Chapter 70 – Miss Graves is Missing, Again
Jacob was exhausted after working all day, and it was evident when he got home. All day long, he had been thinking about Maddie, hoping to see her smile as soon as he entered the room. But with the customary eagerness in his voice, he called her name as he unlocked it,
“Maddie, I’m home”
“Madeline?” He called again when there was no answer, but this time his voice had a hint of uneasiness. He glanced around the room, but instead of seeing Maddie’s familiar warmth, he saw something that made his blood freeze.
On the floor was a broken vase, the glass fragments reflecting the faint light in a way that made his stomach turn, his pulse began to rush and his heartbeat accelerated,
“Maddie?” he called again, his voice now laced with panic, there was no answer.
As he hurried deeper into the flat, Jacob dropped his briefcase to the floor, the sound of the bag striking the floor hardly perceptible, he looked in every nook and crevice of the room, but she was nowhere to be seen. When he noticed her phone thrown on the floor near the broken vase, his breath caught in his throat.
He stooped to pick it up, his fingers shaking as he did so, but something about Maddie’s absence seemed to overwhelm him with fear,
“Maddie?” he shouted again, this time louder, more desperate.
His thoughts whirled over every scenario, but he was unable to come up with a logical explanation, this cannot be happening. There was a deafening silence, and he hurried to the bedroom, assuming she was in the bathroom or had gone to lie down. He called her name once more, his pulse thumping in his chest,
“Maddie, where are you?” But she wasn’t there.
He hurried around the apartment, looking under the bed, in every closet, and in every room. There was no sign of her, his throat constricted as the situation’s reality set in, and panic started to chew at him, tearing at his insides, she had been taken.
He tried to make sense of everything while his thoughts raced. Who would harm her in this way? Why? Frustrated, he reached for his head and ran his fingers through his hair, he was unable to think, he was unable to breathe.
His hands shaking, he hurried to the phone and dialed the police. The ringing seemed to go on forever before someone eventually answered,
“911, what’s your emergency?” the operator’s voice was calm, but Jacob could barely hold it together, his voice cracked as he spoke,
“My girlfriend, Madeline Graves, she’s missing. I came home and there’s broken glass
Chapter 70–Miss Graves is Missing, Again
everywhere. Her phone is on the floor, and she’s not here. I, I don’t know what happened, but I think she’s been taken”
He answered a series of questions from the operator in a distant voice, he gave them his address and gave them as detailed an explanation as he could, but the words didn’t come out correctly because everything appeared to be moving so quickly.
He was hardly able to think clearly enough to respond. Jacob sagged against the wall after the call ended, his hand still gripping her phone, as the horror of what had happened in his apartment started to set in, he couldn’t believe it, he had to locate her, he couldn’t allow anything bad happen to her.
Officer Davies, meanwhile, prepared for what he believed would be yet another hectic day as he sat in his office. He had been getting ready to arrest Raphael, a well–known partner of dubious activities, but as he was ready to depart for the operation, one of his colleagues came
up to him with a serious expression,
“Something’s come up, sir. It’s urgent” she said.
Davies looked up at her, his brow furrowing in concern,
“What is it?”
“There’s been a case of a missing person. Looks like an abduction”
Davies‘ instincts immediately went on high alert
“Who’s missing?”
The colleague hesitated for a moment before replying,
“Madeline Graves”
He was struck by the name like a lightning strike. He couldn’t forget the face, and he had heard the name innumerable times while conducting his investigation. Madeline Graves, the lady who was recently at the heart of a contentious trial. In the case that had cleared Sebastian’s record, she had been one of the crucial witnesses, and he recalled her name from the trial,
“Madeline Graves?” Davies repeated, his voice quiet but intense, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His colleague nodded, confirming what he had already feared.
Davies turned back toward his office, his mind racing,
“Get me all the details. I want everything on this case, and I want it now”
Davies sat back in his chair, his mind racing as she hurried to get the facts. Where is Madeline Graves? By no means had he anticipated this circumstance. She didn’t deserve the treatment she received because she appeared to be an innocent woman entangled in a disaster far larger
than herself.
Now that she was gone, however, the questions started to mount. Who would have taken her?
Chapter 70–Miss Graves is Missing, Again
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More importantly, why? Was this retaliation for her participation in the trial? But Sebastian couldn’t do such, she helped him and now he’s a free man.
A feeling of fear was unable to escape Davies’s grasp, too many parts were moving in his head,
This was no easy case.
