CHAPTER 49

It was Angelo who first recovered from the shock. He stepped up to Matthew, grabbed him by the arm, and sat him on the nearest couch.

"What happened, Matthew? Tell me when you last saw Louie."

"Well, Mr. Cruz and I went to her shop yesterday. Mr. Cruz was the PI we hired to investigate Isabella," Matthew replied.

A sharp gasp from somewhere grabbed his attention. Matthew's sharp eye zoomed in on the source of the sound.

"What is she doing here?" Matthew cried.

"It's a long story. But, believe me when I say that she's here to help," Angelo replied. Matthew looked skeptical but said nothing.

"Please, Matthew, tell us what happened," Gabriel said.

"Okay. As I said, we went there to talk to Louie. Mr. Cruz gave her a file," Matthew paused, glancing at Isabella. The woman narrowed her eyes, causing him to turn back to Gabriel.

"Must be a copy of the one he gave me," Angelo said, as Isabella gasped a second time. "Oh, cut it out, Isabella. You already know about this," Angelo threw over his shoulder.

"Go on, Matthew," Gabriel prodded.

"Does anyone care for drinks?" Miguel piped in before Matthew could continue with his tale. All three men raised their hands. Miguel nodded and walked past Isabella, then, as if on an afterthought, he stopped and glanced back at her.

"What about you? Care for anything?"

"Just water, please," she mumbled, surprised by his consideration. Miguel nodded before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Please, Matthew," Gabriel said.

"As I said, Mr. Cruz and I went to Louie's shop yesterday. We were going to ask him to dig up dirt on Ms. Congeniality here, but we got lucky. Mr. Cruz already had a file on her. After we looked over the document, Louie said that she must tell her father about what we learned. But she couldn't reach Don Ramon, so she decided to go to the hacienda. Mr. Cruz and I left at around 7 PM. Louie said she would be leaving in a few minutes and would be driving to the hacienda. What time did you talk to her, Gabriel?"

"Around 8 PM, she said she was driving. She called me back after thirty minutes. She said she was at a convenience store. At a gas station somewhere along SLEX," Gabriel said, beads of sweat now forming on his forehead.

"Did she tell you where she was heading?"

"Yes, she said she would be going to the hacienda."

"Did she sound upset? Did you notice anything strange about the way she talked?"

"No, but we didn't talk long. I didn't want her to be too late in getting home," Gabriel replied, his brows furrowing deeper in thought.

"Did you call her again?" Matthew asked as he plucked up one of the canned sodas Miguel had placed on the low table before them.

"Yes, I did, but it was already around 11 PM. When she didn't answer I assumed she was already sleeping."

"She didn't make it to the hacienda, did she?" Angelo asked.

"No, she didn't. And no one in the hacienda saw her last night, either," Matthew replied. "Something must've happened to her between the gas station and the hacienda."

"Arthur," Isabella breathed. All eyes turned to her.

"What about him?" Gabriel asked, irritated by Isabella's interruption.

Isabella lowered her eyes but said nothing.

"Arthur must've taken Louie," Matthew said, giving voice to Isabella's thoughts.

"What? Wait, I'm confused. How can that be? They don't even know each other," Gabriel said.

"But they do know each other, Gabriel," said Matthew, putting the soda can on the table. He took a quick look at Isabella before pinning Angelo with a meaningful stare. Angelo nodded, comprehension dawning on him.

"I don't understand. Matt, I'm tired and I'm on the brink of losing my mind. So, please, enough with the cryptic answers!" Gabriel said, running a hand through his tousled hair.

"I'm afraid Matthew may be right, Gabriel. We need to find them ASAP!" Angelo said, getting to his feet in one swift motion.

"Will somebody please explain what is happening here?" Gabriel bellowed, his frustration getting the better of him.

Matthew, who was about to follow Angelo's lead, sat back down, sighing. There was no point in keeping it all from Gabriel, as Louisa had requested yesterday. Louisa had planned on dealing with Arthur without involving Gabriel. But the situation has changed, and Gabriel needed to know everything if he were to be of any help in finding her.

"It happened a long time ago, Gabriel. Almost ten years ago, to be exact. Arthur came to the hacienda to propose a business deal to Don Ramon. He wanted to partner with the horse-breeding. Don Ramon had started breeding racehorses and he welcomed any help he could get. Arthur appeared knowledgeable enough. Plus, he also had a degree in veterinary medicine. Don Ramon agreed to take up Arthur's offer. Little did he know that Arthur lacked the funds to cover his side of the bargain. But it wasn't what caused the rift between the two," Matthew paused, his nervous eyes turning to Angelo. The younger man nodded his encouragement.

