Reunited

Finally, right?! I've been on a writing kick this break, so I'm really hoping to stay on my game this time and finish the story before school goes crazy on me. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome! I know I'm far from perfect so I appreciate the feedback.

J

Thanks!

*****

"Davidson speaking."

"This is Mendon. We've found her, boss. This was finally the right city. That friend of hers was right."

"Excellent. Where is she now?"

"I don't know exactly, but I am working on it. I went to the bar where she works last night and was lucky enough to hear someone say a worker named Ellie had taken off. When I asked some questions, I found that it was definitely her. They've been paying her under the table, so no address, but the other bartenders claim she only drives ten minutes to work, so my men are staking out different apartment buildings that seem likely."

"Finally, you bear good news. As soon as you have her, call me again. I want hourly updates until she has been found. And if it takes rough treatment, then by all means, you have my permission. Just bring her to me alive."

"Yes, boss."

Rob Davidson crossed his legs as he leaned back to think. So the girl wasn't an idiot. When she'd taken off, he had expected her to finish her medical degree and begin her residency training at a hospital. Instead, she had completely thrown them off by taking up bartending. Of all trades, that was indeed the last he would have guessed of her, and it had camouflaged her well until now. They might never have found her if his men hadn't tapped her best friend's phone line. The call asking Luisa if Ellie had moved across the country was the one that had tipped off Mendon to start searching in that area. Soon he'd have her again, could question her about the ledger, and he could finally punish her for all of the trouble she'd caused.

Thinking of the time he whipped her, he grew hard. It was the last time she'd tried escaping for a year. Now he'd have to step up the punishment. She had to know she could never flee again. A sound lashing would be just the beginning this time. She would cry out in pain and he could take her from behind and rake his nails down her fresh wounds. Oh that would be hot indeed.

The phone rang again, interrupting his reverie.

"Davidson speaking."

"Hi, Rob! This is Drew!"

Rob quickly masked his voice with excitement. "How is everything looking, Drew?"

"Great, man. The party loves you, you've made generous contributions over the years, and despite your young age, they think your history with your business will make you a viable candidate in a few years."

"Pardon? A few years? I was thinking of running this year. I thought I made that clear."

"Yeah, that's gonna be a problem, man. Jerome Eastings is up for reelection and the public loves him. There's no way the party would put a new candidate up when he's still willing to continue holding his Senate seat."

"I understand, Drew. I must say I'm disappointed, but I'm glad that the party would back me in any future political endeavors."

"Of course. I'll keep spreading the word about you, though. And if you keep up a good relationship with the incumbents and the governor, I'd say you'd be a sure deal a few years down the road."

"That is excellent news, Drew. Thanks again."

Finally alone with his thoughts again, he pondered. He needed to get someone into office, and quickly. Obviously the best choice would be to get elected himself. Then he could truly expand his workings on a larger scale. Unfortunately, the politicians his men had contacted were uninterested in joining the group. And many were beginning to draft a piece of legislation that would severely hinder his business interests.

"I have to get someone in there. Now."

He began to research a plan.

*****

Alec's phone rang. Looking at the caller I.D., he saw it was Jake.

"Hi, buddy. What's up?"

"I found where Ellie was for several years, man."

"I can one up you there; I'm at her place right now. But tell me your story first, because it might help me understand some of what I found out."

He heard Jake give out a sigh of relief. "Good, so it was her. I'm glad she's with you, man. It turns out that she was dating Rob Davidson. The Rob Davidson, of Conglomerate Enterprises. I couldn't find her at all online or from our friends or her family. But then I had a dentist appointment two days ago and you know how they always have those old magazines sitting out? Well I picked one up and was thumbing through it and saw a picture of her with him. She was merely listed as his date, which is why I never found that info online. But when I did a Google search of Davidson, guess who was on his arm for every event?"

"Ellie. Why did nobody ever write down her name?"

"I can't figure that part out. But it looks like she's always just tucked in behind him. Maybe it was obvious that she wasn't the important one in the relationship so they always focused on him."

