*It may contain some sensitive scenes*
Tristan's POV
After I left my grandfather's construction site, my mind became restless. There was definitely something going on. Ashley wouldn't just disappear like that. She loved her family. Everything was just far too crazy. As absurd as Katy sounds, maybe she had a point. Which meant I needed to investigate.
The thing about solving a case is that everyone is a suspect—especially the crazy ex-boyfriend. I'd met him before, he seemed far too eager to get back at Ashley so I wouldn't put any of this past time.
After a few threats, he confirmed that he had seen her earlier that morning. The creep followed her from her house without her noticing and then stopped her at a corner. He assured us that he didn't do anything to her. With the frightened look in his eyes, I think I might have believed him. It took everything in me not to punch him.
This was how we got to our next clue. Luke sent some guys to that street to ask if anyone had seen her. There weren't security cameras in the area. That's what led us to our next clue. Luke said he met an elderly homeless man on the street. He mentioned witnessing a kidnapping. He said he had reported it, but the police quickly dismissed him considering his drunken state. It was a bit difficult getting information out of him considering he couldn't even remember basic information like when it happened. I don't think he knew what year it was. After a couple more questions, his description of Ashley was almost identical to Waylen's when he said he had seen her earlier. This helped confirm the obvious, Ashley was kidnapped.
Since then, we've been using all the available footage to look for vehicles that match that description that could have entered that area. It's been a couple of hours and we still haven't found anything useful. We are trying to look into other clues but so far we haven't had any progress.
This person who did this must have really hated her. I wouldn't doubt it if it was the same person who orchestrated the accident. Who would want her dead that desperately?
I was back at my house just outside the city, it had far more space and I wouldn't get that much interference from work this way.
"You should give it some rest," Luke said.
I stopped in my tracks. I hadn't realized how long I'd been pacing around.
"You've been working all night, you should give this a rest. I'm sure the investigators will get back to us with something useful very soon. It might help if you have a clear head," Luke added.
"I don't know," I sighed. "I just feel like we are missing something... or someone," I answered. I looked at my watch to see that it was five a.m. I hadn't slept all night, this probably wasn't good for me either.
I sat down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. How hard could it possibly be to find a van?
Luke sat down next to me. I dragged him into this. He probably hadn't slept much either.
"The poor girl must have had a tough life, with everything that happened to her and growing up with a drunk stepfather. It must have been a blow when she learned Madison was her half-sister." Luke commented.
I nearly choked on air. "What now?" I asked confused. I must have heard wrong, had Luke just thrown Madison's name into this conversation.
"You didn't know?" He asked. He looked genuinely surprised as if I was just supposed to have randomly known this. I knew Leonardo was her uncle but not about this. "It turns out they have the same father," he added.
"You are only telling me about this right now?" I questioned.
"I thought you knew. I stumbled into it when the detective handed me a file on Ashley earlier. I thought you had already read it." He answered.
Suddenly, my eyes were opened. I finally knew the answer to the most important question. Who could hate her this much?
With Ashley in the picture now, a lot of money was at stake. I'm sure Madison wouldn't allow that. I wouldn't put anything past her considering she once staged her own kidnapping. She was certainly capable of this. Except she was out of the country from what I knew.
That left one obvious suspect, her mother. I had never trusted her either. People like Madison don't just magically become that cruel, they are made to become it. With an equally cynical mother, I can picture how Madison became that way.
Suddenly it made sense. It explained why she looked so strange and surprised when she saw us yesterday. It would explain the marks on her arm. Someone attacked her. Those bruises didn't seem like something that happened earlier that day. They looked much more recent. Maybe someone else was in that building.
"You are not thinking that..." Luke paused. His horrified expression matched mine. I could tell he thought the same thing.
I jumped off my seat to search for my car key.
"Do you really think she would be capable of that?" Luke asked.
"It's 2023. Women are capable of anything," I answered.
"I'm pretty sure that is only supposed to be used when referring to something good." He answered.
I spotted my key on the opposite side of the room. I needed to get there, and quickly. Who knows what could have happened to her by now?
"You need to stop and just think about things for a moment." Luke stopped me in my tracks.
"She could be in danger. Who knows what that psycho woman could have done to her?" I reasoned with him.
"Firstly, you need to admit that this is a little crazy. Secondly, if any of what you are saying is true, they may have relocated. They know it's compromised." Luke answered.
"We have to try. If we don't find her there, the police may find evidence." I answered.
I picked up my car key and proceeded to walk to the front door.
