Chapter 80

Zayden

It's been four days!

Four fucking long days.

I paced the room, my hand tugging my hair violently. I went back to where Oliver was tapping away at the keyboard.

" Anything?" I asked for the tenth time now.

I heard him sigh." Nope! There's no trace of the van."

I clenched my fists tightly, I was going crazy every second. The van which abducted my wife was last seen at Bridgeton.

The cops took two fucking days to find it, and then they couldn't do anything past there. If I owned a police station, I'd burn down the place, including those incompetent jerks in uniforms.

   I took matters into my own hands and began the search myself along with Oliver. So far, progress has been slow. There was no facial ID, not even a glimpse of the driver.

The only lead we had was the van's plate number, which was last seen in Bridgeton. Whoever they were, it was either they dumped the vehicle at Bridgeton to lure us away from the initial location, or we were not just looking deep enough.

My first suspect was Aiden, but we placed people to watch him. He was now the new CEO because after I quit, the board members voted for him to take over. And then my father put the cops on my tail.

I was now a wanted man. Wanted for the murder of Laura Kent, Tristan Smith and three unknown men. It was broadcast on the news just two days ago, displaying substantial evidence of the whole scene.

   Might I add that I was tagged a deranged psychopath who had been kept under a leash by my father for years?

I had to restrict my movements and, because of this, finding Lillian has been slow.

I had been watching Aiden. So far, he wasn't doing anything suspicious. I hacked into his phone and tracked his call logs. It's either he's completely innocent of Lillian's kidnapping, or he's being extra careful.

As for Sage, her social life was tarnished immediately after the wedding because her so-called husband disappeared on their wedding night.

She had tried to get in contact with me, maybe use me to save face for herself, but I wasn't going to let that happen. She threatened me with the baby through a text, but I ignored her. The baby was the only thing she could use to tie me down so she wouldn't possibly harm the baby.

My next suspect was my dad. It's possible he had Lillian kidnapped because he knew I wouldn't divorce her,, but I've watched him carefully. He doesn't even seem like he knew Lillian was missing. If he was responsible, he would have threatened me by now.

The only people aware were me, Oliver, Noah and Jade.

   I had thought maybe it was Tyrell's doing, but that wasn't his style. If he wanted her, he would get her outright, not going through something as flimsy as an abduction.

This whole thing was messed up, and it was killing me inside.

"We can't just sit here and keep staring at the computer, waiting for the CCTV to detect any suspicious movement from the van that was trashed miles away!" I groaned, breathing heavily.

Oliver turned to look at me." What? So you want to risk going out where you could get caught by the cops?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do. Only God knows what she's going through right now, I don't even know if she's....." I shut my mouth immediately, I'm not going to entertain such thoughts.

" Shut the fuck up, man, she's not dead! If she were, you would have been sent her body by now."He only shook his head." I have a suggestion, but you won't like it."

" Don't bother saying it."

He sighed." Just hear me out first."

" We can't look for Lillian like this; we barely have any leads. The cops won't help because they're too busy looking for your ass. They know that you're desperate at this moment and would do anything to find your wife, so they'll sit back and relax till you fall into their trap." He explained.

I rolled my eyes." We are the only ones that know she's missing."

He suddenly chuckled." No, we're not."

He filled open the laptop." Your friend uploaded photos of her, and so did the cops. About 20 different websites have a photo of Lillian  tagged missing."

My heart dropped, I told Jade to stay put and not do anything rash." That doesn't mean my dad knows about it yet."

He shook his head." We can't take risks. My best guess is they'll try to draw you out as much as they can, and they are going to use Lillain's disappearance to do that. You have to be careful."

I cursed, my whole body began vibrating with bad energy. I want to find her as soon as possible; she's pregnant, for Christ's sake and with the look of things, I'm far behind.

  The cops won't help, I can't go all out because of the cops. And I know deep down that if I get locked up, no one would care to look for her. She needs me; I'm the only one who can find her at this point.

"So what's your point?" I finally asked. I had a weirdly bad feeling that I wasn't going to like what he would say next.

He stared at me, his brown orbs speaking volumes." Deal with the cops first. You'll get a trial, of course, but it might take days or weeks. During this time, we would put together enough evidence to set you free, and then once you're out, the search would be more productive.

I scoffed and began pacing the room again." You want me to abandon my pregnant wife because you'll think I'll end up in jail if I get caught."

He got to his feet, his eyes searching mine." The moment you step out of this house, you'll get caught."

