~Twelve~
Waiting until it was dark, I swept my apartment, finding a total of seven bugs and eight cameras in the span of two hours. The person who bugged my place knew exactly where to hide them. I would have never thought to look for a camera hidden inside a throw pillow disguised as a button. Most of the other bugs, some of which were equally hidden, were found in the smoke alarms, doorbell, and of all places, on top of the shower door. A place I would have never thought to look. It was a comfort knowing where all the bugs were in case I wanted to remain unseen and unheard.
Feeling my exhaustion set in, I decided to call it a day and head to the comforts of my bed. Even though, I knew there was a camera along with a microphone hidden in a floor lamp, I knew exactly how to eliminate both of them without letting them know that I was on to them. Taking my shirt off, I threw it in the vicinity of the lamp, just enough to cause it to topple over. The light bulb shattered and the shade to the lamp ended up breaking in half. This was the effect I wanted.
After cleaning up the mess that I had created, I could finally go to sleep knowing that there weren’t any unwanted eyes on me. The minute my head hit the pillow, I thought for sure I would be out, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Thinking about what I had found, I couldn’t help but wonder how Colin was able to get inside my apartment to place the bugs. I knew he didn’t have a key and that the front security guard wouldn’t have let him in. There was also the fact that I had my security system as well. It would be impossible for him to deactivate it unless he knew the code for the two-step process to disable it.
Remembering what the gentleman at the electronics store stated, the person watching me would need to be close by, and the closer they were, the better the signal. There were only a handful of people that had ever been in my place and even then, I was always around. My best bet would be to start searching the building. If the person behind the surveillance was inside the building, I would find them.
~*~*~*~
It was crazy how quickly morning came as the sun began making its appearance through the blinds in my bedroom. It felt like I had only been asleep for a few minutes. Looking towards the clock on my nightstand, I got out of my bed and grabbed my cell before making my way to the closet. Closing the door behind me, I brought it to life and dialed Jonathan, hoping that he would be awake at this hour.
As I sat on the floor in the dark waiting for him to answer, it struck me that this was even sillier than reading the instructions to the detector. I felt stupid, especially since I eliminated the bug and microphone that was planted in my bedroom last night. Pushing to my feet, I left the closet and took a seat next to the mangled floor lamp as I waited for him to answer. I knew I wouldn’t be talking to Jonathan, since the call went straight to voice mail. Thinking that it might have been too early, I rose from the chair and headed to the kitchen for some much-needed coffee.
I really needed to get in touch with him, and I didn’t want to chance being followed. Staring at the black screen on my phone, there was really only one other option in getting in touch with Jonathan. Hesitating, I hit the green phone icon, hoping that I wasn’t making a mistake. Just hearing her voice say, “Xavier,” made me wish I was there instead of here.
“Hey, baby. How are you doing?” I asked, selfishly hoping she was lonely and missed me.
“I’m really good,” she began. “If I haven’t told you, thank you so much for introducing me to my dad.”
“It was just something that needed to be done, Tessa,” I answered. “Speaking of your father, is Jonathan there?”
“I believe so. Hold on, let me get him.”
Sitting on the bed, I took a sip of my coffee as I waited for her to find him. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it was taking a lot longer than it should have. It was beginning to worry me when her voice came back on the line.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but I can’t find him, and Agnes hasn’t seen him since last night,” Tessa confessed. “Do I need to be worried, Xavier?”
“No, no, not at all. I’m sure he is around there somewhere. I will just try later. In the meantime, don’t worry.”
I knew something had to be up. Jonathan wouldn’t have disappeared like that without a word. Not letting me know where he was going was one thing, but it wasn’t like him to disappear without letting Tessa know. Tessa had every reason to be worried. Only one thought ran through my head when she couldn’t find him, and that was Colin got to him. It might have been a little premature, but if Jonathan didn’t show up within the next couple of hours, I would be on my way to the cabin to make sure that Tessa remained safe.
