Page 46 of The Voicemail

He sighs heavily. “It seems Ms. Bell was taken from the gallery an hour ago,” he tells me.

“What do you mean by taken?” I ask, horrified.

“Do you want the truth or the sanitized version?”

It’s a fair question, and I consider it for only a second.

“The truth,” I say firmly. “I want to know exactly what’s going on.”

He nods. “We have footage of Ms. Bell going to the back alley. A minute later, a masked man shows up and takes her. Right now, that’s all we know for sure.”

I shake my head. “I don’t understand,” I say numbly. “Why would they take Claire?”

“She’s a loose end to him now.”

My mind reels as I turn it all over. There’s something he’s not telling me, something Alex isn’t telling me. A big piece of the puzzle I keep missing. Why is this man so concerned with me? What does Claire have to do with any of it?

“Pull over!” I nearly scream.

Luca grimaces but gestures for Marco to do it. I fling open the door and retch into the empty street. The nausea hits out of nowhere, probably a reaction to the news.

Alex is waiting outside his building when we pull up. I don’t even question it. I just run into his arms. He leads me into the penthouse and holds me while I sob. He says nothing, which is a comfort in itself. I don’t need words right now. Nothing he could say would make it better anyway.

“Did you have to cancel your meetings?” I finally ask him as I start to settle down.

“Your safety comes first,” he says quietly, and I look up to see him staring down at me with a tenderness I can’t comprehend.

“Why are you doing all of this for me?” I ask in a rush of emotion. “I have nothing to offer you that would be of any value.”

He nods and his lips tighten, but he doesn’t answer. He just pulls me tighter against his chest. I guess that’s an answer of its own.

I spend the rest of the day in bed, curled on my side. I just want the spinning in my head to stop. It seems like every time I start thinking about Claire, the world starts getting fuzzy around the edges again. Eventually, I have to get out of bed to throw up again. I reach under the sink for some mouthwash when I see an unopened box of tampons sitting there, abandoned.

Suddenly, the world is spinning for a whole different reason. I’ve been here almost a month and I haven’t needed a tampon. I realize I should have started my period two weeks ago. With all the excitement and drama, I just hadn’t noticed.

I do some quick math. Alex and I slept together almost exactly four weeks ago. I stand and study myself in the mirror. My face is blotchy from crying, but otherwise I look good. Almost glowing.

Hell no. I can’t possibly be pregnant. That would just be too cruel right now.

I need to know, though. I can’t just live in this space of not knowing. I need answers, and I need them now. So I pull out my phone and order a delivery from a nearby pharmacy. I order some Pepto Bismol and a pregnancy test, putting in the notes, I’m trying to surprise my husband. Please make sure the package is fully sealed.

I have to pray that everything goes exactly right. It isn’t until half an hour later, when a guard is knocking on my door, that I know my plan worked.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Ms. Hart, but your delivery has arrived.”

I thank him and take the bag from him. The three minutes of waiting are the longest of my life, but time seems to stop completely the second I see the plus sign on the stick.

14

ALEX

Luca sends me the footage of Claire Bell’s disappearance. I watch it after Elena leaves to rest. She’s been through enough. She doesn’t need to see what happened.

I play the video on my office monitor. The angle is bad, but it’s something to go on. Claire exits through the service door into the back alley with her phone in her hand and her bag half-slipping off her shoulder. She looks back once before she reaches the alley. Then a man steps into frame and takes her.

It’s fast. He grabs her from behind, clamps one hand over her mouth, and shoves her toward the SUV idling at the curb. She fights, but she can’t stop him. The back door opens. He forces her inside. The vehicle pulls away before he’s even shut it.

I watch it several times until I’m no longer looking at Claire. I’m looking at the door she came through. At the back alley. At the delivery truck parked close enough to block half the view. The timing of the grab. Whoever took her knew exactly where she would be.