Chapter 34
This moming, Rederic drew some blood from Heloise and ever since then, his head’s been buzzing with questions. By the afternoon, he couldn’t hold it in any longer and zoomed off in his car to Benedict’s private pad.
The second he walked in, he spotted Benedict chilling on the couch with a cigarette, looking like he was wrapped up in a frosty vibe.
“What’s up?”
“Got bit by a snake, Benedict said, flicking ash, not even bothering to look up.
“A snake? You have snakes here now?” Roderic was totally thrown for a loop.
Why is it that every now and then, it’s either an injury from a cat or a snakebite?
For like three whole seconds, Roderic had his lightbulb moment and took a wild guess, “You’re talking about Heloise?”
Benedict clammed up.
Roderic’s gossip engine was revving, going full throttle. Quad’s been ghosting him, not even picking up his calls, just sent a text saying he’s majorly let down, calling him a traitor.
If he doesn’t get some dirt today, he’s not gonna make it through the night, he’ll literally die of curiosity.
“When did you and Heloise start this thing? It wasn’t last night, was it? Does your grandpa know? She’s your cousin, for crying out loud. He cool with that? Hold up, you’re about to get hitched. You planning to stash Heloise away as your secret flame?
But from what I see, she seems to have a beef with you. There’s no way she’d play mistress with that attitude, right?”
Benedict frowned, imitation flashing across his face for a moment, ‘Pick one question.”
Roderic took a deep breath – this was too good to be true. In his head, he’s trying to figure out which question is the jackpot, “Do you like Heloise?”
“I refuse to answer”
Roderic gaped, “You going back on your word?”
Benedict stood up, fixing his rolled–up sleeves, “I let you ask. Never said I’d answer.”
Roderic was speechless.
Watching the guy head upstairs, Roderic was so mad he nearly choked on his own breath.
Benedict paused on the stairs.
Sunlight streamed through the frosted window, casting a bright halo, softening the sharp lines of his face. Benedict muttered something in a low voice.
“What?” Roderic didn’t catch it.
Benedict flicked the ash from his fingertips, his expression as indifferent as ever, “Nothing.”
Heloise hung up on Greer and immediately rang Lindsay, only to get a ‘not in service area‘ message.
It was only today at noon that Greer noticed Lindsay hadn’t come home. She waited until the afternoon, no sign of Lindsay, and the same ‘not in service area‘ message popped up when she called.
Lindsay was out last night at a ladies‘ gathering.
She’s always about making an entrance, never drives herself. The Harrington Mansion hooked her up with a driver, but he called in sick yesterday, so she drove herself. Otherwise, they would’ve realized she didn’t come home last night.
“Rand, could you give me a lift to where my mother went last night.”
That’s a super–exclusive private club. The ladies‘ gathering was there last night, quite a trek from Benedict’s place. It took them an hour and a half to get there.
The club was members–only, but the manager recognized Rand – or at least he thought it was Quad; hard to tell the twins apart.
He ushered Heloise in with the utmost respect, “The staff mentioned Ms. Beaumont is looking for someone?”
“When did the Harrington family’s fifth lady leave last night?” Heloise got straight to the point.
The manager gasped, “I’ve got no clue, the ladies partied on the east side. Mrs. Miller organized it and didn’t want to be disturbed, so she told us to stay clear.”
Mrs. Miller..
“Was it Josip Miller’s wife?”
He nodded, “Yeah, that’s her. Oh, and she mentioned coming back tonight, told us not to mess with the setup.”
1/2
14.50 A
A bad feeling hit Heloise. The Mrs. Miller the manager mentioned was Beverly’s mom.
“Can I take a look at the exit surveillance footage?”
The manager sneaked a look at the stem and cold Rand standing aside, and dared not refuse. He led them to the surveillance room and pulled up the footage of the main entrance.
The club was booked for the night, entertaining only the ladies attending the gathering, so no random foot traffic.
Heloise saw Lindsay arrive on her own, then she dragged the progress bar forward. The ladies left one by one, Beverly showed up at the door, Mrs. Miller followed, and then nobody else.
She watched the footage right up until before she arrived, and Lindsay never reappeared.
“My mom must still be in the club!” Heloise felt a wave of panic. Lindsay was missing, yet never left the club – something was wrong!
The manager pointed in a direction, “They were over in…”
Before he could finish, Heloise bolted in that direction, Rand catching up quickly.
“Mom!” Heloise called out. But no one responded.
She whipped out her phone, hands slick with cold sweat making it almost impossible to hold steady. How could someone just vanish out of the blue?
She tried dialing Lindsay’s number again, but there was no signal. She turned to borrow Rand’s phone, but his had no signal either.
The manager pulled out his phone, “Its so weird, I’ve got nothing either.”
“The signal’s being jammed,” Heloise scanned around, no wonder Lindsay’s phone was out of the service area.
Rand’s eyes narrowed as he strode towards a rockery, and sure enough, he found a signal jammer and switched it off.
The manager’s face turned pale, “How did this get here? Ms. Beaumont, I swear I didn’t know a thing.”
Heloise dialed Lindsay’s number immediately, and a piano tune she loved started ringing out.
Her heart tightened, pounding against her chest, her mind went blank with worry about what she might find.
The ring’s coming from inside,” Rand pinpointed the direction of the restroom.
Heloise raced over and twisted the doorknob, but it was locked. She tried harder until Rand kicked the door open with one swift move.
Lindsay was tied up tight and dumped on the floor, hair all over the place and eyes wide with shock and exhaustion. She had a lemon jammed in her mouth, so she couldn’t make a peep, just some hoarse, muffled whimpers.
“Mom!” Heloise bolted over, hands shaking as she scrambled to untie Lindsay, tears streaming down her face from how heartbroken she felt. Lindsay collapsed into her arms, sobbing her heart out until she passed out from sheer exhaustion.
At the hospital.
Heloise was camped out by the bedside, a nurse had just hooked Lindsay up with some glucose. The doc had checked her out and, aside from a swollen, tender mouth thanks to the lemon gag, there were no other injuries.
After a bit, Lindsay started to come around.
“It was Mrs. Miller… she had people tie me up…”
She was terrified, crying a river, emotions all over the place. Heloise quickly patted her chest, trying to comfort her.
“Mom, you just rest and get some rest for now, I swear I’ll make them pay!”
‘She said she was teaching me a lesson, I have no clue what went down, they’re just so mean…”
Heloise felt like she’d been hit by a truck, anger bubbling up inside her, teeth clenched so tight to stop herself from shaking with rage.
Mrs. Miller was Beverly’s mom, and it must’ve been something Beverly said. Mrs. Miller was just backing up her daughter, playing the heavy. It wasn’t about teaching Lindsay a lesson; it was a straight–up warning to her to back off from Benedict.