Two hours had passed without a word from Jonathan. Something was definitely wrong. If he wasn’t at Criss Cross, I had no other option than to go to his home in the hills and get Tessa away from there and take her somewhere safe.
As I pulled up to the building, I was glad to see that Jonathan’s silver Audi was parked near the entrance. There was only one other car, which was parked next to his. I assumed it was Darcy’s car. I found it odd that these were the only two cars in the parking lot aside from mine. The two times that I had been here before, the lot was at least three-quarters full.
One other thing that I found strange was that Darcy wasn’t behind the reception desk. Actually, as I began looking around, it didn’t appear that anyone was in the building. Heading up the stairs to where Jonathan’s office was, I could hear two voices. One I immediately recognized as Jonathan’s and the other was no doubt Darcy’s. A load had been taken off me knowing nothing bad had happened to him.
When I reached his office, the two of them were leaning over Jonathan’s desk looking over what seemed to have been some sort of invoice.
Clearing my voice, I asked bluntly, “Why didn’t you let Tessa know where you were?”
Two sets of eyes were on me in an instant, giving me a displeased look. “You know, you could have knocked,” Jonathan said sharply.
“Yeah, I could have, and you couldn’t have let Tessa know where you were going,” I countered.
“Darcy, do you mind leaving us for a minute?” Jonathan inquired.
“Sure, I will research these charges and let you know what I come up with,” she replied.
Darcy gathered up the invoices and headed to the door. Pulling it closed behind her, Jonathan and I were finally alone. I could have laid into him, but decided that the last thing I needed was to have him angry with me, especially since I was going to need his help in pulling off the new plan I had in mind. Moving over to where he was standing, I took a seat in front of his desk and crossed my leg at the knee while keeping my eyes on him. His brow lifted slightly, giving me a look of confusion.
Appeasing his curiosity, which was written all over his face, I began telling him of my new plan. “The more I thought about our initial plan, the more it became clear that it was going to be impossible to pull off. So instead, I have come up with another plan. One that will work out perfectly.”
After explaining to him every aspect of the plan, he was more than on board with it. The only thing that bothered him was parting with his car. After a lot of convincing, he realized it could be replaced and that his life was more valuable to him now that Tessa was back in his life.
We only had a few hours to make this plan work, and that included making sure that Colin was around to see it. While I dialed Colin to arrange a meeting place, Jonathan was on the phone with his friend to arrange for the cadaver to be delivered.
~*~*~*~
When I left Criss Cross, at least part of the plan was being initiated. I wasn’t able to get in touch with Colin on my cell, so the only other option was to drive to his place and talk to him there, in person. Hopefully he would be around and it wouldn’t be a waste of time. In the meantime, I needed to get in touch with Tessa to let her know that her father was safe.
Searching for her number in my contacts, I pressed the phone icon and waited for her to answer. She answered after the first ring. “Xavier, did you find him?”
“It’s okay, baby. You don’t need to worry. Your dad was at the warehouse working. He has to finish up a few things, but should be back at the cabin later tonight,” I informed her. “How are you doing?” I needed to have reassurance that she was okay.
“I am better now that I know my father is okay,” she confessed.
“Good,” I replied. “Please don’t worry. I will try and see you later tonight as well.”
I knew that driving out to the cabin was taking a chance, but after only a day away from her, I already missed her dearly. The first thing that I was going to do when I saw her was to show her exactly how much. There wasn’t going to be an inch of her gorgeous body that I wasn’t going to be worshipping.
Backing out of the parking spot, I glanced down at my phone to see an unfamiliar number come across the screen. Thinking that it had to have been a wrong number, I declined the call and threw my phone on the passenger seat. It hadn’t been but a few seconds and my phone rang again. The same number appeared, and I knew that whoever was calling, solicitor or not, they weren’t going to give up until I answered. Swiping the screen, I slowly drove out of the parking lot as I said, “Hello.”
It took a few minutes for the person to answer, but when he finally did, I knew I shouldn’t have answered the call. “Josh, it’s Ryan.”