Lucy returned to a silent house. There was no sign of anyone there. She went around calling out, "Mum? Dad?" But she was greeted by continued silence.
Where was everyone? Stamping her foot in frustration, Lucy pulled out her phone that had been left on silent. Missed calls and messages flooded her screen.
Her heartbeat thudded sluggishly as panic set in. Expecting the worst, she dialled her dad's number first and found the that it was out of reach. Panic levels blasted to full throttle. Lucy accessed her messages and started to scroll through them one by one. She was aghast by what she read. Blood drained from her head and Lucy felt woozy. The lunch she struggled to eat earlier threatened to come right back up.
Her parents had flown down to the Middle East!
Sadiq had arrived with a lawyer in tow, demanding custody of his unborn child. Given the level of his clout, the Emir's diplomatic immunity, and the thugs he clearly brought along with him there had been not much her dad could do to prevent them from taking Cat. It appeared that in the eyes of their laws they were already a married couple. For to consider otherwise was to claim that the Emir had sinned. Their laws weren't that bold to make that kind of an accusation and live through the backlash. Sadiq would no doubt bring down any who oppose him. And that was putting it mildly.
Lucy couldn't believe her mum and dad had gone after them. What could they hope to achieve in the Middle East that couldn't have been tried and triumphed over here? And where were Em and Blaise?
Lucy started to pace up and down, her thoughts revolving about like a tornado in her anxious head.
"You're going to wear out the carpet." The sardonic comment was thrown at her from the direction of the front door.
Lucy stilled and spun around.
"Blaise!" She exclaimed then threw herself into his arms. Emily standing sullenly at his side crowded in to throw her arms about them too.
"Lucy! Where were you, Lucy? We called and called," said Emily chokingly. "You didn't answer. Mum was hysterical and dad... oh Lucy, why weren't you there?"
Lucy blinked back the tears that emerged at her words. Now was not the time for recriminations. She looked up at Blaise then demanded. "What the hell happened? Tell me."
****
"You know I will do everything I can, Lucy?"
A sob escaped her as Lucy blindly nodded. But her father across the line seemed to understand. "I am here for you, luv. Whatever you need, whenever, just call me."
"O...okay, d...daddy." The childhood endearment that Lucy usually reserved for the most pressing of times when talking with Patrick Little now left her lips and she found herself calling Knyte Starr by that name—something she never thought she would do.
"Oh, baby!" The longing in Knyte's voice was clear. The distance between them was eating at him.
"It's okay da...daddy, I'm fine."
"No, you're not. But then you can't be expected to be. Look, I have a few contacts I can tap into, so I better get right to it."
"Yes. Yes, oh I'll hang up right now," said Lucy, the urgency of the matter once again upon her.
"Shh, Lucy. Hush now," murmured Knyte, sensing the panic rising in his daughter. "Calm down. Is Blaise there?" He asked suddenly, needing to make sure his son was on hand to comfort Lucy on. "Put him on."
"Blaise is here, Dad," said Lucy, suddenly calming down as she recalled another matter, one she had entirely forgotten with the news of Cat's kidnapping. "But I'd rather you not speak with him just yet Dad."
"What? Why?"
Lucy bit her lip uncertainly. She didn't yet know if Blaise was aware that he was now officially a famous singer and she wasn't sure if she wanted him to know just yet. There was no way of knowing how he would react.
"Dad, I heard a song on the radio today."
There was a sudden quiet on the line. That brought to memory Knyte's cautious hello when he'd first answered her call. "How could you, Dad?"
"Look, honey, I didn't know. Honest. Kim said you signed the contract. He said he thought I knew and approved. I didn't know you didn't know. That is, I suspected but I was hesitant to ask you. Is Blaise angry? Is that why you're not letting me talk to him?"
"No! No, Dad..." Lucy had known it was all Kim's doing. She recalled how he'd had that glint in his eye when they'd left the recording studio. With a sigh, she now began to soothe her father. It didn't matter if the song went public or not. Nothing mattered anymore but finding Cat and bringing her back home. "I'll talk to Blaise, Dad. I'll make him understand. Don't worry."
Lucy finally laid down the phone, exhausted from her talk with Knyte Starr. It wasn't easy explaining how an Emir had taken her little sister to another country without permission as it was too close to his own traumatic suffering of not one child but both being abducted. Lucy, herself, was still shaking. There had been no word from anyone. Not Cat, nor her mum and dad.
The door to her room swung open and Emily barged in.
"I can't sleep. I'm so worried."
Lucy drew her into her arm. "Where's Blaise?"
"Still on the phone with Jace, going over options."
Lucy swore. She needed her boyfriend there with her, not on the phone with her brother. But Jace had been as elusive to her as her parents and Cat. After that first call to him, as soon as she found out, he had been out of reach.
The door to her room flung open again and this time, Blaise marched in. "Jace is on his way."
Finally! Lucy hugged Emily to her tighter until she winced and pulled away.
"I can't believe he just took her," exclaimed Blaise for the umpteenth time. "I should have been there. It never would have happened if I'd been there."
