Reunited Ch. 05

Okay so I merged two chapters into one so it would be long enough to please those complaining. No guarantees about when I'll post the next one though because I'm going out of town for a wedding and by merging these two chapters I've caught up to a couple portions that aren't quite right yet. Please be patient and thanks for reading and for constructive feedback. :D

*****

One month later

"Reynolds! Where's your head? You're supposed to be looking at the case files, not staring off into space like a vacant idiot."

"Sorry sir," Alec muttered. Over the past couple of weeks, Alec had lost focus on work-oriented stuff. His boss had quickly noticed and had repeatedly berated him. But Alec had a hard time focusing on these mysteries when there was a far more confusing and intriguing one facing him.

He and Jake had gone to check out the address Carrie had given them. The place had been completely empty, with some signs that the previous occupant had been there recently. From there, they were lost. Jake had to return home once his business in the city was finished and at that point, Alec had only Ellie on his mind.

Jake had agreed to call a few of the friends he and Ellie had shared while Alec began searching online for people who had previously been connected to her. Something was fishy about the whole encounter with her. Why had she changed so much? Why did she look so afraid? Why had she been determined to convince them that she wasn't his old flame? Why would she leave rather than face him?

That last question hurt to ask. Jake had been right all those years. He had known immediately that Ellie was the right girl for Alec and had repeatedly invited both to any event he hosted in a subtle and unnoticed attempt to set them up with one another. Little had he known they'd get together on their own only a few months later. Shaking his head, Alec pulled himself out of his daydreams and forced himself to focus on the file in front of him.

There had recently been crimes in the hospitals of large cities and they had hit the metro's hospital just a couple miles from the station. While many believed the violence was all connected, no one had yet found the key.

"Hey boss, do we have access to the files from any of the other cities?"

"No the feds won't give up their data yet. Maybe if we stop wasting time daydreaming and find something..." he said that pointedly so Alec returned to the files in front of him. The patterns had been spotted but no one had figured out their meanings. Young females had been accosted each time. None had been injured. It looked like all the girls here had been doctors, residents fresh out of med school.

"They're searching for someone," he thought to himself before repeating the thought out loud. "Chief, they're looking for a specific woman. That's why they haven't hurt anybody. They haven't found her yet."

"Let's see your reasoning, Reynolds."

Alec walked him through his thought process and the chief quickly saw the same patterns he had. Young female residents, all between the ages of 24 and 29. Each had been cornered after leaving work, had their wallet stolen, and had been threatened but not injured. The few who had tried to resist had found their attempts futile. The thugs always had backup nearby.

"Good work, Reynolds. Keep your mind focused from now on and it won't take us so long to find these connections." The Chief raised his eyebrows meaningfully at Alec.

"Yes, sir." He accepted the chastisement with grace, fully aware of his somewhat erratic behavior over the previous weeks.

Now that he'd done his job, however, his mind wandered. It figured that he could find nothing regarding Ellie in weeks but when given a completely unrelated case, he could find a clue in all of two minutes. Forcing himself back to the file in front of him, he kept his focus for the remainder of the day.

*****

Rob Davidson was not a man to mess with, though few of his acquaintances were aware of it. His record was spotless, he was a part of the most elite social circles in the nation, and he masked his dangerous side with a handsome appearance and faux-subservient charm. Beneath the surface of his carefully preserved façade, however, he was also in charge of the most notorious crime syndicate in the U.S. Drug dealing and trafficking, illegal arms trades, and prostitution rings were just the tip of the iceberg for them.

Although the feds had long suspected that there was a corrupt government official helping the organization, they had never connected it to him; nor had they even suspected him as the ringleader of the entire thing. Since he was actually the co-founder and CEO of a multinational corporation rather than a politician, he had never been a serious suspect on any list. Of course, his deep pockets helped. He'd actually made charitable donations to several federal agencies and even had friends who'd mentioned the group in passing conversation, completely oblivious to the fact that he was the ever elusive ringleader.

