Chapter 3 – Tyler
“What do you have for me, Billy?”
“Well, not a lot right now. No one seems to know what happened to her.”
“So no one has seen her?”
“Not that I’ve found. I’ve talked to all of the people at Camilla’s job. It’s like the doctor just disappeared.”
“What about her house?”
“I checked, and there was nothing that signaled a struggle. But there were also no clothes gone, and there were several suitcases unused in the closet.”
“So…”
“So it doesn’t look like she’s gone anywhere, Tyler. Her credit cards are unused, and there are no transportation tickets in her name. Your doctor is gone, and there’s been no digital trace of her since the night that you saw her in the hospital. You’re actually the last person who talked to her as far as I can gather.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Billy was always good about coming through for me. He’d never found nothing before, and I didn’t like the idea of this being the first time. This was the assignment that mattered the most, and I really needed him to find her.
“So nothing?”
“Not on Dr. Camilla.”
“What about this Zane character?”
The older man sighed and leaned back in the chair. The office door was closed and I still worried that someone was going to overhear our conversation.
“Well, that’s a whole other matter, Tyler. This guy is a real piece of work and he has the criminal record to back it up. Are you sure she was involved with him?”
I nodded my head once. I still could see the fear in Camilla’s eyes when she’d told me about him. “He was stalking her after she tried to break up an affair they were having.”
“And she was his doctor?”
“Yes.” I felt defensive and I didn’t like the implications he was making, like it was somehow her fault. While I’d thought about it over and over again, if Zane had done something to her, it could already be too late, and I didn’t want anyone talking bad about her.
“Just asking. It just seems like a doctor would know better, or see him for what he really was. He was on trial years ago for the murder of his girlfriend. The charges were dropped for one reason or another, but after getting to know this guy’s background, I would say that he did it. I wouldn’t like to think about her with him. It might not end well.”
He was not helping my nerves. I knew that it wasn’t any good, and I didn’t need to see an arrest record to know that. From the picture that I’d pulled up on the internet I knew that there was something off about him. I was biased, of course; knowing that he was with Camilla was enough of a reason for me to not like him. I didn’t need facts to make me feel that way.
“So where is he?”
“Well, he’s a little harder to track down. He doesn’t work in an office, but works remotely for his company. I’ve been in touch with them, but they are insisting on a warrant, which I can’t get unless you want me to get the cops involved.”
“I don’t. They will just hold things up. Do you have any ideas about where he might be?”
“He has a couple of properties registered to him, so he could be at one of them. I haven’t checked them out yet. I wanted to see what you wanted to do.”
“Zane has Camilla, and I know that for sure. Do what you have to do, but check out the places that are away from people. I have a feeling that he has her somewhere where he thinks no one can find her.”
“Boss, you need to be realistic. She’s been gone for weeks. The chances of her coming back are…”
I stopped him before he could finish. I knew what he was going to say, but I didn’t want to hear it. I knew what the stats were and I didn’t want to think about what had probably happened to her. I had to think of her being okay and I had to think of her alive. I wasn’t ready to admit that she was gone. I just couldn’t do it.
“That’s why we have to find her. He was obsessed with her, that much I know for sure, and when a man feels that something that he needs to survive is going to leave or be taken away, he’s going to hold onto it for dear life. He hasn’t killed her, but I would bet all the money that I have that she’s somewhere locked up.”
“Why not get the cops involved, then?”
“They will just bungle it all up, and I won’t be able to live with myself if something happens to her. Right now he doesn’t know that I’m looking for him. We’re going to need that advantage.”
***
It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. I remember thinking that it better be good. It was. It was the call I’d been waiting for.
“We found him.”
“And?”
“She could be there, but I didn’t watch that long. I can’t get in there by myself without him seeing me. I thought I would check with you and see how you want to proceed.”
“Are you sure he’s there?”
“Yeah, he’s in there.”
“No idea about her?”
“The doctor could be in there. It’s an old warehouse and there are a lot of places to hide someone. I haven’t heard anything, but like I said, it’s a big place. There’s something that’s keeping him there, though. He hasn’t left in a while by the look of the tracks coming out.”
“Are you there now?”
“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to send you the coordinates. Is there anyone else that I need to call?”
He was asking about the police again. I didn’t want to go down that route. I was afraid that they would mess it up, but I knew that it had more to do with the fact that I wanted control of the situation. I had to be the one making the calls, because I was the only person I trusted.
“No, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Send through the coordinates and I’m already on my way.”
“This isn’t going to be a nice meet-and-greet, boss. I think you need to take precautions.”
“Already ahead of you on that. You too.”
“Of course. I never leave home without it.”
I thanked him and made my way to the car. I told the driver that I didn’t need him tonight. He wasn’t someone that I trusted, and I needed to feel the speed. I had to get there right now. My mind was already going to what might be happening to her. I couldn’t stand the idea of her being captive for that long, but the alternative was still not something that I was ready to think about. She felt so close after being out of reach for so long.
Plugging the coordinates in, I saw that the destination was right outside of the city. It was going to take longer than a few minutes, but as I pressed the gas pedal down, I knew that it wasn’t going to be that long. Nothing was going to stand in my way now.