AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There was one more demonstration today, and I was doing it alone. It was just at a small venue and a select audience of ten that had booked in and paid lots. Patrick and Paul were going hot air ballooning. It was something I would have to try someday. I was pretty sure they did it outside of Melbourne or over Port Phillip Bay. If Flynn visited, we could do it.
Flynn and Declan had left early to go to work. He said he would be back as soon as he could. He said he wanted to talk to me about something. I guessed it would be to try and make me stay. I really didn’t know what I would do. I would cope with that problem later when he asked.
My driver arrived, and I grabbed my equipment and products. The shopping mall was small and the boutique very high-end. The people were keen and loved it, and I was sad it was the last one. I was getting in the swing of it as long as I didn’t get any strange pregnant ladies coming up to me. Flynn said he had sent her a message but had not heard back from the woman he had known in the past.
As I packed up a young woman came in and approached me.
“The owner of the complex wanted to speak to you. He said this has been so successful today he would like to give you a check for a charity of your choice.”
“That is so kind. My driver won’t be here for thirty minutes so I’ll come now.” The girl led me to a door to the corporate section of the building. I would give the money to the refuge that Callie was involved with.
“It’s the second door on the right.” She pointed and walked off.
I headed down thinking it would have been polite to actually take me to the office.
I knocked and no one answered, so I pushed the door open. As I walked in someone pushed the door shut behind me with a bang. This wasn’t a room but a corridor. My heart raced as I turned to see who was there, but instead, a fist connected with my jaw as I was thrown back and hit the wall. I collapsed to the floor as a man I didn’t know bent over me. Then the world went black.
TWENTY-NINE
FLYNN
Work dragged on, and all I wanted was to get back to Declan’s and hear what Drake had to say. I wanted this mess to be finished with once and for all. This Brad guy had been messing with my life for far too long. Avery said she had one last presentation to be done and then she could relax. I sent her a text saying I hoped it had gone okay in my break. I checked my cellphone again when we stopped filming but there was no reply. I would check again later.
As the day drew to a close, I saw Declan motion for me to come across. Drake was here. Did that mean there was good news? From the look of concern on Declan’s face, I didn’t think so.
“Hi, Drake. I wasn’t expecting to see you here. What’s happening?” I asked.
“Callie called me. She said Avery’s driver contacted her to say she wasn’t at the shopping mall when he went to pick her up. She tried contacting her, but there has been no reply.”
My world suddenly went cold. If someone was after me, I could cope with it, but not if they hurt Avery. She had done nothing wrong except being with me. I tried for a second to convince myself there was a rational explanation, but deep inside I knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong. I grabbed my cellphone, but there was still no message from her. I tried calling but nothing happened. It just went to her message bank.
I took a deep breath as I tried to get my temper under control. Losing it now would not help Avery.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked Drake.
“I find it hard to believe that this Sendler guy would resort to kidnapping, but then again, I think the man is in a corner, and that’s when they get more irrational. I’ve been trying to get hold of the gardener all day, but he seems to have gone off the radar. I have one of my men watching his house.”
“Have you told the police?”
“We did, but it’s early hours, and they think she will just show up. All the people at the mall said was that a young woman came into the boutique and spoke to Avery and she went with her willingly. They never saw her after that.” Drake’s cellphone pinged. “The gardener has turned up at home. I suggest I pay him a visit.”
“I’m going with you,” I said.
“Okay, but you do as I say.” Drake gave me a look that said I will make your life miserable if you get in my way.
Declan had wanted to go too, but Drake said two movie stars turning up at a stranger’s house would cause too much attention. He was right.
We drove across town, and the house just looked like any other one in suburbia. The fact I wanted to go in there and beat the guy senseless because he might have done something to Avery would have to be ignored right now. I stood behind Drake as he knocked on the door. A man answered who looked in his late fifties. I tried to think if he was the guy from the car outside my house, but I had never gotten a really good look at him. Life had not treated him well with the haggard lines on his face from working in the sun. He was big though and looked tough from the gardening. For a second, I could see his eyes flit to the back of the house.
“I have one of my guys at the rear so don’t think about running,” Drake said.
The man’s shoulders slumped as if it was all too much to fight anymore. He turned, and we followed him inside. The house was like a time capsule from the eighties. The furniture and pictures on the walls. Retro might be in, but the dust in the place looked as old as well.
Drake moved forward and stood before this guy.
“Okay, Mark, isn’t it? Why don’t you tell us what’s been going on with Mr. Sendler? And what do you know about Avery Sparkman?”
At the mention of Avery’s name, he twitched. If he denied knowing something I would get it out of him one way or another. He sat in an old threadbare armchair.