"You're damn right. Had you been here instead of over at whoever-the-hell-you-slept-with last night, Cat might still be here." Lucy couldn't seem to hold back the toxic accusation. They had no way of knowing Sadiq was going to take this course of action. He had seemed almost civilised last night. It was unfair of her to blame Blaise. "I'm sorry." Lucy groaned. "I just can't think of what else we can do."
"What did Dad say?" Blaise demanded.
"He's trying whatever he can from his end."
"Do we file a missing person report?" He dropped onto Lucy's bed.
"Don't you mean kidnapping?" Chipped in Emily and both Lucy and Blaise winced. It would take them a lifetime to be comfortable again around that term, if that.
"I think we should wait. Just until we've heard from Mum and Dad," whispered Lucy, uncertainly. Doubt crept in whenever she thought of her little sister, all pregnant and vulnerable and caught in that sadist's vice. She shivered and rubbed her arms.
Emily moved to sink onto the bed beside Blaise. He draped his arm about her shoulder and drew her in close. Emily more than anyone was destroyed by what happened, but surprisingly she was holding her own and not breaking down into hysterical tears. Lucy stared at Em, surprised to find hidden depths welling up in the sister she thought she knew so well. But then Cat had been a bag full of surprises herself this year. Lucy shuddered and drew away, her gaze going to the windows. The urge to pace was upon her, but her restless pacing did little to alleviate her fears. It was sometime later when the door to her room opened and slammed shut again. The trio jerked out of their reverie to stare at this unexpected arrival.
"Jace!" Lucy ran across the room to fling her arms about him.
"Lucy!" Jace swept her into his arms in a tight embrace. "Oh God, Lucy! Poor Cat!"
Sobs that had been kept at bay all this while now threatened anew but Lucy wasn't ready to give in. "What do we do Jace? What do we do?"
"I spoke to my family lawyer, but he came up dry. The problem is not in proving Cat's been abducted but that she had been taken by Sadiq. They must have smuggled her out draped under a veil or something because the private investigator he assigned to the case dredged up nothing. Sadiq—he confirmed has left the country on his own jet from a private airfield. His delegation had several women all veiled from head to toe. And whatever documents they produced all checked out. But then again, it wouldn't have been all that hard for a prince to churn out legitimate documents from his own country." Jace ran a frustrated hand through his dishevelled hair. "This is such a mess."
Lucy felt her shoulders sag in defeat. She had been pinning high hopes on Jace having a way forward but...
"We should call it a night," she said finally.
"What? No!" Em's protest was immediate, as was her tear ducts activating and flooding out a river. "We can't just give up! We have to do something!"
"A missing person report is only legit after twenty-four hours. Even if we run to the station now and lodge the report, the chances are the police will follow protocol and only start their search tomorrow. And it's going to be a whole shebang of shit we'll have to roll through before the police will even consider looking into the direction we'll be pointing." Lucy sighed and trudged tiredly to the door. "Let's go get something to eat and then we sleep."
"I'll order in," offered Jace, immediately digging out his phone.
"I don't want to sleep alone tonight," said Emily suddenly, her gaze staring meaningfully at Jace.
Lucy sighed, opening her mouth to respond, but Jace beat her to it.
"You can have Lucy tonight, Em," Jace murmured soothingly, before moving towards her and drawing her sobbing frame into his arms. Lucy stared at them both, feeling a little overwhelmed.
"I'll call for pizza," said Blaise, digging out his own phone. The call was made, and the order put through. Then they all ambled downstairs to sit about the dining table and wait. The doorbell rang sooner than expected and Lucy sprang up to answer it, needing something to do. The dead quiet about the table, broken only by Em's occasional lapse into sobs was dreary and Lucy felt the strain of the atmosphere eat at her.
"Richard!"
At the unexpected sight of Richard standing at her doorway, Lucy could only gape.
"I called him," murmured Jace, coming to stand behind her. "I hope you don't mind."
Lucy shook her head and when Richard stepped in to draw her into his arms, she went willingly, needing the comfort of his strong embrace.
Blaise shook his head at Richard's arrival but otherwise refrained from commenting. The meal arrived soon after and with an unexpected pang of hunger they all dug in. With both Jace and Richard spending the night, the sleeping arrangements had to be gone over.
In the end, they all decided to simply sleep on the floor in the living room. The furniture was pushed back, and the mattresses were dragged down and laid together. Soon they all lay on it, propped up against the seat of the chaise and staring unseeingly at whatever was on the telly. One by one, they slid down beneath their covers and dozed into sleep. Lucy lay beside Em, with Jace cradling her against him on the other side, and Blaise and Richard took the sides. The night passed on and soon sleep dragged everyone under.
****
"Barry!"
Lucy woke up with a start. The kaleidoscope of dreams that had plagued her sleep had taken many forms, from Sadiq to Richard, then Jace, and now she found herself opening her eyes in the morning with Barry—the Earl's—name spilling from her lips.
"Who the fuck is Barry?" Growled Jace sleepily beside her before he added more suspiciously, "And why are you dreaming of him?"
Lucy shook her head despairingly at him, afraid she may have scarred him for life. Her eyes roved to the other lounge chair and found Richard perched on it with a steaming mug of coffee in the palm of his hand. That was probably what woke her. The scent of freshly brewed coffee.
