"Okay, now let's head back down" Robert said as soon as him and Angie stepped through the front door of their house.
"Seriously? May I at least change into something warmer and bring blankets? It's freezing in there" Angie whined, but deep down she hoped she won't have to spend another night in this basement, tied up with Diana.
"Yeah, sure. How about a jacuzzi?"
Robert's attitude changed for the worse when Angie told him her and Charles didn't set up another meet. He seemed content with them getting along, he saw them smiling and laughing and figured it would be an easy task getting them back together. Unfortunately for him, Charles didn't see it that way.
"Don't be an asshole. I'm not asking for much"
Robert rolled his eyes at his sister's response. With a deep sigh and a nod of his head he let her do what she asked for, but still kept a close eye on her every move.
When they got to the basement, Diana was waiting for them. She knew that Robert wouldn't let Angie stay upstairs. He dropped her off quickly, tying them together again, and left.
"How was it?" Diana started the conversation. She was very curious about Angie's meeting with Charles.
"Better than I expected, actually. We were talking about work, life, you know. I managed to cheer him up for a while. But I could see he misses you" Angie paused for a moment, trying to find the words. "He lost his usual spark. He tried his best to hide it, but I could see he was subdued. He didn't even want to talk about your disappearance, I think it hurt too much"
Diana's eyes filled with tears, both because she was glad he cared about her being gone and sad of the state that this situation put him in. But he was looking for her. That was all that she had to know to make her go through this.
"I'm glad you could take his mind off of it. And what about our plan?"
This was the part Diana was the most nervous about. Angie was supposed to let Charles know where she is, but if she failed, the next opportunity might not happen for days, weeks maybe.
"I gave him a note and made him promise he won't read it until I'm gone. I had to protect myself from Robert. I wrote where you are, but I can't promise he's gonna believe it. We just have to wait"
"Angie, I can't wait forever. I haven't been in the bathroom ever since I'm here, I'm sitting in my own piss and I desperately have to poop. He has to believe you" Diana's voice broke, filling the basement with quiet sobs. "I don't want to poop my pants"
"I tried to reason with Robert, but he refused to let you use the bathroom. I'm so sorry" Angie really felt for Diana. "We can try to get up again if you want, maybe you can go to the toilet in the corner. If we would manage to pull your pants down..."
They did as they planned and succeeded fairly quickly. It only took them a few minutes of struggle and Diana had her pants down, squatting in the corner, trying to get over her mental block to do her business right there.
"You know, I'm not a sporty kind of person, I don't enjoy squatting with you so if you could hurry up I'd be very thankful" Angie said sarcastically, trying her best to keep her legs from shaking.
"It's not easy, okay? Give me a moment and think about a way to pull my pants up. The refrigerator won't help us anymore" Diana talked back to her and after about a minute the nature took it's course.
"Ugh, I never thought I'd dream about being able to wipe" The Brit whined while struggling to pull up her pants. "Why didn't we think of this when we needed to pee?"
"Priorities change in times like these" Angie chuckled. "Come on, let's get back to our place"
My brother kidnapped Diana and is keeping her in our basement. When I found out, he tied me with her and only let me go if I meet with you. Please help us
The note Charles got from Angie stopped all the air coming to his lungs. He was just frozen, reading it over and over again, not being able to believe it. After initial shock had passed, he rushed to the police station, calling Officer Strauss at the same time. She picked up just as he was parking.
"Grab some guys, we're going to get Diana" He said and jumped out of the car, still having the note in his hand.
"What? Mr. Leclerc, what are you talking about?" Officer Strauss asked, but his phone was already in his pocket.
Charles stormed through the front door and went straight to the desk he was sitting by before. Officer Strauss was there, still talking to him on the phone. When she saw him, she ended the call and stood up.
"There's no time, we have to go, I know where she is" He waved the note, but Officer Strauss seemed unfazed.
"Mr. Leclerc, I was just about to call you. We tracked the number to one of Monaco's residents" She handed him a report.
"Yeah, Robert Cellario. He's got Diana trapped in the basement. I've met with his sister today, Angie, she's my ex girlfriend. She gave me this" Charles finally let Officer Strauss read the note.
"We can't believe a scrap of paper, we don't have enough evidence to just break into his home" Officer Strauss tried to explain, but Charles wasn't having it.
"You have proof that this was his phone number. It's enough for me. You haven't seen Angie when she gave me the note. She was scared. Really scared. I've never seen her like this. I can't sit and wait anymore, so I'm going there. Please, come with me" He was talking fast, hoping Officer Strauss would bend a few rules.
Of course, he didn't have to tell the police anything and go to Robert's house straight away. But if he did, he might've end up with assault charges, bad press and possibly no job. If he still had one to begin with.