It was a point of pride to him that he had never been linked to the group and that anybody who could testify to such a connection had always been eliminated. At least, they had always been eliminated until now.

Davidson was strolling along a path in the city park, outwardly seeming to enjoy the weather yet inwardly seething. In all his years, not one man had ever escaped after finding out just who exactly Rob Davidson was. The few men he did trust with his secrets had helped dispose of the bodies and make the disappearances seem random. There hadn't been many, of course; merely a handful. However, his current situation was far worse than all of the previous confrontations combined.

Not only does the bitch know everything, she's still alive and on the loose, he fumed. He couldn't believe that none of his men—in either the gang or the government—had turned up a trace of her.

Of course, he'd always known she'd be a handful, but he'd liked that best in a woman. The more willful and stubborn they were at the beginning, the more he enjoyed cowing them to his own will. Ellie had been no exception: she'd come to him with full knowledge of her worth. He'd seen her reduce a man to nothing using only her razor sharp tongue. In fact, her pointed words were what had led him to her secret: she was vulnerable and had been hurt in the not-so-distant past.

Once he'd realized that the girl was longing for someone to want her, he'd had his ammunition. Within a few months, he'd gotten her to agree to date him. He'd wooed her into his trap and beaten her into submission.

That was the way with women, he'd found. They were all weak. He merely had to find the chink in their armor to bring them down and show them their true value. With Ellie, it had been almost too easy. Her desire to love and be loved had made her a practically eager victim.

He'd never felt as strongly about any of his other conquests. He'd showered the girl with affection, expensive gifts, and had even planned on marrying her eventually. She'd been on his arm at every event for two years; he loved showing her off to the glamorous capital crowd, something he'd never done for his previous whores.

Of course, none of them had flinched quite like she had. After giving her the perfect courtship for several months, they'd finally had their first fight. In the relationship timeline, the first fight was the moment when he decided whether or not a woman was worth any more effort. He knew how to twist their words to make the fight far nastier than it should have been, and they always ended with him finally getting to hit the woman.

With Ellie, the fight had been over something inconsequential. She'd wanted to visit her mother instead of attending a party hosted by some of his most elite clientele. Of course, he'd escalated it until she had snapped and screamed at him before turning away. He'd grabbed her, spun her around roughly, and backhanded her. He still remembered the way she'd flown backward into a wall with such a solid thump. Just thinking about it made him stiffen as pleasure coursed through his veins.

The girl had been naturally uncoordinated, making her an amazing target for his blows. When they were unexpected, he could easily knock her to the floor or into walls. Then he'd be so turned on by his power over her that he'd pick her up, rip off her clothes, and fuck her senseless. He'd never found a woman before or after Ellie who made his blood pound so hot and heavy. Sure, he had his whores on the side, but they didn't care as much when he beat them. None of them ever pleaded with him to stop hurting them: they were accustomed to mistreatment, and some even liked it enough that they didn't charge him extra. No, it was as if Ellie had been made for him. Or at least it had seemed that way until the little bitch left.

Now he was angry constantly, always watching over his shoulder. She knew far too much and was still out there. He had men checking every likely place for her in cities across the nation. He had wanted to institute a manhunt and claim that she had been kidnapped, but he had waited too long after her escape; he'd figured she'd be found and punished before too much time had passed.

She had never returned. She'd never come back for any of stuff she'd moved into his house. She had merely claimed that she was going shopping and she never came back. He'd found her car in the mall parking lot and no trace of her. She'd left behind her cell phone, identification, credit cards, everything. So how in God's name had she managed to not only escape him in the first place but also to remain out of his grasp?

The mystery kept him up at night. He'd turned over control of his businesses to his partners so he could devote his time to finding her, but still there had been no leads. How could a girl with absolutely no backbone have defied him so perfectly?

*****

Ellie stood behind the bar, taking orders as quickly as possible. She tried to focus solely on her work, but her mind was forever oscillating between Alec and Jake, Rob, and the years that had passed since college. She forced herself to focus for ten more minutes before taking a quick break in the back room. There, she allowed her memories to sweep over her.

