Chapter 54 : Found or Lost?

Aaron Reynolds's Pov

"So, what's the plan?" Francis questioned, as he watched me fidget with the hangers of my coats. I quickly removed one, which matched the one I wore. I threw it in his direction, and he quickly grabbed it. "What's this for?" he questioned again.

"Wear it", I ordered. Without questioning any further, he did as instructed. He buttoned the middlemost buttons of the blazer, and I did the same eventually. I hurriedly, spiked my hair, took charge of my phone, sprayed some perfume over myself and threw the body of the perfume towards Francis. His face yet showed confusion, but rather then questioning, he obeyed my instructions.

"We look and smell the same, don't we?" I questioned him.

He cornered his eyes, and examined my outfit "We do? I mean, yes from behind. But why do we have to look similar?"

He looked at his wristwatch, thought something for a while, and answered "If three people are inspecting me, then I've to do something about it. You're the decoy. In other words, you'll be my clone who'll keep people entertained through my back. Thank God, we have the same hair colour"

"What if someone confronts me?"

"Is there some harm wearing a black coat?" I questioned back.

"Don't go alone, take me with you. You may require my presence, Amanda may require it. It isn't safe there. Gina can handle things in this party, and Dan can play the clone", he offended.

"Just like you said, it isn't safe there. Plus, I have dealt with James earlier and I can deal with him in the present too. Just stay here, and let me know anything which I should be aware of. Keep the three men confused about the original Aaron. Keep shifting places. Do whatever it takes, just don't alert them. I'll inform the police right away, and make way towards the location. Just mail someone from the police department the username and password, along with the actual software so that they can have access to the location as well"

I carefully peeped through the door, made sure that the hallway was empty, and exited the room's door along with Francis. Unexpectedly, Francis hugged me. "Please make sure that Amanda is safe", I hugged him, and slowly patted his back and replied "Amanda will be safe. She has to be safe. I promise I'll bring her safe and sound", he apart himself from me. His eyes were watery. He was the kind of man who had no trouble showing his emotions, and maybe that was the change I had to get in myself, too.

I rushed out, through the emergency exit which was in the kitchen. I used the other car, not the one I usually use. I started my car, and drove as per the direction given to me by the locator. The app traced Amanda's location, and I realized that it was far away from town, probably in the outskirts. I kept moving, with optimistic thoughts. Amanda was clumsy, troublesome, and a complete idiot. I didn't trust her, when it came to her safety. That's why I aligned three guards to safeguard her, but she turned them off too, as she promised that she'd stick by my side.

The traffic signal showed the red light, which clearly signalled me to stop, but I didn't. I kept driving, as per the directions given to me by the map. After looking through the rear view mirror, I realized that I was being followed, by a police van. Maybe, they were going to waste my time and press charges for breaking the signal. I tried to overtake the vehicle, which was a bit close to me, because the road was small, and the driver had an extremely slow speed. I was aware of the fact that, this act of mine was going to add up to the charges and I was prepared for it, but first, I had to reach the location which was in red and save my girl.

I quickly pushed the brakes, when two men dressed in a police uniform, on their bikes, came towards me, from an opposite direction. "What the actual fuck", I banged the steering with my palms aggressively and muttered under my breadth.

"Get out of your car, sir", he started to take slow steps towards me. I decided to end this situation as quickly as possible, so without debating any further, I exited my car.

I furrowed my brows, removed my cheque book from my pocket, and signed a cheque "I'm ready to negotiate. Just please let me go. This is a signed cheque, with my signature inscribed on it. Enter as much amount you want, but please don't waste my time right now", I tore the cheque from the cheque book and propelled it in his direction.

I watched him tear my cheque in pieces. His face was red, fuming with anger. Knowing that I hit the wrong spot, I interrupted "Look, we can negotiate", he watched me with a constipated face, like he wasn't given food for days. His body wasn't just muscular, it was bulky as well.

"You just tried to corrupt a police officer. You know how long can you be in prison for that?" his voice was louder than normal. One thing was pretty clear that he wasn't ready for any sort of negotiations.

I cleared my throat, "Look I know that what I did was wrong, but I can't decide at this moment that what's right either. I'm going through a lot. Do you love someone?"

"I am married with two children", he answered.

"Well then, you'd know how it feels when your better half isn't safe, when you can't even predict that you'd get to see her one more time or no, when she's in danger, when every cell in your brain ceases to perform, when an ocean of negative thoughts keep clicking in your mind, when her picture with a smiling face keeps rotating in your mind and you're not even sure that whether you'll get to see that face again, and when you're done with whens", I turned around, letting them face my back because my eyes felt heavy, with tears formed under my waterline. I tried to wipe it with the back of my palms.

After doing a quick breathing exercise, I turned facing them again. Crying is quite human, but crying in front of people, known or unknown, is quite embarrassing, especially when you're the kind who is not very open about self's feelings. "You've to report to the police station and complete some formalities", the man's hands were dug in the either side of his pockets. He held a poker face.

I nodded, and replied with "Okay", and looked at my wrist watch. Time is never really in your hand, it passes. "Be sure to report tomorrow at 10 in the morning", the officer continued. Oh, did I just hear it wrong or was the office really favouring me.

"Thank you. You don't know it means so much to me", I hugged him, all of a sudden. It was one of those times in my life when I hugged a total stranger, to be more specific, a cop.

He gave me a small smile "Besides, we can really help you with your issue", he offered his help.