I shook my head, disagreeing with him." I'm not staying still, Oliver. I have to find Lillian and kill the fucker that kidnapped her."

He ran a hand through his hair." I'm not asking you to sit still, okay. I'll have some people do some work about it, but your main focus should be trying not to get yourself convicted."

" AHH, fuck." I cursed. He was right, but I can't bear the thought of Lillian being thousands of miles away and alone.

" He has evidence, how are we going to beat that!" I started pacing the room again.

He snapped his fingers." I have a plan."

" And it is?"

He picked up the burner phone we had been using to communicate with Noah, Jade and the other men we hired.

"From my little findings, there's a loophole on your mother's death. Only your father knows what really happened, and our best bet is to make him confess himself." He said, typing something real quick on his phone.

I contemplated. I better start thinking with my head instead of my emotions. I have to find Lillian, and to do that, I have to clear my name first.

"He has always wanted to put me behind bars for a long time, what makes you think that he'll confess now? How are we going to do that in the first place?"

He put down the phone." It's pretty simple: turn yourself in."

I raised a brow." Okay? I don't see how that's going to help."

" Listen, turn yourself in and request one last meeting with him before you go to jail." He spoke with a smirk dancing on his lips.

My brain finally clicked, and I began thinking like I should have."I'll make it appear like I have accepted my fate, and then I'll make him talk. Of course, he would want to make me feel miserable and helpless, so he might actually spit it out."

Oliver nodded, a proud look on his face." Exactly, meanwhile, I'll keep track of his movements."

  We finally came to an agreement and orchestrated our plans properly. It hurt as hell knowing I didn't make Lillian and our baby my priority. My movements were restricted, or else I would have searched the whole city if I had to.

  We began putting the piece of evidence we had together and got a lawyer. Oliver was the one making the calls and all transactions.

The burner phone rang the next moment, and I picked it up.

" Have you guys found anything yet?" Jade whined, her voice laced with worry.

She had been calling almost every hour and so badly wanted to be with us as we searched for her, but I refused. It was risky, I couldn't take any chances.

" No, nothing yet."

I heard her sigh heavily.

" What are you going to do about this article going around about you?" She phrased, and I knew what she was talking about.

" Ignore them, I'll take care of it."

She scoffed." Does Lillian know?"

I paused, contemplating whether to tell her. Of course, Lillian knows about everything; I had expected that Jade would know by now; they were best friends, after all. It warmed my heart, knowing she kept it just between us.

" Yeah, she does."

She snarled." So I'm the only one left in the dark, huh? You unalived a lot of people, Zay."

I sighed, her voice sounded distant." It's a complicated story."

Silence lingered between us for longer than it should, and I decided to end the call before it got any more awkward.

" I'll inform you if I have any leads," I spoke on the phone.

"Please do something quick, she's pregnant, remember? I'm worried."

I swallowed my heart. squeezing in my chest."I will."

" Do you have any idea who's behind this at all?"

I ran my hands through my hair. It would have been easier if I did." I'm still trying to figure that out."

She sighed, her voice cracking."I don't know if you know about this, but there was a man." She paused, and my ears picked up." He had stalked her a few years back. I don't know the full story, but he was obsessed with her, and she was terrified of him.  I'm scared that he might be behind this; if he is, then that's bad news."

" Do you know his name?"

" Tyrell."

I chuckled, the sound vibrating through my chest." Yeah, I know him. He tried taking her from me once. Those unknown men I killed were sent by him, and he had threatened a few times."

I could practically feel how cold her body went." What....what if he's behind this?"

I remained quiet. I've thought about it, and it's very unlikely. I saw the look in his eyes. He wanted me to be there when he took her from me, and he probably wanted Lillian to watch while he killed me, but that wouldn't happen.

"Don't worry about it, Jade. I'll find her, I promise."

" Oh...okay."

I ended the call.

It then occurred to me that I could do both. I don't have to clear my name before finding my wife.

I just have to be discreet, I'm going to find her, no matter what it takes.

Oliver opened the door to the room, peeking his head through." Hey, you have to see this."

I got up from where I was seated, walked over to him, and we both walked to the living room.

He switched on the television, and I could only chuckle.

" What the fuck is he up to?" I snarled, watching the man I hated the most appear on the screen.

Oliver shrugged." One way to find out."

I said beside him, my eyes glued to the TV screen. My father was on a podium about to release a press conference.

  I won't be surprised if he had fabricated more evidence; he was too desperate to put me behind bars or, should I say, too desperate not to get caught.