Insufferable Proximity (70 page)

She watched him walk down the stairs with the food and silently prayed that he fell down the rest of the flight. To her great displeasure he made it safely to the bottom and brought the tray of food to sit on the table before her.

“This is your last chance Ms. Deville.” he spoke softly as he untied her gag. “Are you going to co-operate now?” Despite the overwhelming impulse to curse at him and call him foul names, she needed to stick to her plan. She managed to turn the corner of her mouth up into what could be considered a grin.

“I am a little hungry.” she continued the false smile, fighting the urge to be cruel. Gavin seemed to accept whatever kindness she threw at him whether it was believable or not.

“Let me help you then.” he said sliding the spoon into the thick soup then holding it to her mouth. Heaven hesitated for a moment before finally parting her lips to accept the soup. “How is it?”

“It’s good.”

“I remembered seeing you with a similar chicken soup at work once, so I thought I would try it.”

“You’re very observant.”

“You think so?” he asked in excitement.

“I do.” She answered as he fed her another spoonful of soup.

“Thank you Heaven.” He smiled like a blind fool and Heaven fought the urge to tell him just that.

“Why are you really doing this Gavin?” she asked calmly.

“Why did you start having sex with Julian?” Gavin shot a question back at her.

“Fine, I guess it doesn’t matter who finds out now,” she shrugged,
decided that telling the truth could actually work to her advantage.
“I did something rash that almost destroyed my whole career as a lawyer.”

“What?”

“I broke into Julian’s office, sabotaged his computer and stole his proposal for the partnership.” she admitted.

“That was you who did that? I wondered who it was, that was very clever.” he grinned in awe.

“No it wasn’t, he caught me red handed.”

“What did he do?”

 “He gave me an ultimatum, either I submit to him for thirty days or he turned me in.”

“So that’s why you started having sex with him!” he seemed almost relieved.

“Yes, that is the only reason.”

“I wish I knew that before.” he said as a deep sadness seemed to come over him. “I should have known. You didn’t seem like the type who would willingly be with someone like him.”

“Of course I wouldn’t, I couldn’t stand him.”

“And now?”

“Now? I have no choice but to submit to him, I’m afraid to say no. I know he’d use that evidence against me and my career would be over.” she lied.

“He’s blackmailing you!”

“Yes.”

“So wouldn’t it be better for you if he wasn’t around.”

“Of course it would, but not with your plan, your plan will get me life in prison.”

“Not if we go with an alternate plan.”

“It’s too late, you already set up the evidence.”

“We could think of something, we are two very intelligent lawyers.”

“I guess the evidence you left could be used to my favor, I could claim self-defense. I could say he was the one who abducted me.” she smiled and Gavin grinned at her in adulation.

“You would do that?”

“I would do anything to get him to stop blackmailing me.” she continued her lie and watched Gavin fall for it hook line and sinker.

“You’re a very smart woman Heaven.” he scooped another spoonful of soup and held it to her mouth.

“That I am.” she whispered before opening her mouth for the soup, disgusted with herself for having to play along with her psycho ex-coworker.

***

Heaven’s wrist was half raw and bloody, but she was elated, her hand was half way out of the binding. She worked on the loosening rope until Gavin came back at which point, she immediately slipped her hand back through the ropes. She smiled from ear to ear as Gavin came near, hoping he did not notice the blood on her hand.

“Is that coffee?” she asked as she acted excited.

“It sure is, sweetheart.” Gavin smiled as he brought the tray of her favorite foods to her.

“You are absolutely amazing.” She smiled.

“Am I?”

“You are, you must have read my mind or something because I have been feigning for some caffeine.”

***

Sybille made a pot of tea and took it onto the back porch where Julian was. It was her own special blend of tea, it was created to sooth the soul and calm the nerves, it was just what Julian needed. Sybille hadn’t seen the man sleep once since Heaven had disappeared and she could see the sleep deprivation was getting to him.

“You’re looking awfully tired.” Sybille said with a look of concern. “You’re going to be too exhausted to properly greet Heaven when she gets back.” her words sunk through Julian like a cinderblock trying to pass through his veins and he turned to her.

“I’m fine.”

“You need to rest, dear.”

“I‘ll rest once Heaven‘s home, but thank you.”

“Trust me, I understand.”

***

She got her hand out of the ropes and was able to slide it in and out with out to much hassle. She slid it back in as he walked down with the tray of food, setting it on the table as he smiled and she attempted to smile back. It was not a full-fledged smile, but it was obviously enough to delight Gavin and weaken his guard.

“You look beautiful today. I was thinking about our plan and I think we would make a great team.” he grinned.

“As do I.” she smiled.

“I brought you gourmet beef stew.” he smiled and scooped up a spoonful of the thick stew and Heaven accepted it, wishing she could yank her hand out of the ropes now and grab the spoon then hit him over the head with it until she felt better.

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.”

***

She hid behind the steps with the thick broom until he started walking down the steps. She then she stuck the broom through the steps then jabbed it into the back of his ankle, the blow forced him to fall down the steps. She ran out from under the stairs and tried to run past him, but he grabbed her leg.

“No, you’re not going anywhere!” he growled like a mad man.