Officer Strauss looked torn apart. She wanted to believe Charles and run for Diana's rescue, but following the rules was incredibly important for her. She tried to get a promotion and if she would make a bad call in this case, she could kiss it goodbye.
"How sure are you?" She asked, scratching her hand nervously.
"90 percent. Look, he might have a motive. If he trapped Angie with Diana, then he was the one to text me from her phone. Maybe he wanted to get me and Angie back together and Diana was just an obstacle in the way that had to be taken care of. It makes sense" Charles gestured heavily, getting more impatient with every minute.
"If I'm gonna leave you for a moment, will you be there when I get back? I need to have a word with my boss"
"Okay, I'll wait"
Charles paced back and forth between the walls, checking the time non stop. Officer Strauss said it would be just a moment, but for him it felt like hours were passing by. When she finally returned, a tall man with wide shoulders and a beard was walking by her side.
"Gullino, Frembick, take your bulletproof vests and follow us" He ordered.
Charles quickly figured out this had to be the boss Officer Strauss went to talk to. But if they needed vests..
"You should stay here, but I know you're gonna go with us. Just stay away, preferably in your car. Don't get in our way, am I clear?"
His voice was cold and firm. His presence was automatically commanding respect. Charles thought he asked a rhetorical question, but the man was waiting for an answer.
"Yes, sir" He agreed with a slight head nod.
When Charles got back to his Ferrari and started following the police cars, it all somehow became real. If Angie didn't lie, he's gonna get Diana back.
He wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and tightened the grip on the steering wheel. His thoughts went to Diana's parents and that he should call them to let them know what's going on, but only one thing stopped him.
If he makes a call and it all turns out to be some kind of cruel joke Angie pulled on him, they're going to be devastated even more. He decided not to take that chance. He just couldn't add more to their misery.
The police cars stopped in front of Robert and Angie's house, and so did Charles. His first instinct was to go there with them, but he remembered Sergeant's words, so he stayed put. However he wanted to hear what was happening, so he rolled his window down.
All four of police officers went outside and lined up in front of the front door. Sergeant knocked three times and took a step back, patiently waiting for anyone to answer. After a while he knocked again.
"What's going on?" Robert sticked his head out and froze the second he saw law enforcement standing there.
"Good morning, I'm Sergeant Hozik. We're here regarding the disappearance of Diana Rynn. Do you know her?" He asked officially, just like they were going door to door looking for her.
"No, why? I've never seen her. Why are you here?" Robert was visibly nervous, talking too fast for anyone not to notice.
"We have reasons to believe that you actually do know her. Is this your phone number?" He handed him a piece of paper.
"No. I don't understand. Am I arrested or something?"
"No, sir. Are you alone in the building?"
Sergeant was standing tall, not showing any signs of stress or uncertainty. His behavior only increased Robert's anxiety.
"Yeah, I live with my sister but she's at work" Robert rubbed his neck and cleared his throat.
"Would you mind if we checked that?"
Robert didn't answer right away, he was contemplating what he should do. If they were already here, they had to suspect him. They could get a warrant if they wanted, which meant he would have to get rid of Diana as soon as they leave. But if he plays it cool and show them he had nothing to hide, they might leave him alone.
"Sure. Come on in" He opened the door wide and stepped aside, letting all of them in.
Charles wasn't able to see or hear anything anymore and it didn't make this experience any easier. He wanted to get in there, but instead he just tapped his fingers on the dashboard and prayed Officer Strauss would come back with Diana.
"Thank you. It would only take a moment" Sergeant smiled at Robert for the first time since they arrived.
Police officers split up to quicken the search: two went upstairs, two stayed to look in the kitchen and living room. It didn't even take them three minutes to gather again, finding no one.
"And this door you're blocking? We'd like to see the whole house" Officer Strauss asked, knowing that this might be the place where the girls are kept.
"Oh, this leads to the basement, but it's been locked forever, we don't even have the key" He lied.
But he forgot about one thing. The basement wasn't soundproof and the conversation was close enough for Diana and Angie to hear it.
So they took their chance. They began to scream bloody murdered, yelling for help like there was no tomorrow. This was the only opportunity they might have, so they shouted as loud as they could, praying for the police to hear them.
And they did.
"What was that?" Sergeant asked, lighting pushing Robert off the way to put his ear to the door.
In this moment Robert knew he won't get away with this. He was completely fucked, so he decided to run. He tried to maneuver between Gullino and Frembick, but they were too smart for this trick. They knocked him to the ground and put him in hand cuffs before he even managed to get to the door.
"Will you give us the key or do we have to force ourselves in?" Sergeant asked, hovering over lying Robert.
"I won't say anything without a lawyer" Robert talked back and remained quiet for the rest of the search.
