Chapter 26

Chapter 26
I arrive back at the house two hours after leaving the hospital and not in the greatest of moods. My mind keeps going back to the dream I had before I left and I have no idea why. It isn’t what she said that’s bothering me so much as her looks. She’s a pretty woman but nobody holds a candle to my wife. Renee’ is the most beautiful woman inside and out to me in the world to me and I’ve told her that multiple times before and after we were married. There is something so familiar about this woman and it bothers me that I don’t know why. I shake my head to clear it before going into the house. The last thing I need is for the family to be worried about me. When I get in the house everyone is very loudly in the living room. I head in there to see what is going on and to my surprise they are all playing a game. My son is already dressed for bed and it appears that they have had pizza for dinner. Well I guess one night of pizza won’t hurt. After greeting them all, I head upstairs to shower but then decide against it and I take the back stairs to head to the basement. Once down there I sit with Mr. Fontenot and he tells me that they have finally pinpointed the location that the call came from and it is located in the Hamptons. Well that is the best news I’ve heard in a long time. I can barely stay still in my chair I’m so excited. I could have my daughter home soon. There was just one more thing that I needed to know about and I really didn’t know if I wanted to know.
“Has she said anything else?”
“I think we’re close to getting a name out of her. It is taking longer than I thought, but she’s beginning to break. Nobody can take this much pain and not break eventually, though she has held on longer than I thought she would.”
“I really wish that we didn’t have to do it this way, but she gave me no choice. If I have to choose between causing her pain or my family then I think we both know what I choose.”
“I understand Mrs. Lexington. Did you want to try talking to her again?”
“Honestly, Mr. Fontenot I’m all talked out. I’m tired of all of this and just want it all to be over with now. If she wants to tell me something then she can tell you and I’ll be glad to come and listen to what she has to say as long as it is something that’ll get my daughter back faster.”
“Okay.”
I shake his hand and thank him for all of his help and begin walking toward the stairs to leave when I hear a faint voice calling my name. I turn around to see Alissa covered in blood and holding her hand out to me.
“Yes, can I help you?”
“Please let me out of here. Why are you doing this to me?”
“I can’t do that anymore than you can tell me what I want to know. I didn’t do anything to you; you did all this to yourself. All you had to do to prevent this was to tell me what I need to know to get my daughter back and catch this person but you refused. You can prevent any further pain by just telling us what we want to know, otherwise the pain will continue. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my remaining family. Have a good night Alissa.”
I hear her screaming at me but I keep walking up the stairs and out of the basement. She brought all of this on herself the minute she refused to help me get my daughter back and I’m not about to feel bad for her now. She had a choice and she chose wrong. When I get to my room, my son was already asleep in my bed. He must have gotten tired and gone to bed on his own because I can still hear the others downstairs. I quickly shower and change into my night clothes and quietly climb into my bed next to my son. The television is on and a cartoon is playing so I turn off the cartoon and find a movie to watch. There’s a Law and Order marathon on and I decide to watch that until I fall asleep. All that night I dreamed of the woman with dark brown hair and green eyes, my daughter, and my wife. She kept repeating the same thing over and over.
“You’re never going to see your wife and daughter again.” I kept running to try and reach them the more I ran the farther away they got from me. The woman tossed her head back and laughed this high-pitched laugh that sounded more like a witch’s cackle than an actual laugh. Suddenly I jumped up from the dream and sat up in bed. I was panting hard again and covered in sweat. I threw the covers off of me and ran into the bathroom to take a quick shower. My son was already out of my bed and I saw that his toothbrush was wet when I went to brush my teeth. Dressing quickly after my shower, I practically flew down the stairs and headed toward the basement. When I got there everyone looked up at me as I stalked over to the cage. Alissa was still sleeping. I guess torture takes a lot of you but this bitch was going to get up and answer my questions finally. I’ve had enough of the games. She would either answer me or die. There would be no more negotiating with her after today.
“Alissa get the hell up!” She jumped up at the sound of her name and looked at me with shocked eyes. She looked like she knew that I would hurt her and she was right. She could tell by the look I was giving her that I was no longer playing with her.
“You are going to answer me and I suggest you do unless you want to die. I’m not negotiating with you anymore. I’m done playing games, do you understand.” She nodded but I could tell that she was confused too.
“Let me make myself perfectly clear because I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings, if you refuse to answer me or I think you’re lying at any time you will be killed. Do you understand?” Again she nodded at me that she understood.
“Okay, now my first question is a simple one. Do you know where they are keeping my daughter? “
“Yes. She’s being kept at a house in the Hamptons.”
“Good answer. Now I know you’re telling the truth because we already knew that much. My second question is do you know if this person plans on harming my daughter in any way?”
“I honestly don’t know. She never said anything about killing anyone, not even your wife.”
“Okay, then what is she planning?”
“All I know is that she said she was going to make you pay for what you did to her. She said that she was going to start by taking your company from you. Then she said the next part would be to tear your family apart, but she never said how she was going to do it.”
“Does the person that you’re working for have dark brown hair and green eyes with a pale complexion?”
“Yes, how did you know that?”
“Someone told me what she looks like and I wanted to make sure that it was the person behind all this and not just someone else that works for her like you. Thank you for cooperating with me. I’ll give you a day of rest.” I walk towards the table when she calls my name.
“Yes?”
“There’s something else that you need to know.”
“Okay, what would that be?”
“This person didn’t always have dark brown hair.”
“Really, then what color hair did she have?” I was holding my breath because I had already had a feeling of who this woman was by the laugh in my dream.
“Her hair used to be red. She dyed it when she started going after your family.”
“What color red? Was it fire red?”
“Yes.” I almost collapsed on the floor before Mr. Fontenot caught me by the arms.
“Are you alright Mrs. Lexington?” His voice held worry.
“Yes, I’m alright. Thank you. I was just shocked. We definitely have to get my daughter back and fast.” I start towards the stairs because I need to get some air.
“Mrs. Lexington, do you know something? What does the red hair mean? Do you know who this person is now?” He was firing questions at me but I just needed to get out of that basement. I turned towards him and looked him square in the eye.
“Yes, she’s someone that I dated who ended up in a mental institution because she tried to kill me and herself when I refused to marry her.
“Who is it? What’s her name and I’ll try to find her.”
I turned at the top of the stairs just before opening the door.
“Crystal Baxter.” Then I turned and left the room.