The Set-Up

POV: Adrian

We landed in Thompson within two hours and hit the ground running. I had a car set up to meet us at the small airstrip and ordered the pilot to stay put. I didn’t plan on being here longer than I needed to be.

“Get me a location Hendrix.”, I ordered.

He brought a laptop and the hotspot to access the data to ping Leah’s phone. It was highly encrypted and contained multiple firewalls. I made sure what we were doing was untraceable to the point we used aliases to get here.

Once we had a location, we set off to find her. Her last known location was at an estate 30 miles from the strip and it hadn’t pinged again in the last 4 hours. I had tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail.

“Let me know the second her phone comes back online.”, I barked at Hendrix.

“Yes boss.”, Hendrix said.

Going well over the speed limit, patrols were the least of my concern. This town was desolate and only inhabited by criminals. There was no information on who owned the estate we were headed to.

A lot of criminals took mansions from the townsfolk by force, not legally buying them. They paid the family to leave and never return for fear that their family would become a target in a killing spree. This kept the criminals safe from being found by competitors and the justice system.

This mansion was one of the largest, the driveway was over a mile long and the guard shack was empty. We didn’t stop until we pulled up to the house. The door had been busted in and all the lights were on.

We got out of the car and noticed tire tracks in the yard. It appeared that a large vehicle was whipped around and then fishtailed heading out.

Since this was her last know location, I had to check it out.

Time was not on our side, so this was going to be a hasty search. I held my pistol in a high and ready position to keep a low profile while staying prepared to use it. Hendrix had my back as I peeked in the door checking from side to side.

I nodded my head for him to go left, while I start on the right side. Staying close to the walls and tactically approaching each corner we cleared downstairs. The house was empty so far.

We went up the stairs in a staggered pattern. I was looking forward and Hendrix was looking behind us. We funneled in each door frame, clearing each room and finding no one.

Just as we dropped our weapons, we heard a car pull up. We decided to stay put in a room we had just cleared.

We heard one door shut, then someone run into the mansion.

“Leah! Are you here?”, it was Cameron.

That asshole had the nerve to drop her off at a criminal's mansion and then leave her here alone. My rage hit an all-time high as I barged out of the room and down the stairs. Hendrix didn’t move from his post as I made my way down the grand staircase.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”, he asked me.

“Where is Leah?”, I holstered my weapon as I walked toward him.

“I don’t know. She was here when I left.”, he looked around dumbfounded.

“This is your fault!”, I yelled at him as I drew my fist up and hit him square in the face.

He fell back and gained balance against the wall.

I kept my fists tight and in line with my elbows, an offensive stance. He charged back at me and with one swift motion, I jabbed his ribbed as he hooked his arms around my waist. He was much smaller than me, so I didn’t move from my spot.

With his hands gripped tight around my body and his feet trying to forcefully move me, I grabbed his shoulders pulling him up and giving him a swift headbutt.

He fell back grabbing his face as blood ran free from his nose.

“Get out of my way before they carry you out of this house in a body bag.”, it wasn’t a fair fight.

“You don’t deserve her, and she will never love you.”, he yelled as I walked toward the stairs.

“Let’s go!”, I yelled up the stairs.

Hendrix ran down, pistol still in hand, and that sight alone made Cameron uneasy.

“You take the car.”, I motioned Hendrix toward our ride.

I walked out of the house and decided to follow the vehicle tracks on foot. I noticed three sets of boot prints in the dirt that traveled the length of the driveway before disappearing. I did notice a struggle near the house, so it appeared as if Leah was able to escape in their vehicle.

Walking for miles, I followed the first set of tracks that lead me to a lake. The tracks went right into the water, and you could see the top of the SUV, so I didn’t think before running into the water. I dove under with a flashlight to check and make sure Leah wasn’t in there.

She was nowhere to be found, but there was a rock on the floorboard. This SUV was sunk on purpose. After getting out of the water, I walked along the edge of the lake until I found a set of shoe prints that matched her size.