"I've already lodged a complaint"

"I'm sorry if I'm wrong but, are you Mr. Reynolds?" he questioned to my statement, to which I answered whilst nodding. So Francis did lodge a complain.  "Then we're glad to help. Take the lead and let us follow you", I quickly settled myself in the driver's seat, and this time, with due permission from the officers, overtook, broke signals, and drove at the highest speed.

When I finally reached the destination, I encountered a huge building out of the blue. I really expected some vacant, shabby and a less crowded place. Maybe, that's why he chose this place. I didn't wait for the officers, as their driving speed was slower as compared to me. I rushed inside the building, but couldn't find anyone at the reception. I had no idea where was I going to find her, in such a huge building, with umpteen floors.

"Excuse me can you guide me to the main office of this building?" I inquired the watchman, when I founded him standing close to the huge entrance of the lobby. He took the lead, and pinched on the minus third floor of the building. I followed him, but his speed was slow, very slow. I wanted to push him, and multiply his walking speed, but I had to practice patience and consider it my virtue.

When my feet landed in the office, I sprinted towards the man who was seated with a laptop in front of him. "Hey, can you please let me have a view of the cctv footage, please?" I was about to remove my cheque book again, but I then remembered the scene which it caused earlier, so I pushed it in my pocket again.

"I'm so sorry sir. We won't be able to reveal any confidential information with anyone other than the owner of this building. I'm so sorry, but I won't be able to help"

I took a step back at his statement, realizing that I was losing every hope to locate my girl. "What if the police question the same?" I knew that the authority was about to come any moment, so I tried clearing my doubt by using their name.

"Not without a search warrant", his spectacles were surfaced on his nose, and he was attentive towards the laptop's screen. He didn't look at me while we corresponded with each other, like I was some substandard. Little did he know that I was Aaron Reynolds, the one who doesn't asks for respect but gets it anyway. I quickly exited the room and made an urgent call. I made a quick transaction, and waited for like 5 minutes for the email icon to pop on my screen.

As soon as it appeared on the notification bar, I rushed inside the room again. "I'm sorry sir, but like I said, I won't be able to show any footage to you unless----"

"I'm the owner of this building, now" I showed him the email which consisted of written consent of the last owner of this building. Though I had to pay 3 times more of the actual amount of this place, I bought it, as it was worth it. The person's face was filled with shock, his mouth formed an 'o', and his brows were furrowed. He read the email carefully, looked at the sender's address and matched it with the official records. He removed his spectacles and stood up at once, and propelled his hands, in my direction, and waited for me to shake it.

I dug my hands in my pockets, and refused to shake them with it. I would've fired him that moment, but considering my priority, which was Amanda, I decided to avoid him. I took his seat, and waited for him to type the username and password of the building's system which could get me access to the camera's footage. I viewed the footage of the time which was approximately between 8pm to 9pm. When my eyes encountered Amanda, I sighed. She was walking forcefully as James had a strong grip over her back. They entered the elevator, and so the hallway was vacant again. I stopped the specific clip.

"Now, show me the clips of the elevator's exit of each floor of that specific time", 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd, 4th....., 10th, 15th..., 20th...,30th..,35th,36th, 37th "Oh stop right there", I told the man to halt the footage when I encountered the both of them "37th it is. Give me the keys of each room that consist on the specific floor", well, ownership has its own privileges, right?

I ran with my fullest speed towards the elevator. I made my way in, and pinched on the 37th floor quickly. I thumped my feet in annoyance, as it was taking quite long.

I hastened towards the exit of the elevator, as soon as I reached the 37th floor. There were like 8 rooms on the floor, 4 rooms on each side. I decided to check from the left side, so I started from the start. The first 3 rooms were completely vacant, but the last wasn't. It had something which I was looking for, since a long time.

I was peeping through the room, and then I encountered James's back. I kicked the door open at once. James turned around, and smirked, like he was expecting me here. He was in his boxers, rather than that, he had no piece of clothing on his body. His intentions didn't seem very holy to me. I just strongly wished that he did nothing to her or with her because the room's condition and James's costume told a different story.

I twirled my eyeballs, to find Amanda, and to my content I found her. I didn't know that whether it was my victory or my defeat. Amanda didn't look much sane and stable. Her back rested on the bed, half naked, her face was dull, very dull, like she had no strength left in her body. A tear traveled from her cheeks and then got soaked in the pillow. Her black liner was smudged all around her eyes, like she was crying continuously. Maybe I was late, very late.

Her hands were loose, and were on the either side of her stomach. She looked at me, and tears kept flowing through it continuously. A small smile took birth on her lips, and she parted her lips in order to speak. I darted in her direction, and caught her hands and intertwined her fingers with mine. My world stopped, everything around seemed to move in slow motion. James stomped closer to us, but I didn't pay him any attention.

Suddenly, she started breathing hard "Oh no. You're strong. Oh, my Lord. Stay strong. I love you. Please wake up Miss. Waters. I love you so much", she smiled one last time and closed her eyes. My world collapsed that moment. My eyes watered continuously, and my view was blurred because of the tears. I couldn't think, everything around seemed irrelevant. Her condition made my heart race, something bad did happen to her. I was scared, very scared. My palms rested on her forehead, and I realized that her body was freezing. Did I just lose her? Was she just a dream or merely an illusion?

******

No, it isn't the end. I did really thought that it would be the last chapter but I wasn't able to cover everything in this single chapter. Anyways, the more the merrier, right?

Keep reading. I literally feel so bad for Aaron while writing it.

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