"Maybe you shouldn't just rush into this. You have no idea what you'll walk into. You may put your life and hers in danger. You should leave it to the authorities. Besides, I'm sure the private investigators will call us very soon with something else much more solid." I answered.
I paused with my hand on the doorknob. "It might be too late by then. I'm going to find her," I answered.
Luke sighed. "Fine, but I'm coming with you." He said.
I gave him a weak smile as I turned the doorknob to open the door.
Everything fell out of my hands as I stared in shock at the man in front of my door.
He looked middle-aged, breathless with his clothes covered in dirt. You would almost confuse him for someone living on the street. He looked familiar, like someone I'd met or seen somewhere.
What shocked me the most was the body he carried. I immediately recognized it as Ashley with her hair hanging out of her face. She was covered in dirt as if someone had buried her while her body was lifeless.
Luke didn't dare move either.
It took me a moment to snap back to reality.
"I didn't know where else to bring her." The man finally spoke.
*Seven hours earlier*
Ashley's POV
I blinked again for confirmation. My eyes must have been playing a trick on me.
You can say I was more surprised by his involvement than when I found out Madison's mother was holding me hostage.
It was my stepfather Kevin
What was he doing here? I've always thought of him as a drunk but I never expected this. Was he part of this plan?
He crossed his arms as he stood in front of me.
"Why?" I managed to mutter as tears streamed down my cheeks.
"Turns out I'm not the only one who wants you dead." Amelia snared.
This whole time fairytales have been worried about stepmothers, they should have kept a close watch on stepfathers.
Amelia pointed her gun at my temple.
I closed my eyes. At least I'll die knowing who my enemies are.
"You should wait," Kevin repeated.
I opened my eyes. Amelia was no longer pointing her gun at me. Did this mean I was saved?
"Are you really going to make it that easy? You are just going to shoot her in the head? One bullet and it's done." Kevin continued. Nope, he was still evil.
"I just want to get rid of this girl. She has caused me far too much trouble." Amelia argued.
"Exactly, for more than twenty-five years she has been on your mind. Don't you think she should suffer? I'd kill her slowly if I were you," Kevin suggested.
Right now, I would very much prefer a bullet to get this over and done with.
Amelia remained quiet as she stared into space. That meant she was considering it. "You'll be doing me a favour as well. I've tolerated how annoying she is for far too long. I'll owe you one. You'll see your big rival crumple to her knees." Kevin continued. "Besides, if they find her body with a gun wound, they will investigate. They will know that someone did this and track this back to you." He added.
"So, what are you suggesting?" she asked, turning towards him.
"Well, I suggest we give her some drugs. Lots of them. She will suffer a lot. In time, we can make it look like she died from an overdose. People will believe it because they know how depressed she is. We can just dump her body in some bad neighbourhood and make it look like she died from a bad batch." He explained. With each second, he managed to lower my expectations of him.
"I like the sound of that," Amelia smiled. "Guess what, Emerson has just what we need." She pointed towards Moustache. "We were planning on experimenting," she added.
"Good," Kevin answered.
Moustache, Emerson approached me holding an injection. He bent to my level and reached for my arm. This time I couldn't do much to resist, my body was too weak. I turned my head away as the pain of the needle penetrating my deltoid spread across my arm.
Amelia smiled before walking away with Moustache towards the far end where Scar was standing.
"Now, back to how much I owe you guys." I heard Amelia say. She pulled out several stacks of cash from her handbag.
I was left alone with Kevin. At least they couldn't hear. It hadn't even been a minute since the injection and I already felt something was wrong.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked. He had already said he found me annoying but that wasn't a good enough reason to want someone dead. I wanted to hear it from his mouth.
"It's going to hurt kiddo, a lot. But you'll see that it's what's best for everyone." He answered.
He then smiled before walking away to the rest of them.
As the hours passed, I felt worse. My whole body was in pain. I shivered uncontrollably. My vision had worsened. Everything now appeared blurry. I couldn't sleep no matter how desperately I tried.
I heard footsteps approaching me again.
"You know what? I changed my mind. This isn't working fast enough. Give her another dose." Amelia demanded.
"It's too soon. If you give her another dose now, she'll die," Kevin interjected.
"I want her buried before sunrise. Neither of her parents will ever find her again. That's the least they deserve," she added.
Everything else was a blur. I couldn't move or open my eyes. All I remember are flashes of yelling, a moving car and sand being thrown over me. I couldn't breathe, I was suffocating. Until I felt a hand pull me up from the ground.
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A/N: I know the chapter was a bit dark so I started out with something hopeful. As always, thank you for reading the story and please comment down your thoughts. There are only a few chapters left till the end.