After Jake and Alec had graduated, she had initially kept in contact with both. It was intermittent at best, but it was better than nothing. Jake was busy with graduate studies while Alec had gone to search for a job. When nothing was found, he'd finally decided to join his local police department. Training for that took up all of time and energy for months, and during that point they stopped talking.

She had been heartbroken when they'd broken up. She should have realized a guy didn't start dating a girl just before graduating and then stick with her. But she had tried to maintain a strong face; she didn't want him to know he'd hurt her as badly as he had. She remembered one of the last days before graduation.

One of the traditions at their school was a senior night off campus. It generally was just a giant house party at this old abandoned mansion not too far from campus where all the seniors and their friends got drunk and reminisced. Ellie and accompanied Alec and Jake, as well as some of their other good friends, to the party. They'd all had a blast, and after sobering up a bit, they'd separated for the night. Ellie had gone home with Alec, where they'd settled down for a movie.

Still a little tipsy, Ellie had quickly lost interest in the plot and had decided to flirt instead. She was lying on his couch with her head in his lap, so she sat up and switched positions to where she was straddling him and facing him.

"Kiss me, Alec."

She remembered he'd looked a little surprised, because she rarely demanded anything from him, especially physical stuff. She didn't have much experience prior to him, just one long term boyfriend who had rarely wanted sex and had come out of the closet a year after their break up. They had yet to really move past passionate make out sessions, which he had told her was fine with him.

He kissed her, gently at first. As she sighed in contentment, he'd snuck his tongue across her bottom lip, making her gasp and open her mouth. He took advantage of this opportunity to deepen their kiss and grab her tightly. After several minutes of kissing, he paused.

"Els, if we keep this up, I'm going to want more of you. I can always stop if you want, but I really don't want to."

"Then don't stop." She had felt so confident.

And he'd grabbed her hand then and led her to his bed. There they resumed kissing, but as they did so, he started teasing his hand under her shirt. Just enough to touch the skin of her lower back. That touch was enough to make him groan.

He stopped again, laughing at her pout, and grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. She had reciprocated, pulling off his shirt and pulling him back down on top of her. Their skin-on-skin contact was amazing, but her bra was in the way. She dispensed of it herself, reaching back and unclasping it quickly before tossing it to the side.

That was when she'd seen in his eyes how much he wanted her. He'd looked her up and down for a moment before zeroing in on her nipple. He'd lowered his head to the peak and taken it in his mouth, causing her to arch her back in excitement. Twirling it around with his tongue gently caused it to stiffen quickly and caused her catch her breath. He had soon switched to the other side, again taking her breast in his mouth, but had kept his thumb on the first peak, pressing in gently and still rubbing.

She had felt so turned on, more than she'd ever felt with her first boyfriend. "Alec!" she'd gasped. "Please."

He'd slowly kissed his way down her stomach, leaving feather-light tingles in every spot his lips left. Then he'd unzipped her pants and divested her of both jeans and panties in one quick motion.

"God, Els. You're so stunning," he had panted before spreading her legs. For a moment, she hadn't understood, then she'd felt his tongue spreading her folds. He'd licked up and down her slit before pushing his tongue all the way up into her, as far as it would go. It felt better than anything he'd done so far and made her so wet. He'd continued flicking his tongue over her clit and then slowly inserted one finger, then another, sliding them in and out while sucking on her clit.

That was all it had taken to get her to beg for him. "Alec, please! I want you."

He'd chortled before complying and taking off his pants and boxers. He'd crawled up to her and kissed her, holding himself over her long enough to ask, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, please!" she had begged.

He slowly eased himself into her, causing her to revel in the fullness of him. He fit so snugly she was afraid that she was too tight, too out of practice for him to fit correctly. But it felt so right.

