Chapter 56
1000words
'Halley.'
'Come in, Halley.'
'Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Hollen, but you said you'll like to know if I heard from Emma.'
My eyes immediately left the computer and latched onto her. Both she and I had been calling Emma nonstop since she left the house.
'What did she say?'
'She said she was alright and she didn't want me to worry about her.'
'Did she tell you where she was?'
'No, I asked her but she thought I would snitch to you. She's even going to change her phone when the weekend is over. She knows you can track it.'
'Damn it. I forgot to contact my ICT guy. I'm certain he could track it ASAP.'
'Even if it's off? Because I tried calling her a while back and it went straight to voicemail.'
'I need to find her. I need to fix this,' my voice was breaking. I couldn't stand the thought of her being out there alone and unsafe. The police still hadn't located my mother and Sharon as of yet. Heaven only knew what extent they were willing to go to hurt her, all because of me.
'Well, Emma isn't an explorer unless she's with someone, like me or you, for instance. I don't believe she'd go too far away. If she happens to be close by, you could find her. Some pompous paparazzi is bound to capture her on a street or in a cafe or even at an apartment or something.'
'Wow. I never even thought about that. I'll watch the GSDC.'
'Thanks Halley. You're the best.'
'Well you're the best boss and the best big—'
'Hey, we've talked about this,' I cut her off with a sharp look.
'Oh, I'm sorry. Let me know if you find anything on Emma.'
I nodded and she left the room.
I quickly started to browse the GSDC web page. There they gave all the updates of new gossip and rumors about celebrities and the rich and famous, captured pictures, trending fashions, what's out and what's in, etc. I hated the channel so much. I didn't know how anyone could sit down and watched that load of crap. Needless to say, I was now looking at their page.
I did not find anything about Emma and had been looking for almost an hour. I gave up, eventually, and headed to my kitchen. I was exhausted and hungry. I made myself some cream of wheat and headed towards the patio.
'Mr. Hollen, look at this!' Halley yelled, rushing to me with her phone in hand.
I got up as she stood right in front of me, giving me her phone. There was a picture of a couple in a silver convertible. 'Halley, what is this?' I asked, studying the picture; I was trying to place that guy's face. He looked so familiar.
'That's Emma!' she screamed at me, taking the phone and zooming in on the picture.
It was Emma, with this guy! In a car! Driving down West Street! My blood boiled. She seemed happy, she was smiling and so was the guy. Smiling with my damn Emma. She was mine, not his. I would have his head for this!
'Who the hell is the guy?' I asked with rage, squeezing the phone in the palms of my hands.
'Rumor has it that he's the owner of some kind of upcoming, local hotel chain or something. His name wasn't stated.'
I read the caption. Their names weren't stated but the title read: Friend or Beau?
'Thanks for showing this to me. I'll find her,' I said and headed indoors.
Halley followed slowly behind.
A part of me felt heavy and another part felt like it couldn't hold on anymore. I wanted Emma for myself; I didn't want any other guy around her, especially guys like that. He seemed dorky with his washed up silver convertible and blonde hair.
I got my ICT was on the phone.
'I just sent you a picture. Can you tell me who that guy is?'
'Sure Mr. H, gimme a sec.'
I heard him type into the keyboard on his laptop.
'He's Roger Stones. Owner of the La Casa complex in Tribeca and a few boutique hotels, twenty seven years old, clean record.'
'Thanks, that will be all.'
'Anything for you boss.'
'One more thing, can you track Emma's phone and get me a location? I think it might be off though.'
'That's not a prob. I'll lock into it right now but it's gonna take some time if it's switched off. Either way, I'll get a location immediately.'
'How do you do these things?'
'Everyone got a talent, boss. This is mine.'
Two hours later my phone rang.
'She's at the hotel at La Casa.'
I wanted to strangle Roger and I hadn't met him yet. I took my keys off the table and headed to the garage.
Emma's POV
'Hello, dear. My grandson told me you'll be taking over,' Roger's grandmother said once I opened the door. She strolled into my room and sat on the sofa.
'Um, yeah. I'll be starting on Monday. I hope that's alright with you,' I said, rubbing the back of my neck. She had caught me off guard.
'Alright, dear. I'm happy. I can finally get some rest around here.'
I yawned and she looked at me.
'Oh, you're sleepy. I'll get out of your hair,' she said then got on her feet.
'Mrs.—'
'Stones.'
'Mrs. Stones, I don't mean to come off rude or disrespectful, but I was just about to go lie down when you came over.'
'That's alright, dear. I'll see you around anyway. Have a good nap.'
I headed for the bedroom and fell into a nice, comfortable sleep.
I woke up to a literal pounding on the door. I would be furious at whoever the hell it was; I didn't care if it was a police officer. The pounding woke me up from my sound sleep and caused a mild headache.
