Fifty Four

Fifty Four

— DAMIEN MARTINEZ —

I paused for a minute or two, trying to get my bearings.

"He was calling at your office," Chase reported. "And from what I gathered, at least half an hour ago. A good couple of years ago," he added.

I bit my lip. Why would he be calling? Well, I knew for one thing that it would be concerning Clarissa. That was the only deal that I had with him after all.

I nodded slowly, thinking that most likely, he would have some clue of the sort.

"I'll see," I noted.

"I'll send you the number," the manager offered.

"Good enough," I gave a short nod and disconnected myself from the meeting.

The next moment, he had already sent me the number and I called the Darcel group.

My mind was racing with a lot of possibilities as I called the number, hoping against hope that somehow, he would have some good news.

"Hello, Darcel group here. How may I help you?" a polite feminine voice said the moment I called.

"Put the manager on the line. This is CEO Damien," I said, then added.

There was a pause on the line and some whispers followed.

"CEO Damien," the next voice that came in was that of the manager.

He sounded rather rushed and on edge.

Oh well, I gave a sigh because at this moment, I already knew that things couldn't possibly get worse. So good of nature to prove me right.

There goes my hope that we had some good news.

"Yes. I heard that you have been calling?" I asked, a little bored because I really didn't feel like having this conversation.

"Quite so," he affirmed. "Please tell me that you have something?" he begged, sounding hopeful.

I rubbed my temples.

"I can assure you that I'll handle the situation properly and make sure that she would be found soon enough," I said.

"It's not enough..." he gave a dejected sigh.

"I don't know how the news got out, but now all our investors are asking around and rumors are flying around everywhere," he said.

He sounded really frustrated. Well, who wouldn't? First, Clarissa was involved in an accident in which she had almost died, and now, not up to a month later and she was kidnapped. I was pretty much goddamn frustrated myself.

"Even the workers are starting to question their safety. It's total chaos here in the Darcel group!"

"You're scared?" I noticed. Though, it sounded more like a confirmation than a question.

"Should I not be?" the Manager coughed. "First the CEO, now who's next? Am I even safe?"

"Calm down, manager..." I paused, realizing that I didn't even know his name. At least I knew my manager's name. Okay, even if it was just his last name, it still counted, right?

"If there is anything that I can assure you from this case, it's that you're completely safe. Whoever kidnapped her, has no intentions of taking it further," I said, assuring him in the best way that I could.

"How do you know that?" he asked, still sounding frightened.

Maybe because one of the co-conspirators involved in the kidnap was working right in your company, I thought.

Any thought that went back to Karl and the rest of those mother fuckers had me clenching my fist in annoyance.

I really didn't blame him for being scared. He probably had a family to go back home to.

"I'll make sure that this is over," I gritted my teeth, feeling a new sense of determination course through my veins.

Morgana had no right to harm what belonged to me. And Karl was already dead to me, for actually harming her twice now.

I would make sure that I sent them to another planet where everything was darkness and fire. I would make sure to drown them at the bottom of the deep blue sea.

"You'll get your CEO back," I assured him further.

Great, I thought. Now I took up therapy as a part-time job.

"Thank you, CEO Damien," he said, sounding more relieved now. "Knowing that you are handling this by yourself makes me rest assured that she would be found."

"Why wouldn't I be involved?" I asked, tilting my head to one side. "She's my wife after all."

"Right..." he said hurriedly.

"I want you to do something for me." I stood up from the swivel chair, more serious now.

"Anything, sir."

"Keep a close look on Lilly Devor," I said, frowning even as I spoke.

"S-sir... But..." he stuttered.

"Oh no," I gave a forced smile. "It's not what you think at all. Now think about it, whoever kidnapped Clarissa may choose to go for her sister. And if they decide to do that, I want you to be ready to stop them," I explained.

"Of course. That would be very smart indeed," he sounded very relaxed now.

"Yes, very smart." I clicked the phone and the line went dead.

Of course, it was exactly what he thought. I needed someone who would keep an eye on Lilly in the company. If she thought that she was safe to plot and scheme within the walls of the Darcel group just because my men didn't have access there, then she was severely mistaken.

But that was the problem with humans. I couldn't exactly tell the manager that I suspected Lilly. He was most likely not to believe me, and so, instead of wasting my valuable time trying to explain it all to him and telling him how complicated things really were, I was just going to tell one decent little lie.

I made my way out of the mansion and took the Mercedes sports car. I had one address in mind.

But before that, I knew that I had to call Tristan and tell him all about the new developments.

Since he was the one working on the investigations, then he might as well know that the kidnappers had the audacity to actually send me a message.

They keep up with the attitude and honestly, it won't take long and then they'll be behind bars the very next moment. Assuming I didn't take the law into my hand and decide to kill them all myself.

I needed some clear all evidence practice anyway.

"Tristan," I said into the phone, glad that he picked up the call immediately.

"Damien, I was just about to call you," he said, his voice rushed.

I paused, feeling my heart stop beating a little at his words.

"Is it good news or bad news?" I asked carefully.

"Good news," he gave a short laugh.

I glared at the phone. Why was I not surprised that he loved it when I was all stressed up and my overconfident mask was torn off.

"That was long overdue," I huffed, starting the car and reversing out of the mansion.

"Well, what were you going to tell me?" he asked.

"Nah, you first. I have bad news anyway."

"Okay, well, we have a lead. My men were able to track down the plate number of the car and it happened to be a stolen car from a company named Vincent Corporation," he explained.

I paused, a huge frown forming on my face. "Well, how does that help us?" I asked.

"It does, Damien," Tristan stressed in the voice that he probably used to explain a math sum to a bunch of toddlers.

"Because one of my colleagues is working on a case and there were series of car thefts in companies lately and I think they are related," Tristan continued.

"I have suspects. A notorious gang that we've been trying to apprehend. I'll get pictures and you'll tell me if there's a resemblance between them and your fake guards."

"That's brilliant!" I said, feeling my heart race in joy.

Finally, some hard-earned lead. I was almost certain that they were them, even without seeing the pictures.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Now what were you going to tell me?"

My joy was short-lived as I instantly remembered why I called him in the first place.

"Right," I sighed.

"I got an anonymous message. It left an address and whoever was behind it said that I have to get there before night if I want to see Clarissa again," I felt my throat run dry as I spoke.

The thought that someone out there had the cheek to actually threaten me was very disturbing.

"Should... I follow you?" Tristan asked.

I thought about it for a while.

Whoever this was, and by the way, I had a good idea that it was Karl. He would make me negotiate with him and force me to strike a deal that would favor him.

Like what could the asshole possibly want? But I knew that I had to agree to whatever he wanted. I couldn't bear to put Clarissa in further danger.

"Focus on the investigations," I told him. "I'll handle this by myself."

"Right, send the number and I'll see if I can get a name," he said.

"Will do." I nodded, about to end the call.

"One more thing, Damien, be careful."

I smiled to myself. Hell yeah, I thought.