Lifeless (Book II)

Hiding

Chapter Twenty

Alex got home closed the door and pulled all of his blinds close trying to keep the media van that was parked out on the side of the road from looking into his windows. His anger flared as he paced back and forth, angry with the fact that his research was on hold. His cell phone went off, calls from his father, mother, The Elven's and Max flooded his phone. He sent them all a message, reassuring them that he was fine and not to visit or call because he was being monitored.

He shut off his phone and sat in the center of his sofa trying to put his mind at ease. He wasn't a murderer. They didn't know that what appeared was not the truth at all. He was seeking closure. He let out a frustrated breath and rested his elbows on his knees leaning forward to look off into space.

"I need to keep looking," he whispered, and rose off the sofa. He quickly pulled out of his suit and tie, and dressed in simple jeans and a plain white t-shirt sitting alone in his large dining room table. Spreading the papers around, he placed them in the right dates and tried making sense of everything.

Grace's criminal record stated that she had a warrant for her arrest, due to unpaid parking tickets. If she was caught driving around and stopped she was going to jail until someone could bail her out. He searched the papers finding a few mug shorts of the real Grace. Now that he looked at her, there were a lot of differences in there appearance. Grace couldn't hold up for a minuet the beauty that Vicky was. Sure she had green eyes, but in them they held hate and evil. There wasn't even a hint of pity, or sorrow in this girl's eyes. Her nose was a bit bigger; her lips thin and cheek bones higher. Her face was oval as to Vicky's was petite.

The Holiday's hadn't bothered to change her eye color, which meant they might have been living in another stare or possibly another town. He quickly rose from his chair and reached out to take hold of the long list of addresses. He searched them and read the last one. It was only a state away from here. He logged on to his lap top and punched in the address on the map finder.

"For Sale," he whispered. The house was a two story floor mansion, with six rooms and three bathrooms. He quickly jotted down the number and recognized it immediately. He thought about it for a moment. What if he called and was being monitored as he spoke.

"Damn it!" he hissed.

Walking over to the window he peeked out to find the van had already gone and pulled the curtain open all the way. His eyes scanned his yard and then he walked out the front door. Seeing no one he rushed back into the house and turned on his phone quickly dialing Grace's number. He of course had been smart and blocked his number from being shown. He waited and then there was an answer.

"Hello?" Mr. Holiday spoke.

"Hi, I'm calling about the house you have for sale," he replied disguising his voice.

"Of course, what would you like to know?" he quickly answered.

"Is there any possible way you could lower the price?"

"No, I'm sorry, that house was in our family for centuries, and I prefer to keep its value at the same rate."

"Are you certain?"

"Certain, many people come along asking us to lower it, we haven't been able to sell it for over three years now, but I stand by what I say."

"Well then thank you and good luck," Alex replied hanging up the phone.

Three years, the Holiday's were definitely fleeing from something, who in the right mind would move out of a house like that. It was paid for, the only thing this man had to deal with was taxes and small bills such as light and gas. He looked at his records again; there was no reason for them to leave that house. Money was not a problem for them, and why Mr. Holiday was working at a towing business beat him. This family was rich, and Grace had a rather large fortune on her hands as well.

Alex sighed and dropped the papers on the table trying to relax; this was so hard to do. His phone suddenly rang again and he quickly picked it up and answered.

"Alex, its Max."

"What's going on?"

"It wasn't Hue, but he knows the guy who has been spying on you for the last two weeks."

"Just let it go Max..."

"Guess who paid the man to do it." Max cut in.

"Mr. Holiday?" Alex replied.

"Yep, the old coot had been keeping a sharp eye on you. The man is guilty Alex. Turns out Grace has a large amount of money waiting to be released to her in just three days. How much do you want to bet she is not aware of it. They are after that fortune."

Alex quickly went back to Grace's information and realized that her grandparents had left her with more than five deeds to their mansions and nearly six point million dollars. Alex felt his jaw drop. How had he overlooked this?

"They want the money." Alex said.

"This just keeps getting better and better doesn't it." Max chuckled.

"I need you to come over." Alex.

In his notepad Alex had written down everything that proved this family was hiding something. He was battling with the idea to take all of this to the police after discovering the truth.

Slumping back unto the table Alex slipped through a few documents containing some of Victoria's past history. He scooted closer in his chair and began to read it all. Vicky had been a straight A student, teacher's pet, and one of the top students to graduate with honors. He smiled as he read over this and felt so proud of her. Now that he looked back, Alex felt awful for ever thinking smart people lower than him. He shook off the guilt and smiled when he saw a picture of her standing along with the swimming team. He felt his eyes grow wide as he saw himself in the bunch.

Sure he had been in the swimming team, but he never remembered her being in there. Regret filled him as he saw the picture, Kim stood next to him, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she leant in and smiled brightly. This must have been the reason why he had never noticed Vicky. He felt guilty as he put the picture away.

Max arrived a little after and explained to Alex how he and a few of his friends had caught up with a journalist called Bill Brantley. They guy spilled the beans as soon as they threatened him and left him with a reminder to think twice before spreading lies. Alex simply shook his head and chuckled, at least he was back on track and all thanks to Max.

They both sat across from each other looking at the sheets and finally Alex showed Max the swimming team picture. Max grinned and looked at it, immediately remembering the old memories that came with it. Then that's when Alex asked about Kim.

"So Max, where did you say Kim was held in?" He asked.

"They have her in a mental institution two towns over from Journey's. After Vicky passed away the family says she started ranting about how she was pregnant and soon would have everything she wanted. For the first two months the family believed her but when they saw no signs of pregnancy on her they had her checked. She threw a fit, attacking her mother and ranting on about how the doctor was lying. They tried to avoid the entire situation by giving her space but Kim wouldn't' let it go. She started buying all kinds of baby clothes, strollers, and even bottles. That's when the family decided they had enough and forced her into the looney bin." Max said.

Alex sat there looking down to his cup of coffee amazed at just how insane Kim had gone over him. He shook his head and forced his eyes not to roll. He wasn't the God of all that was appealing, so why had she gotten so obsessed? He felt disgusted just to think about it. He let out his regret in a small growl. Deep, deep regret filled him for ever laying a finger on her. He let out a sharp breath and finally confessed to Max what she had said that day she had drugged him.

Max simply looked at him a little wide eyed and then simply chuckled and shook his head. He didn't comment on it just simply found it so amusing that a girl would go insane over a guy. Wasn't there a lot more out there in the world? They soon got back to work letting the silence fill them as they rummaged through the rest of the files.