Kat

Alexa, Chapter Eight

 Her hands gripped the wheel tightly, her knuckles white, her speedometer climbing steadily. Not that she cared; her mind was elsewhere. Cobb seemed to mind, however, and he looked at the road, then back at her, then road again, as the dotted white line seemed to blur and become one long strip of paint. He took his handkerchief out and wiped his brow.

"Madam, might I advise you use more caution?" he asked, clenching his jaw as the treeline whizzed past.

Alexa glared at him for a moment, before turning back to the road and weaving around a car. "Caution is for the dead," she muttered, swerving into another lane.

There were no cops around, so she should've been good. She checked her mirrors just in case, though. Her black, window-tinted Lexus wasn't exactly made for these speeds, so she was pushing it to its limits. Undoubtedly someone had called the cops already, but she was prepared to shell out two thousand bucks to whomever pulled her over to give her a police escort.

Thankfully, it never came to that. She took an exit, slowing down to a more reasonable speed, and Cobb breathed a sigh of relief that he'd been holding in and sunk deep into his chair. Alexa took a turn down a street, and familiar buildings rose up around them. Alexa took a turn, and Io's Slave Jewelry popped up before them. She swung into the parking lot and hastily parked, taking up two spots at a slant. She didn't care. There were more important things on her mind.

She rushed out of her car, slamming the door behind her and leaving Cobb to follow her in. She strode up to the door to the shop and pushed it open, a little bell tinkling, signaling her arrival. Within, Io stood at the counter, working on the finishing touches to a ring. She looked up and, seeing Alexa, smiled widely and bowed. "Welcome back Mistress!" she said. "Please, come in!"

Alexa walked up to Io with a powerful stride and looked down at the girl. Io could clearly see that something was wrong now, as she frowned and shrunk down beneath Alexa's piercing gaze. "Mistress?"

"Go get your Master Io. I need him now."

Io stuttered for a moment, backing up slightly, before she darted from the counter hastily and rushed up the stairs in the back. Alexa watched her go, pacing nervously, wringing her hands and biting her nails. Upstairs, she could hear footsteps, and distant talking. It sounded urgent, which was good. It was urgent.

When Tim finally came down, followed by Io, she was just about ready to pull her hair out. Anxiety gnawed at her insides like a ravenous beast; the breakfast she'd hastily eaten this morning threatened to make its way back up her esophagus. It was a miracle she forced it to stay down.

Tim strode up to his old friend, eyebrows furrowed with worry. "Alexa? Normally I'd say it's a pleasure to see you, but this doesn't seem like a good time for pleasantries." His frown deepened as he studied her serious, almost-panicking demeanor. "What's happened?"

She stopped biting her nails long enough to curse under her breath. With a heavy sigh, she addressed the shop owner. "It's Kat. She ran."

Those few words were enough to make Tim's eyes widen. "Oh....oh my. I'm so sorry to hear that."

Alexa wordlessly nodded then pulled out her phone, handing it over to Tim. "I've tried to track her, but...I-I can't find the signal. The ring- it's not working." She was close to tears by now.

"She does have it, though, correct?" Tim questioned.

"I think so. I really hope so." Alexa had resumed biting her nails. "I didn't see it in her room, and I tore the whole place apart."

The Mistress was shaking like a leaf. Tim noticed and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. "Calm down, it may just not be activated. Which would be my fault, yes. But breathe, girl, breathe."

He took a deep breath in, and motioned with his hands like a conductor for her to do the same. She followed him, breathing deeply, in then out, in and out. After a few breaths, she found that her nerves calmed a bit, though not by much. Still, it helped, and she let out a small sigh.

He looked at her approvingly, and said, "Alright. Let me go upstairs and check its activation. It may still need to be turned on, which I can do from here, so don't panic. I'll be right back."

With that, the portly man rushed over to the stairs and disappeared. Alexa looked to Cobb, who had come in behind her and was petting Io and chatting with her.

"Is she... why did she do it?" Io asked Cobb, looking up at him with sad eyes.

Cobb shook his head. "Now is not the proper time to ask that question, young lady."

Io looked down and scuffed at the ground, pouting. "Oh. Sorry Cobb."

Just then, her phone rang out. She pulled it out of her pocket and typed in its passcode. Then, the map came up on its screen, pinpointing a small area in the more shady part of town, just south of where she was. The rough part of town. The slums, if anything. A small icon sat above it, reading "Kat", and a set of coordinates was listed below that. Alexa studied it for a moment, before tapping on the icon. A menu popped up, and she selected "Track" on it, and got a set of directions to Kat's location. A wave of relief washed over her, but it was momentary. If Kat was in the south part of the city, that could be very, very bad. Especially for a slave on her own.

Tim rushed down the stairs. "Well?" he asked, hurrying over to her. "Did it work?"

"It did," Alexa said, nodding. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks a ton Tim. You're a lifesaver, maybe literally."

"I try," he said, offering a smile. "Now go, hurry, go get her. I'm sure she's scared out there and needs her Mistress."

Alexa nodded and looked to Cobb. "Cobb, come, we're loading up."

"Right away Madam," he responded, standing and following her out of the store in a hurry. They both slipped back into the car, and once situated, and Alexa had the car in reverse, he asked, "Where is she?"

"Somewhere she shouldn't be," Alexa said, a dark expression passing over her face. "Somewhere she shouldn't be at all."