Chapter 40

Aleck

I was pissed and worried both at the same time. When I got back home, I didn’t see anyone. They were all probably asleep. Kevin and Mac managed to find out why they fired her. I headed straight to the office and sat there mulling over the issue when Dean walked in. I told him what they found out, and he was quiet.

“This person is extremely smart, and they are ten steps ahead of us,” I said, looking at him.

“So, what do we do? Rawlins can’t do shit without proof. Macy and Rea are no longer threats to her, just this person. It’s not like we can go back and recheck every single person that was around us during that time. Whatever letters and proof she had went up in flames along with her apartment,” he said, looking at me.

“It’s not like we can hide her away. Look, as fucked up as this is, I don’t want to take any chances. I’m going to have Mac and Diego monitor everyone’s phone, including Hilda and Marcella,” I said, hoping he would agree.
“Okay then, if you must,” he said.

Layla

The next morning when I woke up, Dean was gone, and Aleck was asleep next to me. When I turned, he opened his eyes and looked at me.
“Good morning, aren’t you late for work?” I asked. His answer was to pull the sheets away and pull me on top of him.
“Work can wait, but this can’t,” he said, taking my mouth.

When we eventually left the room, it was almost eight-thirty. Everyone had gone to work. After my exercise with Marcella, I was sitting in their office going over my emails, trashing all the hate mail. I was syncing my laptop to the new phone they got for me. I was startled by the ringing. It was a private number. I was hesitant to answer, and deep down I knew who it would be.

I answered and put it to my ears.

***LAYLA: Hello?***

***STALKER: Did you miss me? I told you to leave, didn’t I? Now this ends. Check your email; I sent you a little surprise.***

I saw the email come in and clicked it with shaky hands. I pressed play, and I could feel all the blood draining from my face.

***STALKER: So, do you like my surprise? Now, here’s what you’re going to do: You will leave. You will tell them you changed your mind and don’t want to be with them. As a matter of fact, don’t say anything. I want you to disappear by tomorrow midnight. Don’t, and I’ll post that along with all the remaining videos I have online, and then I’ll go after your precious Mallory and Nella.***

***LAYLA: Please, why are you doing this to me?***
***Stalker: Disappear. And if you so much as tell them, it goes online instantly, and not just you, but both of them will be affected too.***

He ended the call, and I sat there, lost and in despair. He had a video of me and Dean and Aleck from our room. It was the night they both took me. You could clearly see us. How did this person get that? I needed to leave. I had money. I love Dean and Aleck, but I knew he wasn’t playing around this time, and this time I’m not the only one that would be affected. Dean and Aleck and their business would suffer too.

I checked my bank account and saw I had almost five million dollars in my account. I headed upstairs and pulled some clothes on. I grabbed my handbag with all my identification.

“Marcella" I called out. I saw her coming from the kitchen.
“Ms., is something wrong?”
“No. Can you go with me to the bank and run some errands?” I asked hopefully.
“Of course. Wait, I’ll let Deigo know,” she said, walking towards me.

Within ten minutes we were on our way to the bank. She was talking to her brother about something. When we pulled up to the bank, Deigo parked, and we headed in. I assured him that I was okay with Marcella. I headed to the teller and looked at her.

“I would like to make a withdrawal,” I said, smiling. I handed her the slip, and she looked at me, then looked back at the paper.
“Oh, umm, okay. Why don’t you follow me to the manager’s office?”

Dean

I was in a meeting when Deigo texted, saying she was heading out with Marcella. I just told him that was fine. I knew she would be fine with him. I don’t think the stalker would be bold enough to do something in public.

When we got home that evening, she was quiet. She didn’t speak much, not even to Mallory and Nella. After dinner, she opted to go to bed, stating she was tired, and we let her. Aleck and I were in the office. Diego and Marcella were standing in front of us.

“Was she like that the entire day? Where did she go, and did she do anything that you would consider out of the norm?” I asked them.

“No, we went to the bank, and she went into the office to speak to the manager. She came back out twenty, maybe thirty minutes later, and laughed, saying they looked at her weird because she had a lot of money,” Marcella said.

Then I remembered we had deposited a couple million into her account; she probably needed to verify her account or something.

“Then we went to Central Station. She said she had a locker there and needed to get something. I went in with her. I’m not sure what she took, but we stayed there for maybe ten minutes, then we went to a store where she did some shopping, then came home,” Marcella said.
“Thank you,” I said.

After they left, I looked at Aleck. “She probably is just tired from today. That doesn’t sound like she was up to anything,” he said.
“We’re probably overthinking it,” I said, standing up. If only we had known how wrong we were, we wouldn’t have let her out of our sight.

We headed up to bed, and she was already asleep. Guess she was tired from walking around all day, but she needed to get back to some normalcy. When we were ready for work the next morning and about to leave, she woke up.

“Sorry, I was tired,” she said, getting off the bed and walking towards us. She came to me and kissed me.
“I love you, Dean.”
“I love you too, princess.”

She did the same thing with Aleck. I guess she saw us looking at her weird, and she just laughed.

“Stop looking at me like that. I’ll grab a shower, then have breakfast with you before you leave,” she said, walking into the bathroom.

During breakfast, she was her normal self, chatting with everyone, which put us at ease. We said goodbye to her and left for work, and so did the others. We had just left a meeting when my phone started ringing; I saw it was Deigo.

“Yes, Diego?”
“Boss. She’s gone. She isn’t in the house or in the compound; we didn’t see her leave,” he said.

“We’re coming,” I said, ending the call and running over to Aleck’s office. I rushed in and looked at him. “She’s gone.” That was all I said that had him out of his chair and running. Mac got us home in less than fifteen minutes. When we drove into the compound, the security detail was all over. I jumped out of the car and rushed in. Marcella was standing in the middle of the foyer with an envelope in her hands.

“I found this in the room downstairs on the bed. Addressed to you. After her exercise, she said she was going to lie down. I went to get her for lunch when I saw she wasn’t anywhere around. I told Diego and Hilda, and we began searching for her,” Marcella said, handing me the envelope.

Diego rushed in at the same time. “Boss, the surveillance cameras and the hidden cameras were disconnected during the time she went missing,” he said. I looked at the envelope in my hand, and it sank in. She wasn’t missing; she left.

“Stop searching; she left on her own,” Aleck said, walking into the office.

I followed him into the office and locked the door. I opened the envelope, and two other envelopes were in there. I dumped the contents of it out onto the desk: all the jewelry and credit cards we gave her.

I handed him the envelope that had his name. He opened it and read it, then picked up the glass sphere and threw it against the wall, shattering it.