Chapter 25 Disappearing
Eric marched out of the banquet and his father an brother followed.
"How could we loose? We saw there bid, why did they change the numbers suddenly?" Harris asked.
"More importantly, if they won, it means the mayor changed his mind and took their side," Mr Black said.
Eric was not too worried about that.
"I need to handle something. Let's talk tomorrow," Eric said and left quickly. He got into a car waiting for him and it drove off.
His assistant, Jim, sat in front, waiting for his instructions.
"To the river view Mansion," Eric instructed.
"Yes sir," the driver answered. Soon, Jim received a call and listened with a dark expression.
"Any news from the team?" Eric asked when he noticed his reaction.
"Sir, they followed the clues and stormed the residence where Miss Hart was being kept, but there was no one there," Jim said.
Eric felt his blood boil. She wasn't there? Did the Miltons do something to her? Did they abduct her at all?
"Did they call to make demands after she was abducted?" Eric asked.
"Yes, Sandra answered and stalled as you said," Jim answered. Eric pressed his fingers into his temple.
"So, she was really taken. Then, where is she?" He asked.
A few minutes later, Eric arrived at the mansion and immediately asked if Lilac was home.
"She had not returned since she left for the family trip, sir," the Butler answered.
Eric turned to Jim who was seriously making inquiries on his phone.
"Tell me you know where she is," Eric asked his darkly.
"We checked the entire building. It seems they left using an underground tunnel and the tunnel leads to many roads. Without knowing the car they had used or a surveillance footage of the tunnel, she would be hard to find," Jim answered.
"Check where she usually goes, her work, every where she could be," he said and Jim paused.
"Sir, her parents have been released from custody. Should I check in with them?" Jim asked.
"No. Post men to be on the look out at their residence but don't tell them I don't believe she would go there. Find her," he ordered.
Lilac on the other hand, had gotten unto the subway the moment she got off the car. She was still barefoot as she had lost both shoes in the chaos. Her legs were wrapped in bandages, from the injuries and walking was painful, but she made her way to her street in one piece.
She had contemplated going to the River view Mansion, where she and Eric used to live, or better yet, where she used to live and Eric visited occasionally, but decided against it.
She was not stupid. Eric used her as bait today. He even sacrificed his men to do it. She had come to understand that his staff did not see her as part of the family. They only followed his orders. And his home was completely full of his staff. Since she could be used as bait once, she could be used again.
She had an apartment she inherited from her grandfather, but and even if she knew staying there would not keep her safe from Eric, she still felt it was best to sleep on a bed where Eric's staff had not touched at all.
Lilac stopped at a convenient store and a pharmacy to pick up some necessities before making her way towards her apartment building.
She went up to there penthouse and used the password to get inside. The home was dusty and needed slight cleaning, but she was too tired to do it. She had her bath and changed her bandages before crawling into bed.
It was evening before she woke up. The sound of ringing woke her from her dreams. Lilac got up slowly and found it was her phone. She had several missed calls. Some from Eric and others from work.
She liked through her messages and paused. It seemed Eric did not know of this apartment. This made Lilac happy. She was sure Eric would question how she was let go and she was not ready to face his questions yet. The fact that she had sold information to his enemies should never come to light or he would kill. She needed time to consider her next move.
Some messages were from her mother. It seemed she had been released from custody and wanted her to go over.
"As if I would be that stupid?" Lilac muttered with a scoff. She had slept almost the entire day. It was a week day, so it was not unusual to get messages from work.
Lilac had worked as a fashion editor while she ran her own fashion magazine for a while. But not long before rh Boat trip she had taken out most of her savings to put into the magazine and open a publishing house. It would take a while to break even.
She called her vice president back.
"Hi, I know you said you were on a family trip and could not be disturbed, but I needed to run this by you," the man on the other end said.
"It's fine. I just came back. Is the office already setup?" lilac asked.
"Yeah, but publishing? i know I said we could do it, but Lilac, I am looking at the numbers, the printing is going to be wild. You said we should expand, but..." The man begun to complain.
"Dean, what do you think is the right response to owning a printing press?" Lilac asked and Dean paused.
"You own a printing press?" He asked.
"It barely functions and is serving on old customers. But it's mine. Tha is why I said we shouldn't try our hands on our own publication. Now the magazine has grown, it is time we expand too," Lilac said.
"So the const could come down..." Dean said.
"Sanders is dealing with the print press while Jessica handles the publishing house. Sanders will contact you soon," Lilac said.
"Sander is back?" Dean asked.
"Yeah."
"When will you be coming in?" Dean asked.
"The magazine has you for now. I will be dealing with the publishing house. You mailed my resignation letter to my workplace, right?" Lilac asked.
"Yeah, the moment you went on your trip," he answered.
"Alright. I will talk to you later," she said and ended the call.
Lilac first cleaned up before looking for something to eat. She was sore from the abduction last night, the fight by the deck the night before and beating June on the ship. She was sore from everything. She cleaned her wounds and changed her bandages before ordering a meal.
Lilac had barely gone through a few work emails when Eric called again. She looked at her phone and ignored it. But he called again. Lilac wanted to ignore it, but she asked herself how long she was going to ignore his call.
She decided to hear what he would say.
"Lilac?" Eric asked.
Lilac found it hard to breathe. It took her a full five seconds before she answered.
"What do you want?" She asked him.
"You are fine then," he said and Lilac felt a surge of anger fill her heart.
"Mr Black, why do you sound as though you called a ghost?" Lilac asked as her doorbell started ringing.
"Why did you not pick my calls?" Eric asked.
Lilac felt the urge to sneer.
"I just did not want to. If it's not about the divorce, I don't really want to speak with you," Lilac said.
"We need to talk, you shouldn't disappear like that again, Lilac," Eric said.
"What could we possibly talke about?" Lilac asked trying hard to not roll her eyes.
"My secretary said you called before a bid," Eric said and Lilac stopped her movements. So that is how he wanted to pay this.
"Ah..what did she say?" Lilac asked and but there was silence on the other end.
"The Guards taking you home are currently in the hospital receirin treatment and I was told your car was attacked," Eric said.
"Ah, you were told," Lilac said. She wondered if he thought of her as a fool. Since he will not acknowledge that he knew, she had not obligation to explain to him how she escaped. Lilac felt stupid for worrying about what explanation to give him. Did it matter if he found out that she sold the bid numbers for her freedom? Would he not kill her either way?
"Well, it seems it was a false alarm. I hope your guards are fine," Lilac said. And re door bell begin ringing again. With the doorbell disturbimg her thoughts she got up and walked toward the door
"Then, I will come get you back home," Eric said.
"It is not necessary. Just send over the divorce papers when you are ready," Lilac answered.
"Open the door, Lilac," Eric said and Lilac's steps froze right before her apartment door as the ominous doorbell rang again. She looked through the security cameraa dn her fears were confirmed. Eric Black was standing outside her door.