“Get off of me!” she yelled, kicking him in the head with her free foot as he tried to pull her down the stairs. She pulled back her leg and with all of her might, she kicked him in the face. His nose burst open as drops of blood splattered on her shoe. He fell back and she took that spilt second that she had and she grabbed the thick broom that was still sticking through the stairs. She proceeded to smash the wooden stick over his head until he slumped to the floor. She hit him once more for good measure before tying him up and locking him up in the basement.

She was sprinting for the front door when the shiny Mercedes emblem hanging from the key rack caught her eye. She snatched it and went straight to his garage. She sped most of the way, she had no cell phone, was too panicked to stop and call the police. She was actually hoping that a random officer would just appear and pull her over for speeding.

***

After driving for an almost thirty minute’s straight, Heaven finally snapped out of her stupor and realized she needed to contact the police. Seeing the sign for a diner five miles ahead, she stepped on the gas and made it there in half the time.

It was a day-glow orange painted double wide trailer with a large, hand-painted sign that read “Nina’s 2 go”. The sign was bigger than the trailer and Heaven had seen it almost a mile down the road. The hot sun was making the restaurant appear as if it were engulfed in flames, due to the fluorescent-orange color mixed with her deliria.

She jumped out the car and ran into the diner, it was almost empty, only a couple of tables occupied, that’s when she looked up to see the woman with flame-glow-orange hair with her bright red lips turned up into a sincere grin. Heaven realized all at once, that the extreme exterior of the diner was no fluke, it had been purposely dyed to match this woman’s hair.

“You look like you need a good cup of coffee, toots.” The woman said, the coffee cup already out and half filled by the time Heaven reached the counter.

“I need a phone, I need to call the police.” Heaven said.

“Are you alright, sugar?’ Nina asked with concern, seeing the girl’s condition now that she was closer. She grabbed the phone and handed it to Heaven.

First Heaven called the police and then she immediately called Julian. She wanted him to come and pick her up, she knew she would be safe with him.

***

Julian sat in his office, zoned out. He was drinking cognac from a flask and facing the large window behind him. He looked out at the city below, knowing that Heaven was out there somewhere. He knew she was alive, he could feel her and he would not give up until he found her.

His father knocked on his door and then let himself in, he too was in a gloomy-funk. He sat down in the chair across from his son’s desk.

“So I talked to Sybille, I am going to help look for her.”

“Where? In the field? Some random guy says that he sees a girl that fits her description up by the field and now everyone’s out there looking for her body! She’s not fucking dead!” he roared.

“We’re still going to look.”

“Fine, waste your time.” he said. Ayden understood, Julian was in love for the first time in 31 years and now the woman that he loved had vanished into thin air. As expected, Julian was not taking it well, he was letting his anger over power his judgment, since his anger seemed to sooth his grief.

When his cell phone broke the thick silence in the room, Julian snatched it up.

“What.” he snapped into the phone, his irritation running deep.

“Julian?” he heard the voice, that hauntingly familiar voice. “Julian!” Heaven yelled louder than she had planned.

“Heaven?” he said and Ayden looked at him, his eyes wide.

“Come get me right now! I’m at this bright orange diner, it’s called Nina’s-2-go it’s on-

“I know where it is.” he said.

“Is it her?” Ayden asked as Julian grabbed his jacket and his wallet.

“Yes.” he said and rushed out of his office.

“Oh thank god! Call me the second she’s with you Julian!” his father yelled after him.

Julian had no more than walked out of the door and closed it when the phone suddenly went dead.

“Heaven? Heaven?” he yelled into the phone as he raced to his car.

Heaven looked at the dead receiver than up to Nina.

“It just went dead.”

“That phone has some serious issues, something about the ground wires, I don’t know. They’ll be here to fix it next week, although I know it doesn‘t help much today does it, darling‘.” she said.

“And you don’t have a cell phone?”

“No, and I won’t buy one until they can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they don’t cause brain cancer.”

***

Julian’s tires squealed when he pulled up in front of the dinner.

Heaven was sitting with the officers, officer Twiddle-Duh and his ignorant twin Twiddle-Dumbest. They seemed to take her story with a grain of salt, their minds obviously on some other pressing matter. After she finished telling them the details of her abduction they looked at her with matching poker faces and proceeded to ask her irrelevant questions. They were obviously bored.

“He was not a boyfriend, not a friend, we never dated, we never even held hands, and he worked with me.” Heaven informed them again.

“He worked with you?” the officer asked as he raised his eyebrows.

“Yes I told you that three times.”

“No need to get upset, Miss.” the other officer interjected. She knew this routine, they didn’t buy her story, they assumed she was some uneducated chick wasting their time and now they would bait her.

Just as Heaven opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, she saw Julian’s car from the large diner window and jumped up from the table. She ran out of the diner at top speed, sprinting down the small steps as Julian grabbed her and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around him as he held her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

“Oh god I thought you were fucking gone baby!” he cried holding her face between his large hands. He kissed her lips hard, needing to feel her against him, but she pulled back.

“It’s Gavin, he going to try to kill you!” she cried.

“Gavin Grant? He did this to you?” he roared, his face igniting with rage.

“Yes, he wants you dead.”

“Gavin Grant took you?” he said not the least bit interested in the threats made against his life.

The police officers walked out of the diner and over to them.

“King.” officer Ranch said with a grin, he had worked with him on a few different cases. “You know the victim?”

“I am not a victim!” Heaven snapped.

“Sorry, miss,” he said to Heaven as he continued looking at Julian, “the abducted.”