"That's not like the paparazzi, but he's got enough money to maybe persuade them to keep the names of his women out of their works."

"That's as good a guess as any I've thought up. So what's going on? How'd you find her?"

"Her friend Carrie called me and said Ellie needed some help, so I went and picked her up. It looks like she's in hiding from someone, and based on her story, Davidson would be the guy. If what she's saying is true, he'd be in a ton of trouble if anyone found evidence against him."

"Shoot. I always liked him. He seemed kinda down to earth for a multimillionaire. Why do celebrities always let us down?"

"Come on now, Jake, be serious."

"Sorry, man. I just don't know how to handle all this. I never would have thought that our Ellie would get wrapped up in that kind of nonsense."

"You and me both. You think you'll be coming up here again anytime soon?"

"Oh, yeah, man. I forgot to tell you. My parents bought a condo up there when I told them how beautiful it was, the crazy old loons. They said I can use it whenever I want because they'll probably only go a couple times a year." Jake spoke with love about his parents, who Alec suspected bought the place solely so their son could enjoy it.

"No way! That's awesome. I'll finally be seeing more of you."

"Yeah. I actually mailed you the spare key a few days ago with a note explaining everything, but then forgot to call you to actually ask: they already had furnished it and filled it with stuff, but they ordered some packages recently that had to be accepted. The doorman said he did it, but I'd like to have the place checked out since I can't get there for another week or so."

"Of course! It hasn't arrived yet, but I'll go over as soon as I get the key."

"Thanks, man, and good luck with Ellie. Keep me updated and let me know if there's anything I can do."

"Will do. Bye, bud."

As he lowered his phone, Alec was struck by the seriousness of the situation. If Rob Davidson was the guy from whom Ellie had run, it was no wonder she was upset that they had given out clues to her whereabouts. A guy with that much money and power...well, if he truly was as corrupt and nasty as she'd described, that would mean that he would be able to afford to send men throughout the country searching for her.

Maybe the search had something to do with that case for which he had discovered the pattern the other day.

"Hey, Ellie! Could you come here for a minute?"

She walked in the room. "Yes?"

"Why a bartender? What did you do before you moved out here?"

"I was in medical school. I would have been doing residencies right now, so I figured the furthest I could be from my former self would be a bartender. He would never think to check in a bar for me because I drank so infrequently after you and Jake left. No more peer pressure." She smiled a bit, so he knew she was teasing.

"Thanks."

"Why do you ask?"

"Something work related. Let me call the Chief and run a theory by him."

*****

Ellie walked back to her room, not caring all that much about Alec's work theories. The only thing she cared about currently was finding a way out of this mess. She had cash saved up from her jobs, and the apartment was rented month-to-month so she could walk away without worrying about breaking a lease. All she needed was to grab her few keepsakes, throw them back in storage, pack a bag, and take off.

She walked around the room, trying to plan where she could go. In order to avoid a trail, she'd have to continue using cash. She'd left her car at the bar, so she thought maybe if she flew to a different state, she could evade them. She'd have to change her hair color again. Working so many late shifts and sleeping away the sunlight hours had left her pale, so maybe she could pull off red this time around.

She mentally inventoried what she wanted to bring with her. Tomorrow she could ask Alec to take her to put her keepsakes in storage, then she would be ready to leave at dawn the next morning. If Alec was still sleeping, hopefully she could sneak out without him noticing. This time, she would be the one leaving him behind.

*****

Alec got off the phone with the Chief and breathed a sigh of relief. They were in agreement: the hospital muggings were likely to find Ellie. A large crime syndicate would easily have the manpower to pull off such an operation, and since few muggers were ever caught, the simplicity of the scheme would have worked if they'd actually found the girl. However, the fact that she was never the one they mugged led to the continued spree and the eventual detection by the feds. Everything fit, the Chief was happy to have made some headway, and he was thrilled to be able to call and rub the solution in the feds' faces. The Chief loved being right. Of course, the evidence was nowhere near concrete, but it was better than anything anyone else had hypothesized.

