Chapter Nine

Stupid!

Idiot!

Foolish!

Gullible!

Ava took a deep breath from the insults her subconscious was showering on her. She was tired from crying and her eyes were sore.

She was so stupid to believe that she could get through with Noah despite everything he's put her through. And now, he has finally sent her packing from Colorado.

She wiped off the stray tear on her face and sighed. Now, she had no idea where she would go except crying back to her mother and going back to modeling.

Her phone rang twice, and she ignored it, the tears still streaming down her cheeks. She didn't feel like talking to anyone. It was probably Noah's family calling her.

The third time, she groaned and picked the call without glancing at the caller.

"I can't talk right now!" She growled.

"Since when did you become so busy for your little brother?"

The smooth cocky voice of her brother jerked her back to life.

"Daniel." She whispered.

"I think you need a hug," he said.

She sniffed wiping the stray tear off her cheeks. "Yeah."

If she hid from the entire world, Ava could never hide from her brother. They were so close he knew everything about her.

"You came to Colorado and now you're leaving without seeing me," his voice cut through her thoughts.

Except that. She had wanted a fresh start and that included not informing her family members about her decision.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," she sighed.

"It's not too late to come to say hi," he suggested.

Ava nodded. She'd rather be with her brother than with her mother.

"Alright. I'll stop by your house before leaving."

"Let me get your favorite room and food prepared," he chuckled before hanging up.

Ava sighed. This was better than going home. She could stay at his place and get her head back in the game, finally realize what she wanted to do next.

She informed the driver of her new destination and relaxed in the cab. Her brother would take care of her misery.

"Miss, I'd like to take a detour."

Ava jerked in her seat at the eerie voice. "Detour?"

"Yes, the highway is blocked. There's a shortcut," the driver replied.

Ava suddenly felt her throat go dry. "No, let's take the highway."

"As you wish, Madame."

Ava felt the air in the car change, she suddenly felt light-headed and tensed.

"On second thought, could you please pull over? I'd like some fresh air," she said.

"I'd rather you relax and enjoy the air conditioner than stress out in the sun," the voice replied.

Ava tensed. This wasn't the voice of a cab driver. It was far too professional and there was an accent. No matter how he tried to hide it, the accent remained.

"Let me out now!" she yelled, banging at the door. She fumbled with her phone and dialed Daniel's number, but it went straight to voicemail.

"Daniel, help!"

"I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but you leave me no choice."

The last thing she remembered was seeing a blurry face covered in a gas mask and then the car filled up with smoke.

***

Daniel jerked awake, his hands massaging his sore neck as he stretched on the recliner chair he had fallen asleep on.

How long had he been out? He wondered still rubbing his neck. He gazed outside and gasped at how dark it was.

He checked his wristwatch and saw he's been asleep for four hours. That's what happens when he works all through without rest.

He couldn't believe he had fallen asleep and allowed his sister to get settled in on her own.

He rushed to her bedroom and saw the door was still closed, he pulled it open and frowned.

It wasn't like anyone had entered here since the maids arranged it.

He headed downstairs to the dining room and saw the dishes were still covered.

"Lee."

His butler stumbled out of the kitchen.

"Yes, sir?"

"Why hasn't my sister arrived yet?" He asked.

The butler shrugged, his small shoulders quaking from fear.

"It's pretty late, Sir. She shouldn't be out there alone."

Daniel nodded. "Thank you for stating the obvious. Now, did she call home?"

Lee shook his head. "Not to the best of my knowledge."

Daniel sighed. This could only mean she didn't call home because Lee was always aware of all the phone calls answered in the mansion.

He headed back upstairs and grabbed his phone. He ignored the voicemails he had and dialed her number. It went straight to voicemail.

After trying without succession, his mind kept thumping with fear. He couldn't imagine what or where his sister was.

A voicemail with her number caught his eye. It was sent five hours ago. He quickly played it and all he heard was his sister's scared voice begging him for help and then an unfamiliar male voice then silence.

His heart thumped in his ribcage at the thought that someone had his sister. But why would anyone want to kidnap her?

She was a bigshot model so it could be because of a large ransom.

But if it was for ransom why hasn't anyone contacted him yet?

His mind kept whirling around with different thoughts as his door was pushed open, Julus came running in.

"I got the information, Dan," he gasped.

Daniel raised a brow at his best friend. "What information?"

Julus rolled his eyes. "You called me hours ago to find out what your sister has been up to in Colorado, and I've gotten it."

Daniel heaved a sigh of relief as he grabbed the file from him, his eyes scanning the document.

"Where's Ava? She should have been here by now bawling her eyes out," Julus commented.

Daniel clenched his fist in anger. "It was Noah. He made her cry again."

"Yup. They argued and she took a cab which had already been returned to the cab station. So where is she?" Julus asked looking around and popping a cherry in his mouth.

"I need information on the cab driver, Julus. The driver who drove the vehicle at exactly 4:35 pm," Daniel said.

"Sure. I'll head over to the cab station tomorrow and—"

"Now!" Daniel exclaimed interrupting him. "The bastard who drove that cab kidnapped my sister."