Police officers didn't have anything with them to break down the door, so they called for back up from the station. They came with their sirens on, which made Charles immediately jump out of the car and run into the building.
"Is she here?!"
"Someone is in the basement, but we can't confirm the identity yet. I told you to stay out" Sargeant frowned upon Charles, but didn't force him out.
"Make some space!" Someone with the halligan bar came in and within seconds the door was open.
"Diana? Baby, are you there?" Charles yelled while Officer Strauss and Sargeant Hozik were walking down the stairs.
"Charles! Charles, it's me!"
Diana cried with joy. A stream of tears was running down her cheeks as Charles ran to her, almost throwing Officer Strauss from the last few steps. He kneeled next to her before anyone could even touch her, embracing her in the most loving hug.
"I'm here baby, you're safe" He repeated like a mantra, gently stroking her head.
Charles didn't leave her side when Sargeant cut her ties off, instead he lifted her in his arms as soon as she was free, not wanting to let her go ever again. His warmth was like the best drug right now, making Diana want to melt right into his body.
In the meantime, Angie watched them from another side of the room while agreeing to make her statement at the police station and claiming that no hospital is needed for her, but Diana should definitely go there. What she saw made her happy that she was the one to let two lovebirds reunite and hoping that someday she's going to find happiness like this too.
"I'm so glad you looked for me" Diana whispered, wiping the tears on Charles' shoulder. Even though she was covered in her own piss and stunk like a dumpster, she didn't want to be anywhere else.
"I had to. I can't imagine living a world without the girl I love"
Diana lifted her head and her eyes met his. He looked at her like she was the most precious thing he's ever seen, his treasure that he had lost but managed to find it back again.
The sound of ambulance sirens interrupted their moment. Soon after the paramedics entered the house, stretcher in their hands, ready to take over Diana.
"Let's get you checked out at the hospital" Charles walked upstairs and outside with her still in his arms, not ready to give up the feeling of her body next to his just yet.
"My parents. Do they know?" Diana asked, hoping Charles would deny. They completely ignored the paramedic asking them to hurry up.
"Yeah, they're here. We'll meet you at the hospital, okay? Go, baby"
Charles laid Diana on the stretcher, but she didn't want to let go of his neck. Instead she tightened her grip and even though she didn't have much strength, especially after what happened, she managed to hold him close.
"Miss, you have to go alone. Mr. Leclerc will drive right behind us" A paramedic tried to reason with her and it finally seemed to work.
"Promise?" She asked.
"I'll just grab your parents and we'll come straight to you. Promise. I can't wait for them to find out we've got you back" Charles answered, smiling ear to ear.
Charles stepped back, leaving Diana in the ambulance. The paramedics immediately closed the door and drove away, leaving him behind.
Angie was in the way to the police car when Charles finally noticed her. She smiled at him, but a smile wasn't enough for him. He ran up to her and have her a big hug, probably a bit too long, but given the circumstances it wasn't awkward.
"Thank you so much" He said while letting her go.
"I couldn't let Robert get away with this. And it wouldn't work if you didn't meet me, so... Teamwork" She chuckled. They both nodded their heads in understanding. Angie got in the police car and Charles made his way to his Ferrari, called Diana's parents and told them the good news.
Twenty minutes later all three of them were waiting in the hall of Monaco's hospital urgent care unit while Diana was being examined by the doctor. Erica and Harry were pacing nervously, keeping their eyes glued to the door, wanting to barge in middle examination to finally see with their own eyes that their daughter is in fact alive and well. They trusted Charles and his judgement about Diana's condition, but they couldn't wait to make sure.
When the doctor finally went out to see them, they jumped right to him and started asking one question after the other without even giving him a chance to answer. Charles had to step in and slow them down, allowing the doctor to update them on Diana's state.
"She's stable, but severely dehydrated. We've got her on IV fluids to help her hydrate, but you've got to keep an eye on her for a couple days and make sure she's drinking enough water, adding electrolytes would be helpful. We also cleaned the wound on her head, she only needed four stitches, keep them clean and don't put water on it until it heals, a week without washing her hair should be enough. We did a CT scan of her head, but there's no complications after the hit. So, after what she's been through, she's much better than expected. When the IV runs out, we're going to discharge her and you can take her home" He said with a smile, earning two hugs from the Rynn parents.
"Can we see her?" Erica asked, hopeful to hold her beloved daughter's hand.
"Of course. You can go to her right now"
The doctor pointed his hand to the door of Diana's room, but her parents were already halfway there in the middle of his sentence. Charles shook his hand, thanked him and also walked there, ready to experience the beauty of a family reunion.
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Hope you wished for Diana to be okay! There's only a few more chapters left of this story ❤