He got up and went to the bathroom to rinse his face. He didn't have to work today, thank goodness, so he wanted to go pick up his mail and see if Jake's key had arrived and then check up on the condo for his friend. He hated putting tasks off until the last minute, so better to check it today and ease his friend's concerns than to let him wonder.

He'd take Ellie with him and see if she needed anything. Then he could keep an eye on her without making it too obvious that he was doing so.

"Ellie, I'm going to run a few errands. Wanna come with me?"

"Yes. Can we put some of my stuff in storage? I'm afraid that I'm going to have to move again and the less I have, the easier it will be."

She sounded sad about the prospect of moving yet again, so he agreed immediately. It had to be terrible to be on the run and so uncertain all the time. He personally would hate leading such a life, so her continued strength amazed him. If only he had the strength to tell her how resilient she was, maybe she'd realize that he only wanted to help. He sighed. Maybe a different day.

*****

Gabe Mendon sat on a bus stop bench, holding up a newspaper but really just gazing at people as they went about their lives. If his hunch was correct, the girl would be living near here. Once he or his men sighted her, they could canvass the area's bars to see if she had found a different job and keep people posted at likely buildings to find her.

The bargirls had informed him that Ellie was now quite thin, with brown hair and no glasses. Clever girl had changed her appearance, but that hadn't stopped him from finding her. He was far cleverer, and Davidson's resources were endless. They would find and return the bitch to Davidson, where she belonged and where the boss could punish her for daring to run.

A couple across the street caught his eye. They were walking out of a coffee shop and the girl's heavy coat, scarf, hat, and sunglasses made him wonder who would bundle up to that extent on a fairly nice day like today. The girl was thin enough to fit the description of Ellie he'd gotten from the women at the bar yesterday. Unfortunately he had no idea where they had been prior to the coffee shop, whether they had driven to the neighborhood or walked. He stood and decided to follow them when a bus pulled up on their side, blocking his view. When it pulled off, they were nowhere to be seen. He grabbed his phone.

"Boss, it's Mendon. I just had a sighting of someone matching the description of our girl. However, I lost her almost immediately... I'd like to get other guys to watch this neighborhood because I think it's where she's staying now...Yeah, call it a hunch, but it's better than nothing."

After the call ended, he paced around for a moment, planning how best to find and recapture the worthless bitch.

*****

Ellie was fuming. Despite her numerous attempts, Alec absolutely would not allow her out of his sight for even one moment. They had taken his car to deliver her items back to the storage unit, then had gone to Alec's place, where he simply grabbed his mail and filled a small bag with clothes before hustling them back to the car and then over to a different building, where he made her accompany him to someone's apartment just to turn back around and go back down. He'd said they were doing a favor for Jake, whose parents owned the place and had sent a bunch of stuff over. After arriving back at her own apartment, Alec had insisted on taking her out for coffee and pastries, and he had nagged at her until she finished both the large cappuccino and a very unhealthy pastry. He next demanded that he accompany her to the grocery store because he "couldn't let her take the bus alone." And he had purchased track phones for each of them so that they "could contact one another if separated." How in the world was she going to escape again with such a vigilant watchdog guarding her every move?

She paced her room furiously. She had already thrown some clothes and necessities into a duffel, so now she was left only with the hope that she could sneak out while he was sleeping. Otherwise, she would be stuck with him, and she could not tolerate being with him any more than she already had.

It was only just getting dark, so there was no way she could pretend to go to bed now, especially knowing that Alec would immediately sense how tense and wired she was. She needed to calm down and get her thoughts in line before he realized she was plotting. She had always been impressed by his ability to see right through her ruses.

She remembered game nights where they had played various games that required lying. Though she had been able to fool Jake and even Luisa on occasion, Alec had always been able to call her bluff. He read her better than she read herself sometimes it had seemed.

And then he decided you weren't worth the hassle and left,

she stamped out her fond memories as quickly as they came. Obviously Alec hadn't been able to read just how invested she was in the whole thing. If he'd known her as well as she thought he had, he obviously would have known she was beyond infatuated with him. Instead, he deemed distance an insurmountable peak and decided they should part as friends.

