Alia sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She placed a hand on her slightly swollen belly, a thin layer of sweat quickly forming on her palms. A warm hand was quickly placed over hers, clutching her hand gently in reassurance.
When she looked up, she smiled at Matteo, who offered her a quick glance before turning back to the road.
"Where are we going right now, then?" she asked.
"Ho," Matteo replied. He then added, "We can’t be sure that Caleb will not look for you at the Hawthorne estate, so it’s unwise to remain there or visit until he has been arrested. Sean will be with you when I’m not there."
Alia could only nod. Ho was fine. Ho was safe. Her hand went to her tiny baby bump and she rubbed it anxiously, trying to transmit comfort to her unborn child.
They drove back ho in silence. Alia stared down at her phone, hoping for good news.
However, it seed that the private detective and police alike had failed once again to capture Caleb. Their information had hit a wall. Like a naked mole rat, this scheming man apparently buried himself back underground to evade detection.
The next few days passed by in relative calm. While Alia sat around at ho and tried not to be bored out of her mind, Ronan, Matteo, and Aiden fed her news of what happened.
Horace Hawthorne had decided to look for his long-lost granddaughter, and Emline had jumped into the task wholeheartedly with a fervor that was almost maniacal. She truly seed to believe that Annalise Hawthorne would return back to the loving mother she had known if only her real daughter was returned.
Alia felt sorry for her cousin. She had so little of her old world left, that she could only desperately cling to whatever she had remaining.
anwhile, Aiden was a lot more reluctant, and he tried to use work at X’el as an excuse to worm his way out of this. He had now moved back to Isaac’s place because he certainly wasn’t going to stay in the sa house as his thunderous father. He didn’t want his presence to remind his father of his mother! He couldn’t take a bullet to the heart.
However, Emline was not dissuaded by his lack of enthusiasm. If she could move into Isaac’s house, she would― but thankfully Isaac had put his foot down, so Emline couldn’t harass him in person to check his progress.
According to Aiden, she would call him once every two hours to check if he had done his part in their search, and throw more leads in his direction.
"It’s like we’re partners on a research project. I feel like I’ve suddenly beco a police detective, or so poor intern under a tyrannical boss. She calls at 2 in the morning, claiming she found sothing, but all I see is yet another blonde woman’s photo with no details," Aiden said glumly over a shared phone call with Matteo and Alia at night, and they could hear the yawn in his voice.
It was sad, but he had no one else to commiserate with.
Isaac had heard what he was doing and wished him good luck before hanging up, claiming he was going out with Dimitri. At least soone’s love life was going well.
"I’m now digging through paper trails that are so moldy it’s a miracle they haven’t created an infectious disease yet. Can’t we just gather the blood of every single woman Emline’s age and just test all of them?" Aiden continued to whine as he flipped through Emline’s reports.
"What a waste of public resources," Matteo said dryly. "There are more people with more pressing problems to solve."
Aiden grumbled under his breath.
Then Alia’s phone rang, and she smiled.
"It’s my father," Alia said cheerfully as she stood up and walked into the bedroom for more privacy. "I’ll take this call."
Matteo nodded.
"Hey Dad, what’s up?"
A low chuckle filled her ears, causing a chill to travel through her body. That... didn’t sound like her father, but who else could it be?
"Dad?" Alia repeated hesitantly. "Is sothing the matter? You usually don’t call so late."
"Millie, don’t you think it’s ti we et?’
The nickna was familiar, but it wasn’t her father’s voice at the other end of the line. Her blood ran cold, and Alia nearly scread in shock. Her knees began to tremble, and she sank into the soft mattress of the bed, desperately hoping that this was rely a bad dream.
Caleb Walton was still speaking to her.
"We haven’t caught up in such a long ti," Caleb added cheerfully, venom lacing every syllable of his words. "I took ti out of my busy schedule to pay a visit to your dear father. He has always been kind to ."
"What did you do to him?!" Alia asked, nearly shrieking in terror. Her father was supposed to be tucked safe and asleep in Dimitri’s ho; how did Caleb get his hands on him?
"Nothing much, we just talked. Why would I hurt him, Millie?" Caleb sounded genuinely confused from the other end of the call. "After all, he’s going to remain as my father-in-law. I wouldn’t hurt a family mber, and like I said, he has always been kind to ."
"I don’t believe you," Alia said with gritted teeth, as tears pooled in her eyes. Caleb had no qualms about hurting her to get his way. "Where is he? Let speak to him!"
"Sure thing," Caleb said in a sing-song tone. "Michael, do you have anything you wish to say to your daughter?"
Alia strained her ears, but she could only make out the garbled sounds of soone trying to speak.
"Ah, the cloth gag is making things hard for him," Caleb said with a laugh. "I nearly forgot about that. But rest assured, the cloth is clean. Your father will not suffer from an infection from the cloth, but his wounds are another story."
"Wounds?! What did you do to him? I’ll kill you!" Alia threatened with shaking hands.
Caleb laughed. "If you want him to die, be my guest. But if you wish to see your darling father again, you’ll go to the address I’ve sent you, alone. No Matteo, no Aiden, and no pesky bodyguard. If you don’t... I wonder how long it would take for a bullet to kill your father."
"You’re a monster!"
"And I’m waiting for you." Caleb blew a kiss into the phone. "See you later, Millie."
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