Days had passed by with no news from the security IT team on Amy Harper. It was like she had fallen off the face of the earth. There was no way to track her. When that woman said she would erase everything, he didn't realize she meant she would erase all traces of her. As frustrating as it was to him, he would not give up. He would find her no matter what.
He twirled in his seat to face the floor to ceiling window that was behind him. He walked over to the window with his hands behind his back and gazed down at the busy streets of New York.
Dark circles had settled underneath the man's eyes. Insomnia was his new companion at night and he could only deal with it by immersing himself in work. Amy's appearance and disappearance had taken a toll on him. They said 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'. Yes, they had only met once and spent a night together, but he really desired her presence. He needed to see her, touch her, hear her; just be with her. Was he being too crazy?
A knock disturbed the man's thoughts. He permitted the person to enter without bothering to spare them a glance.
"Sir, the IT security team found something on Miss Harper. It is-" before George could finish his sentence, Zach was already rushing towards the door to go to the security room. His bodyguards trailed behind him while George sprinted to catch up to his boss. It was unfortunate that he was not blessed with long legs as the big boss himself.
When they arrived at the security room, George was panting from the little marathon he had run. "Show me", Zach ordered. A footage was uploaded to the screen. His heart skipped a beat upon recognizing the familiar face. She had a cap on, a hoodie, sweat pants, black ankle leather boots and a duffle bag slung over her shoulder. She kept on looking over her shoulder as though she was running from something.
Just as she was about to hail a cab, a van pulled up beside her. As the three men who emerged from the van grabbed her from behind, Zach clutched his shirt on his chest as discomfort settled in his heart. She tried to wriggle out of their grip but they were too strong for her. The van disappeared from that spot. Wait a minute, something caught his eye.
"Rewind", he struggled to say. Only George seemed to hear what came out as a whisper from his boss. He quickly turned to the team and repeated the order much louder. With all the focus he could gather, Zach watched the video once more.
"Sir, it's actually an old footage. I was trying to tell you that earlier", George explained.
Zach ignored him and simply watched. George who stood on the sidelines was shocked yet moved by his boss's reaction. Zachery Frost has and treats women like he treats men. No one has ever piqued his interest. But seeing his boss like this, it was sure that she was very important to his boss and needed to be found.
Those men were the same ones who brought her to the hotel that night. They had been locked away along with Chris Parton, Zach made sure of it. But he noticed they came in from the opposite direction of where she was coming from. It looked like Amy was escaping someone. With Parton's men intercepting her escape, that means whoever was after her is still out there which explains her hiding. A woman of Amy's abilities must be hunted down by someone powerful. Seeing how she could not escape Parton's goons, then she'll probably not be safe from whoever it is once they find her.
I need to find her before they do. I'm going to protect her.
...
On the other side of town, someone else was frustrated with Amy's disappearance as well. The person slammed their fist on the table and their secretary who had their head hanging low felt a shiver down their spine upon witnessing their boss's fury.
The person took a glass of whiskey and walked towards the floor to ceiling window behind them. "And?" the person asked while stirring the contents in the glass.
"Ever since being abducted by Parton's men, we still haven't found her. But it's quite obvious Parton Corp's downfall was her doing. She basically aired all their dirty laundry", the secretary reported.
The person was now staring at the contents in the glass with amusement. "Then it means she escaped whatever Parton had in store for her. Clever."
"Pick up from where we left off", the person said with a nonchalant shrug.
Cold sweat started to break out on the secretary's forehead. He knew the next words he was about to utter would provoke the beast in his boss but he still needed to say it at least for his boss's sake.
"Boss, aren't you afraid we would face the same fate as Parton's?" he asked with caution. Silence. His heart hammered out of his chest. If anything, he would prefer the outburst his boss usually had whenever upset.
The silence was simply suffocating not just for him but the bodyguards that stood in the room as well. He watched as his boss silently drunk the whiskey in one go. The person sighed after finishing the contents in the glass. Does that mean the boss acknowledged his point?
The secretary was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when something flew past his ear. He could have sworn his soul had left him and came back when he heard the glass shutter against the wall behind him.
Unlike the first time he started to work for his boss, his legs did not give out this time but fear still overtook him. A humorless chuckle resounded from his boss's mouth.
"You dare compare me to Parton?" the boss asked.
"It's not like that. I-" the secretary started but was interrupted by his boss.
"Parton is weak compared to a bulldog like me. Miss Harper knows I'll find her the moment she taps into my system so she knows to stay hidden, if she knows what's good for her. So my plans will proceed now", the boss finally turned around facing everyone in the room.
"Everyone leave, I need to demonstrate my abilities to dear Mr. Wright."
The bodyguards left one after another while Mr. Wright was left alone faced with the sinister smile that played on his boss' lips.
"Boss-" he started to plead for mercy but his boss only chuckled.
"You really shouldn't have said that", the boss said quietly with a sigh.
"Boss please", he said in a shaky voice.
"Peter", the boss's tone was laced with danger. Peter Wright resigned to his fate. He knew that no matter how much he pleaded, his boss would not change their mind. They always saw things through to the end no matter what. He should have held his tongue. He should have.