So I did keep some facts from him. He never knew the depth of my feelings, or how much I cared. That means he might not know my desire to thwart his watchdog tendencies and escape him.

She thought maybe she could accomplish this, but it would be difficult. If Alec did catch on, she would be unable to leave due to his hyper vigilant ways.

Her thoughts had stopped roiling about, so she knew she could now present a calm façade to Alec. The subterfuge slightly amused her, for the idea of sneaking out past a cop, let alone Alec, would have been reprehensible to her in college.

*****

"Alec?"

He hopped up from the couch and walked over to her room, pausing in the doorway.

"What's up?"

"How long do you think you'll be here?"

"Well, now that I have clothes, I figured I could just stay a few days and we could keep low while I communicate with the Chief and figure out the best way to keep you safe."

"Ok, so if you're going to be here awhile, do you want a dresser drawer or something for your clothes? Or do you prefer living out of a bag?"

For a moment, Alec was taken aback. He'd strongly suspected that she would resist him staying there and take pleasure in seeing him live out of a bag on a couch. "Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you." Still confused with her sudden kindness, he turned to go get his bags, not seeing the sly smile sneak across her face.

That had been far easier than Ellie had anticipated. She had decided to go for the false progress route. He would think she was growing comfortable with his presence, sleep soundly, and then she could sneak out. It wasn't the best plan in the world, but it was something.

Alec returned shortly with his clothes and threw them in the designated drawer, then they both went to the living room and turned on the television. Ellie curled up in one corner of the couch while Alec sat on the opposite end. He selected a comedy they had once watched together. She had found it funny at the time, he remembered.

Ellie refused to laugh this time though. Did he even remember the night they watched this movie? It was ingrained in her memory. After spending the two hours laughing, they'd finally grown quiet at the credits, which were accompanied by a cheesy love song. She remembered he had started softly singing it then. She had been such an idiot, thinking that was the cutest thing ever. Now she just tried to focus on staying relaxed, so she mostly ignored the movie, though Alec's laughter was harder to ignore. Closing her eyes, she decided to try for a nap.

After a particularly humorous scene, Alec looked over to gauge Ellie's response, only to find her sleeping. Maybe she really was getting more comfortable with him being there. Getting up, he grabbed the blanket he'd thrown over the back of the couch and carefully tucked it around her. She'd always slept cold in the past.

He went and poured himself some water from the kitchen before returning to the couch, where, despite the early hour, he too soon succumbed to slumber.

*****

Ellie woke up and looked around blearily. She hadn't meant to sleep more than a few minutes, but apparently it had been a few hours. Alec was sleeping as well, though since she had taken up part of the couch, he had just stretched his legs out on the coffee table. He was pretty soundly asleep it seemed. Time to escape.

Tip-toeing to her room, Ellie grabbed her bag and turned for the door, then back to her dresser. The track phone was there, and while she didn't really want to take it, it would probably be wise to have some form of communication just in case. She could call Alec from wherever she landed and tell him she was safe at least. Then he could go back to his life. The phone was off, so she just tossed it in the duffle, then eased herself out of the apartment as quietly as possible.

It was only a few blocks to the bus stop, so hopefully she could get there and move on with her life before Alec woke up.

*****

"Mendon, we've got a sighting of a thin, dark-haired female in the right neighborhood. Carrying a small duffle bag and alone."

"Follow her. Capture if you can and keep me updated. The boss wants her alive so stay smart."

"Roger." Two shadows detached themselves from the wall of a nearby alley, keeping back far enough from the woman to remain nonchalant but staying close enough so that they could eventually corner her in a different alley or neighborhood. Elated, they both knew that capturing this girl would likely elevate them in both Mendon's eyes and in the big boss's. Luckily "alive" didn't mean "unharmed" because first they wanted to have some fun.

*****

People were still out on the streets, mostly drunks who were heading home after last call and folks who worked later shifts. It wasn't crowded, but seeing anyone walking around made Ellie feel better. She didn't want to be the only one out since that would be suspicious if Mendon or his men were around.