge. God knows what they'll do to him."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The clock's ticking seemed to be the only sound in the room. That and the sound of her breathing. They were still waiting for contact from either Shane or the kidnappers. The police had tried locating via his mobile phone's signal but couldn't detect it. They had also questioned people in the vicinity of the restaurant to see if they saw anything. Nothing turned up. It's been four hours.

Elizabeth closed her eyes. Shane's smiling blue eyes appeared immediately, the way they always crinkled at the corners. She remembered the night they danced. He was a good dancer. She saw his worried face, the time she was wracked with pain from the migraine. His brows always furrowed deeply whenever he's concerned or angry. Angry, she made him angry so many times. All those times she foolishly went against his advice. She even hurt him when she said she'll ask for her freedom. But despite everything she had done to him, he was always near, protecting her, taking care of her. Except now.

Elizabeth squeezed her eyes tighter as her heart clenched. She used every ounce of her control to remain calm. A big part of her wanted to scream and the other wanted to comb everywhere for him. But most of all, she wanted him to walk through the door, surprised that there were so many people at the house.

"Why hasn't he called?! Where is he?!" Mason burst out, thumping his fist on the table in frustration. His watch snapped off from the impact and clattered to the floor. Lucy picked it up quietly. "It's only the strap, the watch mechanism should be fine. I'll send it for fixing."

"Watch!!" Simmons shouted suddenly. Everyone whipped round to look at him. "Master Shane wears a Patek Philippe Star Moon Tourbillion. It's from one of their complicated watch collections, specially made. Owners can customise it according to their needs and Master Shane had them put in a personal GPS!"

"Call the watch dealer now!" Detective Reese ordered his men.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will they save Shane in time? Please comment or vote if you like the story so far!