I hurried as I followed them to the first house I could find, if I could follow her then they could too. The house wasn’t as large as the last and it was pitch black throughout other than a burning candle. I drew my weapon and searched the perimeter of the building.

It appeared to be empty, but all the doors and windows were locked. I peeked in the window from where the burning candle was and noticed an unarmed older woman. She appeared to be the mansion’s housekeeper.

I decided to holster my weapon and knock on the door. She opened it and her eyes roamed my body.

“I am looking for Leah.”, I spoke.

She looked around me outside, then pulled me in.

“Yes, the young miss said we should expect you.”, she pulled me down the hall.

Opening a closet door, but no one was inside until she slid the coats to the side and removed a piece of the back wall.

Leah gasped, “Adrian!”.

She jumped out and hugged me. She looked as if she had been through hell. Dirty, bruised, and visibly shaken.

“Let’s get out of here.”, I told her as I picked her up and carried her to the car.

Hendrix had pulled around to the front of the house.

I sat in the back holding her until we made it back to the plane. I opened my door, got out, and then picked her up and carried her to the plane.

“Thank you.”, she looked up at me from her seat.

“You don’t have to thank me.”, I took the seat next to her.

She grabbed my hand, “Yes I do.”.

Hendrix sat with the pilot because they were old buddies from the military. It was the main reason we got here so fast and avoided the busy airports.

“I swore to myself that I would never get close to another woman…”, I paused as she laid her head on my arm looking up at me.

“The only woman I have ever loved in my life was my mother until she was abducted by a human trafficker when I was young. I haven’t seen her since.”, I let my vulnerability slip.

“Oh Adrian, I am so sorry to hear that.”, she perked up and grabbed my face between her soft palms.

“My dad searched for her until the day he died, with no luck.”, I continued to spill my past.

She leaned in a planted a soft sweet kiss on my lips.

“You don’t have to tell me if it’s too hard.”, she ran her hands up and through my hair.

“I couldn’t stand the idea of losing you.”, I spoke words I never thought I would.

We sat side by side, quietly, for the rest of the flight home.

Getting back to the city was a sign of relief. I still didn’t know who those men were or how Cameron was involved, but it moved up on my list of priorities. Hendrix took the undercover car and I set up a driver for Leah and me.

“Hey, stay with me until I can find those men.”, this time I wasn’t ordering her.

“Okay, can we stop by my place to grab some things?”, she didn’t fight me on it.

“Sure.”, I told the driver to wait for us.

I walked Leah to the apartment and noticed that all of the tech had been installed. I knew what I was looking for because he had done a lot of work for me. I also called the hotel and reserved my usual room, while I waited for Leah to pack.

Leah didn’t take long to gather her things.

“I want to leave a note for Jenny and then we can leave.”, she walked over to a chalkboard in the kitchen.

I grabbed her bag and held her hand as we walked back to the car. Tipping him well for staying put for us, as he dropped us off at the hotel. I didn’t need to check in because I had a key for that room already.

We took the elevator up to the penthouse suite. There were 8 bedrooms complete with a private bathroom, connected by a large common area. All the executive staff had access to this floor, but we each had a key to our designated room.

I didn’t expect anyone to be there because this was the least exciting of all our locations. Most of the executives spent their time in the tropical regions. This was usually the one place I could come and decompress from the stress.

As soon as we rounded the corner of the elevator room, I saw Monica. I pulled Leah behind me. She was standing at the window looking down at the city.

Leah stood behind me as she turned around.

“Hello, Adrian. I have been waiting for you.”, she smiled.

“Monica, what can do for you?”, something about her was different.

“Adrian, I am pregnant.”, my mouth gaped open.

Leah leaned around me to see that Monica was barely showing, so she was roughly 8-14 weeks. I swear I always wore protection with her, but I couldn’t account for the time I was drugged. This was a set-up, and I knew it, but Leah would never believe me.