"He's a lawyer. I'm starting my apprenticeship with him on Monday," Lucy explained impatiently.
"And you thought of him now because..."
"Because he can help," Lucy said, the panicked edge starting to creep into her voice.
"Hey, we'll get her back," Jace said soothingly. "You know I've already contacted our solicitors and set them to work on it. I believe your dad would have done the same. But if you think this Barry can help, then, by all means we'll bring him on board too."
Lucy felt a tear roll down her cheek as an overwhelming longing for Cat and her parents struck her. She was enfolded in Jace's arms and rocked soothingly. But Lucy grew restless. She didn't want to be soothed. What she wanted was retribution against Sadiq.
Barry was her only way towards this end. Barry and a new-found source of income, as a music chart topper. The sooner she got up and got ready, the sooner she could get on the phone to give one Kim Helbott an earful, and the sooner she could go see Barry. Lucy got up and disappeared upstairs to go get ready. When she came back down she found Richard had already made use of the shower and was already clad in another change of clothes. His duffle bag sat by the dining table, and Em busied about in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Jace looked busy on the phone. Of Blaise she caught no sight, until the front door slammed, announcing his return.
"Lucy?" Blaise called out. "Let's talk. Now." With that, he turned and marched right back out. Lucy stared after him, confused, and then at the other's questioning looks, she shrugged her shoulders and ran after him.
"What? What is it? Did Dad call? What did he say?"
But Blaise only waved his phone in her face. "Did you know about this? When were you going to tell me?"
Lucy frowned, taking a step back to put the phone into focus. Her view only served to fix that frown into place. "What the fuck?"
The headline caption on the news article Blaise was flashing at her read "Twin Starrs ready to dominate the music scene and steal the limelight from superstar father, Knyte Starr."
"It seems we have a hit new single," said Blaise, oddly calm. "And the fans, apparently, are clamouring for more."
Lucy grimaced.
"When did you know?"
"Yesterday. I heard it on the radio when I was driving back from lunch."
"Who? Kim?"
"Yeah. Knyte said it was the contract he had us sign. He didn't know about it either. Kim kept him in the dark until it was too late."
"And he never thought to tell us? To warn us?"
"I think dad was afraid of how we'd react," said Lucy, adding, "Of how we are reacting." Knyte's fear had not been unfounded and her pointed stare made sure Blaise acknowledged that truth.
"Alright, okay!" Blaise groaned, caving in. "What the fuck do we do now?"
"We ride the wave," said Lucy. "I don't know about you, but my pockets have seemed a little tight of late. It's time I let it out. I'm going to milk this baby for all its worth. Are you in?"
Blaise gaped at Lucy. "This is so not like you, Lucy."
"We've had some difficult times, Blaise. We've been through a lot. And the one thing I have come to appreciate in all that's happened, Blaise, is that you can't kick a gift horse in the mouth." Lucy paused to stare steadily at him. "I have a need for this money, Blaise, and I am not afraid to use it."
Blaise stared at Lucy for a moment. His expressive eyes unwittingly searching hers. But then they settled. "What do you have planned?" He questioned finally, suddenly suspicious. "No, wait! Don't tell me. The less I know the better. Just tell me what you need me to do."
Lucy sudden grinned up at Blaise. Her cheeks aching from the wide grin that cracked her face. It seemed incongruous for her to be smiling when Cat was still missing. But she had a plan.
"You will call Kim first. I think you'll relish dealing with him far more than I will. Here's what we need off him," said Lucy, then prepared to launch into a list.
It was a good while later when the Starr Twins hung up their phones and turned to go back in, and only because Emily stuck an impatient head out the door and hollered for their return.
"Oi! Breakfast already!"
Blaise and Lucy exchanged a secretive grin and then they were both rushing in after Emily.
"My private investigator has tracked your parents to Dubai." Richard began filling them in on the results of his phone calls that morning. "They are having trouble securing a connecting flight to Saudi Arabia."
"Yes, that's just what my sources had to say. A bomb scare at the Dubai airport has the place under lockdown." Jace exchanged a knowing look with Richard over that. Lucy glanced between them and then at Blaise, who also wore a knowing look on his face.
"What? What does that mean? What aren't you saying?" Em shot in first, before Lucy could open her mouth.
"It has to be a fake. The bomb scare. Something Sadiq set into motion to prevent anyone from following," answered Blaise.
Richard nodded. "My man has a contact in Dubai, he will arrange to have him contact your parents. I'll forward the call to you, Lucy, once he patches me through to them."
"Thank you, Richard," said Lucy, her appreciation heartfelt.
But Richard merely nodded and rose to his feet. "I must be off now. It is Monday, and work beckons. Thanks for the lovely breakfast, Emily."
Emily beamed up at him, then surprisingly threw her arms about in warm hug.
"Thank you, Richard. Thanks for helping us."
Richard patted her back awkwardly before gently disentangling himself. "I'll let myself out."
"I'll walk you to the door," countered Lucy, and then she too had her arms around Richard in a warm hug that only a Little was capable of.
****