"Louie had caught Arthur's eye," Matthew continued, noting the stiffening of Gabriel's jaws. "We don't know it was her he wanted or if he just wanted to seal the deal with Don Ramon. He started courting Louie. But she was only 15 or 16 at the time and didn't give Arthur's advances much thought. She was friendly to him, but nothing more."

"Why did Tio Ramon permit it? He knew that Louisa was already engaged to me," Gabriel said, jumping to his feet.

"Oh, Don Ramon didn't know about it. Louie didn't tell him. Not because she didn't want to. But only because she didn't take Arthur's flirtations seriously. Not until it was almost too late."

Gabriel stopped in his pacing and whirled back at Matthew.

"What do you mean 'almost too late'? Did he do anything to Louisa?" Gabriel asked.

"No, it's not what you're thinking, Gabriel. But he did do something stupid. One day, when he and Louie were riding out with the new colts, he took her to one of the caves near the bottom of the cliff. When a thunderstorm kept them from coming back up the trail, they hid inside the caves. We were lucky that one of the maids saw where they went and came to inform Don Ramon immediately. We found them before nightfall."

"Was that the stupid thing he did?" Gabriel's sarcasm was evident in his tone.

"Well, no. When they got back to the house, he asked to speak to Don Ramon in private. He said he and Louie were lovers and that something happened between them in the cave. He proposed to marry Louie."

"And what did Louisa say to that?" Gabriel's voice was harsh, laced with venom.

"She was furious. She denied everything and swore that Arthur was making it all up. Don Ramon believed her, of course, and wanted to call the police. He was going to have Arthur arrested for kidnapping and attempted rape. But then he realized the scandal it would bring. He kicked Arthur out of the hacienda instead. He made him sign a sworn oath, a promise that he would not come back or he would file the charges. Arthur took the deal and left. That was the last time we saw him. Until Mr. Cruz took a picture of him with her," Matthew said, glancing back at a stricken Isabella.

"Did you know about this, Isabella?" Gabriel said as he strode towards the cringing woman. Tears were now streaking down her cheeks, but he ignored them. He'd been witness to her acting abilities before and she wouldn't fool him again.

"Did you? Is it why you thought of your scum boyfriend when you learned that Louisa was missing?" Gabriel snarled, his hands clamping around Isabella's arms.

"No! Gabriel, please! Believe me I didn't know about what happened between Arthur and Louisa. He kept asking questions about the two of you. But I thought he was only trying to find an angle he could use against you. Gabriel, please," Isabella cried as she struggled against Gabriel's steel grip.

But Gabriel would not budge, he was too furious he didn't hear Miguel shouting at him, "Gabriel, stop it. You're hurting her!"

Then, gentle but firm hands began pulling him away from the terrified woman. It was Angelo, whispering to him, "Gabriel, enough! We need to find Louie. That's all you need to focus on right now."

And as if Angelo had said the magic word, Gabriel's anger dissipated. Slowly, he let go of Isabella's arms.

"Did you know about this, Angelo?" Miguel asked.

"Not the whole story. All I knew was that Don Ramon kicked Arthur out. It was only later that I learned of the reason," Angelo answered.

"But you did know Arthur? Why didn't you tell us?" Gabriel asked.

"No! I didn't know him personally as you did! I saw him once or twice at the hacienda when Papa visited Don Ramon. But you know how I never forget a face. When I saw his picture, I rummaged through the cobwebs in my brain until I was certain."

"Okay, enough of that! How do we find them?" Matthew asked.

"I'll call Mr. Cruz. I'm sure he'd be able to turn up something," replied Angelo, dialing on his cellphone.

"Shouldn't we call the police, too?" asked Matthew.

"No, we can't. First, because Louisa hasn't been gone for 24 hours. Second, if the media gets wind of this, they will turn this into a circus. And third, we're not 100 percent sure it was Arthur who took Louisa," Miguel answered.

"We should call hospitals, too," Gabriel said, slumping against the couch. He didn't want to think of something so morbid, but if they wanted to find her, they had to cover all their bases.

"What about you, Isabella? Don't you have any idea where Arthur could've taken Louisa? If he, indeed, took her?" Miguel said, turning to a sobbing Isabella.

"I don't know. We never met anywhere else other than his hotel room," she paused at Gabriel's loud snort of derision, "or my house."

"Mr. Cruz will be here shortly. He said he's within the vicinity, 15-20 minutes tops," Angelo announced.

Matthew and Miguel nodded. Isabella wept anew.

Gabriel jumped to his feet, adrenalin pumping in his veins. There was still that feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, but he ignored it. He mustn't give in to fear and doubt. He must focus on finding Louisa.

And the dead-man-walking who took her.

Because if he as much as hurt a hair on Louisa's head, no force on earth could ever stop Gabriel from killing him.