Part 61

Part 61
“Kiran, I… what do we do?” she asked, worriedly.

“You have done enough! Consorting with the enemy. Letting Adrian Peters drive off into the sunset with Juniper!” I spat the words out at her and Malachi placed his hands on my shoulders.

“You have to calm down. Now!” he said sternly, and I stood back.

“You phone Juniper,” Malachi said to Adara.

“She phoned from a private number. I don’t have a number for her.” Adara was close to tears as she realized she had no way of helping.

I turned around and walked outside. I didn’t know how to handle this. I kept thinking how afraid Christian must be and I dreaded to think what he must be doing to him.

Malachi was on the phone with Robert as I walked back inside. “Robert, could you please come to the house. It’s a matter of great urgency, alone.”

“We can’t involve the police in this.” I was more in control of my emotions now and I pushed the sound of Death’s voice from my head.

“I’m not, I’m just involving Robert. He warned us about Adrian in the first place. He might have information on Adrian that can help us.” Malachi ran a hand over his face and he looked dejected.

“Surely, he won’t hurt Christian. He’s a child!” Adara said, and I looked at her.

“Oh, like Kyle was a child! He was just five, the same as Christian!” I snapped at her, and she looked down.

Adara looked up at me, defiance in her eyes. “What have you done since you found out about Adrian?”

I had no answer for her and I paced up and down. I hated this feeling of uselessness. Christian was my responsibility and I failed him. She was right to throw the accusation in my face; I hadn’t taken any precautions to ensure his safety because Death had chosen to take me.

I heard Robert’s car in the driveway and I walked to the front door to open it for him. He had a serious look on his face and we shook hands as we greeted each other.

“What’s happened?” Robert’s grip was firm and I willed my hands to stop shaking.

“Christian’s been taken.”

Robert’s eyes grew wide as he followed me back to the kitchen. Adara stood at the counter and placed cups down in front of the kettle. How she could think of coffee now was beyond me and I briefly closed my eyes to hide my anger. I knew if I didn’t do this the right way, I’d end up resenting her.

“Thank you for coming so quickly, Robert.” I only noticed his plain clothes when Malachi spoke to him.

“If Christian’s missing you should call the police.”

Adara placed a cup in front of Robert and he thanked her softly. Adara looked at me and placed the coffee down in front of me. I didn’t want it but I also didn’t say anything.

“We can’t involve the police, because when I find him, I’m going to kill him!” My voice was loud and harsh, filled with anger, and Robert’s shocked expression did nothing to calm me.

“Adrian took Christian from daycare this morning. He has Juniper helping him.”

Adara looked down guiltily as Malachi spoke and I could see her emotions change but I couldn’t feel them. I was glad I had switched it off. The only thing I wanted to feel was the hate and rage inside myself.

“Adrian’s back?” Robert looked worried, and Malachi filled him in on Adara’ meeting with Juniper, up to where I found out Christian was gone and that Adrian had taken him.

Robert was quiet for a long time as we all looked at him. “He was obsessed with the property you owned. He had lists of office space, warehouses, houses, he knew about everything you own.”

“Where would he take him?” I had been quiet up to now but a little flicker of hope surged inside me.

“Maybe an abandoned building or one busy with renovations?” Robert suggested.

“There are a few in town that we are busy renovating,” Malachi said. We made a list of every place we could think of. Malachi divided the list into three and he gave each of us a few addresses. “We’ll split up and if you find anything suspicious, we’ll call each other. Don’t go in alone. We can’t be sure what his setup is.”

Adara was to stay at home in case Adrian called here with a demand. We agreed to meet back at the house in three hours’ time if we found nothing. I was halfway down the dirt road when I remembered my phone that I had put on charge in the kitchen and I had to go back.

I ignored Adara as I took my phone and headed out again but I could feel her eyes pleading with mine. I drove to the first address on my list. It was a one-story office space we were renovating. I stopped in front of it and I knew that Adrian wasn’t there. Men were filing in and out of the building, working.

I drove on to the second address. It was on the other side near the school and it looked deserted. I stopped in front of the warehouse; the smells were of stale sweat, old food and dust. It didn’t seem right that he would come here but I went inside anyway. I walked in through the side door and I knew instantly that he hadn’t been there.

I sat in my Jeep frustrated when my phone beeped and I opened my messages. I saw a grainy black and white photo of Christian sitting on a cot holding what looked like a rabbit. His face was full of fear and I could see the tear streaks on his cheeks. My hand gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles were white, then my phone rang.

“Yes,” I answered the phone.

“Hello, Kiran,” the voice said.

“Adrian,” I said and he laughed at me.

“Are you alone?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I said to him.

“Feel like trading for Christian?” he asked me.

“Give me an address and I’m there,” I said quickly.

He told me where to go and I remembered the abandoned warehouse my mother wanted to demolish. It was just outside of town. He told me that if I alerted anybody, he would kill Christian, and I believed him. He kept me talking until he saw my Jeep drive up to the warehouse.

I would do anything to get Christian back safely, even die for him. I remembered the words Death had uttered to me, ‘soon’. This was it, me for Christian. Even if I hadn’t been ready a few days ago, I was ready now.