I give Riley a high five. “You are brilliant!”
He grins. “That was too easy. I'm totally looking up everyone on the walls now. You never know when something like that could come in handy.”
“Obviously.”
I call Cooper.
“Where are you?” he asks. “Aiden was looking for you.”
“I'm at the, uh, chapel with Riley.”
“I’m on my way,” he says.
“Wait a couple minutes. I need to call Garrett. I know how he can get the search warrant.”
I call Garrett and give him all the info from the judge.
Then Riley and I rush back through the tunnel, into Stockton’s, and upstairs.
Aiden and Cooper are waiting for us in the back of the chapel.
Cooper hands me a printout of a story about Vincent. Apparently, he’s spoken to the press about the takeover. The article goes on to mention that he’s seriously concerned about the company he founded in the hands of a seventeen-year-old. About how it’s a disgrace to the industry.
I shake my head. “We need something that will bury this story. I don’t want it to get legs.”
“What kind of story would do that?”
Aiden smiles at me and points to my finger. I look at the four-leaf clover on it. “Ohmigawd, Aiden. You are brilliant!”
I call Mom, get her permission, and have her email me what I need.
A short time later, the news is out.
HOLY SHIT!! STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!
THIS JUST IN!
HELL HAS OFFICIALLY FROZEN OVER.
Keatyn Douglas, our new obsession, just emailed us.
One.
Single.
Beautiful.
Precious.
Photo.
(Okay, so her publicist probably sent it to every media outlet at the same time, but whatever.)
And what a photo it is.
Keatyn, dressed in an adorable strapless pink Sherri Hill high-low dress and cowboy boots, standing up for her mother, Abby Johnston, wearing Versace at her wedding to one of the sexiest men alive, Tommy Stevens.
We’ll give the ladies of the world a moment to mourn their loss.
Okay, we’re back.
Here is the official press release:
Abby Johnston and Tommy Stevens were married over the holiday in a small, surprise ceremony attended by the couple’s family and closest friends.
And the real story:
Long-time friend and multi-mega-hit director, Matthew Moran, loaded up a plane full of guests and took them to his mansion in the Italian countryside. Tommy proposed on Christmas Eve with a stunning sparkler hidden amongst his gifts to Abby, and the couple was married the following day in a lavish outdoor wedding. Guests later noshed on a Christmas Day feast where they toasted the happy couple.
P.S. Guess that sort of kills off the rumors of their imminent split.
P.P.S. Rumor has it Keatyn danced the night away with none other than Damian Moran, who has been writing love songs about her for years.
Hoping.
Night
I’m lying in bed, trying to go to sleep. But I can’t.
So, I do what I’ve been considering doing all day. I grab my computer and take it into the stairwell.
I hit the video conference icon and call Brooklyn, hoping that Vincent will answer.
I need to know that Brooklyn’s still okay.
And to let Vincent know that I’m coming home.
He doesn’t answer.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6TH
They’ll find him.
1pm
Friday is the longest day of my life.
I go through the motions, slogging from one class to the next.
I skip lunch, going to Cooper’s office, instead.
“You look as tired as I feel,” I tell him, noting his bleary eyes and the scruff he always shaves.
“So do you. I just got off the phone with Garrett. Still nothing.”
“He’s been planning this for a while. Are they checking basements and closets? For secret rooms, trap doors? On my birthday, he had to have somewhere he was taking me. He planned everything else out. Think about it. He wants to make a movie. There has to be a set somewhere.”
“Garrett has brought in some of his top men to help with the search, Keatyn. These guys are all ex-special forces. They know how to find people who don’t want to be found, if you know what I mean. And they’re utilizing technology to scan the buildings for heat sources and using search and rescue dogs.”
“Heat sources? Is that like in the movies? Where they can find people who are hiding by tracking their body temperature?”
“Exactly.”
“And what do the dogs do?”
Cooper just looks at me.
And it hits me.
The dogs find people who don’t have any body heat.
Isn’t normal.
2am
I wake up because I hear a noise.
The kind of noise I know isn’t normal.
I reach out for Aiden and remember he wasn’t coming over tonight. Something about hearing there was going to be some sort of late-night dorm check.
Just as I open my eyes, a hood is thrown over my head and I’m being pulled out of bed and down the hall.
It takes me a few moments to get my wits about me.
This is it.