Not Giving Up

Chapter 94

Victoria’s POV

I was upset all the way home. I never thought that the orphan would come back, let alone be able to eat in that restaurant. It was way outside her and her foster mom’s budget. I guess her parents have money, at least I would guess they did from the way they were dressed today. I loved seeing the fear on Evie's face when we literally ran into each other. Her friend was quick to step up to her defense, but I was surprised when Evie stepped in front of her to protect her. I saw the fear on her face. I remember how scared she was when I was going to end her. How she managed to push that down, and face me, I do not know.

She is much more confident now. I have to wonder what happened with her over the last month for her to have moved past that fear. I wished I hadn’t felt compelled to tell her about Gracie. I hate that we needed to lure her in with the internship. It put my husbands company in the crosshairs when the investigation is done after she disappears. James was very worried about negative publicity attached to the company.

I reminded him that no publicity is all bad. I am making sure that James will have a solid alibi, inside the company and under surveillance when it happens. He will be free and clear of any charges. They wouldn’t be able to prove anything because she will never be found. But there was no other way that we could have gotten access to her to be able to take her. I plan on my men grabbing Gracie at her car in the parking garage. I made sure that her space was in a blind spot. She was just going to walk out of the shot, and just disappear.

They were going to drive her to our land, and as soon as it gets dark, we will start the ritual. I made sure that the men who would be taking her are armed this time. We do not want a repeat of that wolf showing up, and us losing another valuable sacrifice. It would be almost impossible for us to find another one, especially on such short notice. I really hate that I had given Evie a heads up like I did. She might be the only person in the world that would be able to mess my plans up. She might not know the exact location of where my property is, but she knew the vicinity. She could lead the police there to search. Once Gracie leaves tonight, I am going to go by and see if Evie is living in her old home. I may have to have her taken too. I can’t leave any loose threads here. I can’t allow our family to be involved in a second missing person's investigation.

I needed to make sure that Gracie was still coming to our home today to get to know us better. That was the plan, and that was when Rhett was going to find out about us allowing Gracie to become an intern. I didn’t want him involved in what we were doing at all. He still gives me the cold shoulder from knowing that I took Evie. He apparently followed my men to go grab her after they left the hospital. That was a complete fiasco. I don’t know who Evie is with now, but she has some powerful friends. The fact that they were prepared to be able to take out my men was proof of that.

It was a warning. I got it, they would not be shooting at tires after this. When she didn’t reappear, I knew I should let it go, but I still held out hope. One night about 4 days after she disappeared I felt it when she was no longer a good choice to be the sacrifice any longer. I had a spiritual bond with her. Although it wouldn’t pinpoint where she was hiding. I knew she was still alive and protected from us. Once I realized that she was no longer a virgin, she was not a viable option anymore.

I reached out to Hillary who was full of information on Evie’s friend. She only had one, and she was just as smart, and an innocent too. I quickly figured out what I needed to do here. I just hated her having to enter the company to do it. We have a lack of time, and this needs to be done quickly. We have already lost a month thanks to Evie. Hillary was still upset because Rhett had no further interest in her. I know that she had dreams of riding his coat-tails. She had wanted to be an NFL wife. But after how Rhett treated her the last time I had her over for dinner, it was clear to see that they were completely over.

I wish he acted normally to me now, but those days are over. The moment I dropped that bomb on him at dinner about needing a human sacrifice, he changed. He accused me of not following my mother and grandmothers teachings. He was a little right, but if we didn't need this, I wouldn't be doing it. It was out of my hands, as we needed a large blessing, for us, and for my followers. If we don’t follow through we will not be able to keep our wealth, and power. The company will go broke, and hundreds of people would be out of jobs. It would be a horrible scandal for our family. I will do whatever needs to be done, to prevent that from ever happening.

When we got home Rhett stopped as soon as he entered the house. We could tell that he wanted to ask us something, and I could just guess what it was. I knew that James was going to be upset about it. Letting that mistake slip from my lips was not good. Rhett thought that I had stopped with the plans that I had made. Because of that, things were getting better between us, he even went to lunch with us. He hadn't done that for a while now. Now he knows I haven’t stopped. From the look on his face, he is trying to carefully choose his words.

“I thought after what happened with Evie, that this was over, Mom. Are you seriously considering hurting Graclyn?” Rhett asked. He already knew the answer from my own lips. He just wanted me to admit it to him.

“Rhett, this has to be done honey. It is not like I want to do this. I don’t, but you have no idea at all what the cost will be if I don’t get this done. There are so many people who are depending on me. Not just in my temple, but at your father’s company as well. It is so much bigger than you can even conceive it is. I know you are upset, but you need to look at the bigger picture here. One person, who will get a reward in the afterlife, will be a blessing to so many others. Looking at it that way the cost is negligible. You just need to look at it from their standpoint, not just hers,” I told him. He needed to see our side in this too. This is not even going to affect him.

“Mom, please, you need to find another way. You already hurt Evie. Now you are going after her best friend. How could she not think that you are doing this deliberately to hurt her?” Rhett said to me.

“This is not about her, at all. Gracie fits the requirements. She may not have been my first choice, as her family will be upset, but I can guarantee you that Gracie will never be found. They will not be able to trace it back to us at all,” I told him.

“There is no us mom. I think I am going to go ahead and see if I can get a dorm early. I need to leave here. I will not willingly be a part of any of this. I cannot express how disappointed I am in what you are doing. I can’t believe you, either of you,” Rhett said as he gave us each a hard look and then left the room. It hurts my heart to hear him say that, but what choice do I have.

“Maybe Rhett is right honey. I can go ahead and sell the company before it starts to flounder. Maybe you need to just stop now, before this comes crashing down around us. I have a bad feeling about this too. Seeing Evie, and finding out that she has found her parents. They are going to cause us problems. Evie will not be letting this go if you take her best friend away. She will immediately go to the police about it. When Gracie doesn’t return, the police will have to look into you harder that they did before. Evie came back, that was why you got out of it so easily the first time. That won’t be happening a second time,” James told me.

I can tell that he is worried about this. I know that he doesn;t want his company involved in it at all, but we already did a practice run in the garage. We knew how to do this. We just needed her in the garage, to be able to take her. He is clearly upset at what Rhett just said to us. Yes, Rhett is mad right now, but he will calm down. He did after we did it the first time. He will come around again. He just needs time. Seeing Evie today caused him to realize that he lost a friend. She was just as cold to him, as she was to me. He felt guilty, even though he had nothing to do with it.

“Baby, I am sorry. I know that this is stressful. It is stressful for me too. If there was any other way around it, I would do it. But I can’t change the fact that we need a huge blessing here. The request that we are making is too large for the regular animal sacrifice. This should work for the next ten years. I promise you will not be drug into the middle of this. I hate that is has to be done myself, but we have to finish this. We are so close to the end here honey. Just let me take care of this for us,” I told him as I hugged him. I knew I had him when he finally relaxed in my arms. He put his chin on my head and hugged me back. I am so thankful that he loves me so much. This would be much harder, if he didn't.

I couldn’t let him see my face. I was pissed off about this whole thing. I am not happy about having to deal with Rhett being a petulant child again. James headed to his office to get some work done, and I checked my phone messages. I see Gracie begging off coming tonight, and I knew that I was going to need to move even faster now. Evie is going to try to keep me from taking Gracie. I knew when I slipped up today, that we were going to need to step this up. I originally wanted to take Gracie as she was leaving the company. Now I know that I need to have her taken from her home tonight. It is a matter of time before Evie tells her that I was the one who took her. I am too close to success to let this fall apart now. I need to make some calls.