Pulling herself out of her reveries, she remembered that poor Alec had gone so long without sex that he'd had an orgasm within a minute and had been mortified. She giggled at the memory. He'd been so ashamed and she'd felt so badly for him, but she had focused more on how much she wanted him again. That desire hadn't faded over the next few weeks. Since Alec's apartment was off-campus and his lease didn't end for a month after graduation, she had spent every night of their remaining time learning just how pleasing a man could be. He teased her mercilessly, finding her erogenous zones and kissing her there right before they had to leave each morning, he for his last days working for the school and she for the summer class she had decided to take.

For four glorious weeks, everything was perfect. And then it was over.

Back to work, El. You know better than to get caught up like this. After giving herself a stern lecture, she returned to the bar. Two hours of serving later, they were approaching last call when a new patron strolled up to the bar. Ellie's back was turned, but she heard a familiar voice ask for a drink, she froze. How is this even possible?

This wasn't Alec or Jake. But Ellie still recognized his voice, and that meant that she was in huge trouble. Careful not to face the man, she turned away from him and walked to the break room. There she took out her phone and called the only person she could think of to help her.

"Carrie? Oh thank God you answered," she whispered. "It's Ellie. I'm in trouble and I need someone to come pick me up immediately."

She gave her friend directions and prayed Carrie was still reliable and trustworthy. Then she grabbed her bag and left out the back door.

*****

Alec's phone startled him out of sleep. Out of habit, he started to silence it, but then realized that if someone was calling him at nearly two in the morning, they probably had a good reason.

"Reynolds," he answered as civilly as possible, but he couldn't keep the hostility completely out of his voice.

"Officer Reynolds, it's Carrie. Ellie's friend? I know where she is and she's in trouble. I thought I should probably tell you."

"Where is she? Is she alright? Did she give you any details?"

As Carrie gave him directions and the few facts she had been able to glean from her friend, Alec threw on clothes and ran out the door to his car. She was on the opposite side of the city; hopefully someone would be able to get to her soon. Alec didn't know what exactly was wrong, but he had instincts, and today his instincts were telling him something horrible would happen if he didn't find her immediately.

"Thank you, Carrie. I'm going to run and pick her up. Don't worry; I'll keep her safe."

*****

Ellie saw the car slowing down, but it wasn't Carrie's car. Maybe she'd sent a friend? She walked closer and the driver lowered the window, revealing himself to be Alec.

"You? But I . . . Carrie called you, didn't she?"

"Yes. Now will you please come with me and tell me what in the world is going on?"

"No. I think I'll wait for my friend. I don't even know you."

"Els. There's obviously no time for that. I didn't drag my ass out of bed in the middle of the

night to have you refuse my help. So get in the car now and tell me what the hell has happened."

Ellie felt reluctant about getting into Alec's car, but she knew she had to get away from the henchman at the bar. It was Mendon, Rob's right hand man, the one who was most likely leading the hunt for her. She'd recognize his voice anywhere; it had been engraved into her memory after...she didn't allow herself to remember what she had seen. With a quick glance around to make sure nobody had followed her, she hopped into the passenger seat.

Alec drove for a few minutes in silence, but all too soon for her taste, he asked, "Where do you live? Is that where you need to be taken?"

She gave him her address, hoping that would be the end of the questions, but of course, he didn't shut up. She should have known he would want to figure it out. He loved mysteries and puzzles.

How many nights had they spent watching those mystery t.v. shows? He had always tried to figure out who was guilty before the show did. Don't smile at those memories, El, she chastised herself. You of all people should know not to get lured in by Alec's charms.

"Why did you claim not to know us?"

She said nothing, merely looking out the window at the passing buildings.

"Please answer me. I know you're Ellie Burns, now called Ellie Brown. Something must have happened to cause that change, but you're not wearing a ring and you're acting like a fugitive."

She continued to gaze out at her surroundings.

"Are you hiding from someone? Can you just talk to me, for Christ's sake?!"

His raised voice startled her into looking at him. She kept her cool and levelly stated, "I don't see why any of this matters to you."