"Oh," Julus nodded understanding finally dawning on him.

"Where are you gonna go?" He asked when Daniel cocked his gun and tucked it in his back pocket.

"To Faustino's mansion. I have a feeling Noah knows what's going on," Daniel replied with a grim expression then strode off.

***

Two hours after the party and five hours after Ava left, Noah remained seated on the recliner chair in his study his eyes never leaving the envelope on his table.

He couldn't imagine what this meant this time as he already evacuated the house and checked for bombs. But still, nothing and yet the single word kept tormenting him.

It was written in bold red letters, almost the color of blood but that wasn't possible right?

He stared at the word again and a cold shiver crawled down his spine.

PAIN.

The envelope had been sealed with his name on it and, "Happy Birthday in advance" written on it. He had no idea of what to make of this except the fact that this person was clever.

"Still can't figure it out yet?" Pedro asked, coming into the study.

He shook his head. "Did you find out what I asked you to do?"

Pedro nodded. "Yeah. She went to her brother's home. She's safe."

Noah released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "That's a relief."

Pedro smiled. "You did the right thing by sending her back. She’ll be safer away from you."

"I hope you're right, Pedro, because if anything happens to Ava, I will never be able to forgive myself," he muttered.

Suddenly, they heard a commotion downstairs followed by Natalie's voice.

"Son, it hasn't gotten to this," she wailed.

"Put the gun down, Daniel," Faustino ordered.

"Since when did you get a gun?" Chloe asked, thrilled.

"Not now, Chloe. I just need to see your brother and the gun isn't for him but for whoever kidnapped my sister," Daniel said.

Noah's eyes widened as he exchanged glances with Pedro then pulled the door open and raced out.

"What did you say happened to Ava?" He asked worriedly.

"If you were so worried then you wouldn't have sent her away," Daniel glared at him.

Noah ushered him into the study, away from his family members, and then sank on his seat.

"What happened, Daniel?"

Daniel swung his fist back and gave Noah a grim smile.

"Asshole!"

Noah massaged his split lips. "I guess I deserved that."

"You guess?!" Daniel growled, "If you hadn't sent her away, she wouldn't have been kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped? What the fuck are you talking about?"

Daniel played the voicemail and watched as his shoulders tensed up when it was the man's voice speaking.

"Pedro, we need to run a voice biometrics search on this man," Noah ordered immediately.

Pedro nodded and took the phone away leaving him alone with Daniel.

Talk about awkward, his subconscious sighed.

Noah couldn't explain to Daniel that the very moment he had turned his sister out was the moment she had been kidnapped.

"Why was she kidnapped?" Daniel asked in a quiet voice.

Noah shrugged. He had his suspicions, but he wasn't sure.

Daniel's eyes caught sight of the envelope on his desk.

"What's that?"

Noah eyed the envelope he was looking at and sighed. "It's from a dangerous secret admirer. It's one I've been getting since I arrived here."

"May I?"

Noah nodded.

Daniel glanced at the envelope and sighed. "It's a unique admirer."

Noah chuckled. "One who intends on killing me."

"Ah," Daniel nodded, "That's why these words are written in blood."

Noah's eyebrow shot up in surprise. "Blood?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Of course, I'm a doctor and I've seen enough blood all my life to know the smell from a mile away."

Something squeezed painfully inside Noah's chest, and he shrugged the feeling away.

Daniel narrowed his eyes at him. "This doesn't have anything to do with my sister, right?"

Before he could reply, Pedro stepped into the room, a look of pure confusion on his face.

"What is the matter, Pedro?" Noah asked, changing the subject immediately.

"The voice recognition detected the voices of the U.S. and French presidents," Pedro replied.

"How is that even possible?" Noah asked, confused.

"Whoever kidnapped my sister has high tech gear. This is bad," Daniel said.

"What do you mean?" Pedro asked.

"Voice cloning was used," Daniel replied.

Before he could explain further, the shrill ringing tone of Noah's phone interrupted him.

"Hello?"

"Have you received my gift, Junior Faustino?" The eerily family voice asked.

"What gift?" Noah asked, confused.

"Oh well, I guess you'll find out soon enough," and the line went dead.

The three men exchanged confused looks.

"Alright. What is going on here, Noah?" Daniel asked.

"My life is In danger and I'm trying to find out who is responsible. That's why I came back here," Noah replied.

"And what does this have to do with my sister?" Daniel asked.

"I hope nothing because that would defy the purpose of me sending her away," Noah replied.

Daniel picked an incoming call from Julus. "Sup, bro?"

All he heard was Julus labored breathing on the other end of the line.

"Julus? Are you alright?"

"Shit has gone south, Dan," Julus finally replied.

"What do you mean?"

Julus remained quiet.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?"

"It's so bad. Way more than scale ten," Julus replied.

"Where are you?"

"I'll text you the address. Bring some backup," Julus replied and hanged up.

"Let's go check out the house of the cab driver who drove Ava when she was kidnapped," Daniel said.

The three men nodded and walked out unaware of what was in store for them.