Chapter 22: Drake

Drake looked around on the balcony to ensure there wasn’t anyone out on their balcony nearby and that the reports hadn’t placed any hidden cameras before he answered the call.

“Drake here.” He responded to the person on the other line of the call, leaning up against the balcony, they were waiting for a few stragglers, mostly Madeline’s friends before they departed.

“Drake, its Martin, are you somewhere safe?” The voice on the other end of the line talked quickly and in a hushed voice. From his behavior Drake could tell that whatever he had to tell him wasn’t good, he felt a knot beginning to form in his stomach.

“Yes.”

“It’s about the case you wanted me to investigate, the one about the young lady.” Drake and Martin had already agreed that they wouldn’t bring up Amelia’s name over the phone in case one of their lines ended up being tapped.

Drake waited for Martin to continue, knowing his response wasn’t needed.

“From the information I’ve gathered, she never left. There isn’t a single person listed by that name having departed Hampshire. I also ran a security check with her photograph and nothing came up, the young woman wasn’t seen on any cameras anywhere.” Martin responded.

“Is there any way possible she’s still in Hampshire?” Drake asked, feeling the knot in his stomach tightening.

“If she is in Hampshire, she isn’t alive, or she is adequate at going ghost. I used age progression software and she hasn’t been spotted anywhere, She also doesn’t have an internet ID either.”

Drake took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He had already known that whatever Martin had found wasn't going to be good.

“There’s one more thing I need you to look into. See if there were any unmarried, unnamed woman matching her description that had a baby the year of or the year after her disappearance. She was pregnant when she disappeared.”

“Alright, can I bring a fellow investigator in or does this still need to be under the radar.”

Drake hesitated for a moment, he knew that if he allowed Martin to have someone else on his team, they’d be able to cover more ground and maybe uncover more on what happened to Amelia, but he also didn’t want word to get out that he was looking into her disappearance.

“Can he be discreet?” Drake asked after a minute of contemplation.

“Yes, I trust him whole heartedly, He served by my side in Afghanistan, without him I wouldn’t be here today,”

Drake knew if Martin respected the man that much that there was no reason for Drake to distrust him, Martin was a good judge in character and he’d never let Drake down before,

“Okay, bring him on board, fill him in on all the details and let him know he’ll be paid directly by me, not my
Company, also tell him his income will be the same as what I’m paying you, minus your add on bonus.”

“Is that all boss?” Martin asked, sounding eager to continue his investigation.

“Yes, that’s all for now Martin, I may have more for you depending on what you find.”

Martin disconnected the call without saying goodbye, it was his standard, while Drake trusted him
with his life their relationship was strictly business. Martin stated it had to be that way, if they became friends he wouldn’t be able to complete his investigations without bias if any of the findings involved Drake. Drake’s feelings would’ve been hurt if Martin wasn’t so damned good at his job.

Drake stayed on the balcony for a moment, starring out at the sea, inhaling the fresh salt air. He let his thoughts travel to Amelia and the night before she left. She’d been extra kind to him that night. He’d come home with a black eye and a bruise on his cheek. He’d gotten into a fight with Carl Lineman, the son of one of the biggest attorneys in Hampshire, over the details of a case Carl’s father was working on. Carl had called Drake’s dad a criminal stating he was laundering money from the business and Drake decked him slandering his father. They continued to brawl until the principal was able to break them up. Luckily, Drake and Carl were able to talk the Principal out of calling their fathers, and they were given in school detention for a week instead. When Drake had walked into the house, he’d tried to sneak up to his room but Amelia caught him, and when he turned around to greet her she’d let out a gasp on shock. She quickly recovered from her shocked state, and grabbed Drake by the hand pulling him up the stairs and into her bedroom, where sat him on her bed, while she rummaged through her drawers. He remembered watching her bend over as he admired her ass,, he’d been fourteen at the time, with his fifteenth birthday right around the corner, , and he thought himself in love with his Nanny, even if she was eighteen years older than him. Thinking about it now, Drake knew it was mostly his hormones talking, and the fact that she’d been the only person who was nice to him. Finally finding what she was searching for Amelia walked back over to Drake and sat by the bed beside him. Drakes heart raced as he began to think that maybe she’d kiss him, but he should’ve known better, Amelia was never like that towards him. The reason she’d pulled him closer was so she could put foundation on him to help cover some of the bruising,

Drake pulled himself out of the memory, after feeling a cold droplet on his neck, he let out a heavy sigh, of course it was going to rain on their first day abroad, he walked back into the main part of the cabin in search of Lydia, he didn’t have to walk far before he found her sitting on the couch scowling.

“What’s wrong beautiful?” Drake asked as he approached her.

Lydia didn’t say anything, instead she just pointed down the hall. The only thing down that way was the master bedroom so Drake was extremely confused. He looked from Lydia to the hall and back to Lydia again.

“Your mother left you a present.” Lydia growled out grumpily, still pointing down the hall.