Dangerous Love (girl x girl)

Chapter 42

Isabelle

The hours that passed in Arielle's absence were the longest that I had ever experienced. I had done everything that I thought was possible to track her. Her cellphone had not only been turned off, but likely destroyed as the tracker couldn't detect anything. I checked the CCTV on the grounds, but Arielle had walked down the block before getting into the car.

I had had Marcel dialing Trey Alexander's phone from an unknown number for the last hour with no response. Meanwhile, I had been searching through my father's databases to find something, anything on where they might have Arielle. I didn't even look up from my computer when my door was flung open.

"Mademoiselle." Marcel's voice caught my attention.

I looked up immediately. "Did he pick up?"

"No, but you'll want to see this." He moved over to my side of the desk and inserted a USB. I watched in confusion as he pulled up a CCTV record.

"Marcel, I've already had all the CCTV pulled where she was spotted."

"No, just watch." He insisted. I turned to the screen and saw Francis by the East wing. He had been talking to someone on the phone, but the CCTV only had video, not audio. I frowned in confusion but continued to watch. He proceeded to the exit once he hung up the phone.

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked in confusion.

"Look at the time stamps." Marcel gestured to the bottom of the screen. "Right before Miss Arielle left. He's not in the estate right now, I checked."

"Maybe he's out running an errand?"

"Mademoiselle, he was scheduled to be on duty in the West wing third floor until 7pm today." Marcel said in a low tone, meeting my eyes with an intense look.

I stiffened. He had no reason to be anywhere near the East wing. "Maybe he had some sort of emergency..." I muttered, but even I didn't find that excuse believable.

"It all makes sense. Chase Evans said he didn't know how someone could have overheard Arielle and known she was going to sneak out." Marcel reasoned.

I felt my heart sinking. So this hadn't been due to her work for the organization at all. It didn't make sense to me though. Francis had been working for my father for over four years. Surely he couldn't have been a double agent for that long? "Even if he arranged for someone to take her, what good does that do us?" I rubbed at my temples in anxiety.

"We can track any car he may have taken. His phone. Something."

I let out a loud breath. "Marcel, remind me to tell my father to give you a raise." I muttered quietly just as Marcel's phone began to ring. He pulled out the device from his pocket and glanced at it before handing it to me.

Trey Alexander.

"Trey." I spoke into the receiver.

~~~~

Arielle

I didn't know how long it took for Kate to settle again, but it seemed far longer than it was in reality likely. I stayed quiet, both out of sympathy and guilt. I wondered how long she had been in here to end up like this.

The next visitor we had came a few hours later. I kept my eyes down when I heard the door open and the footsteps, but Kate did the opposite. I froze as she launched herself at the bars. "Tristan please, I'm sorry!"

My entire body stiffened. Vincenzo. I stayed perfectly still as I felt his footsteps approach my cell. "Rebecca...or should I call you Arielle." He said quietly. Kate stopped rattling the bars. "I knew you were hiding something." He chuckled. "Pity you had to turn Rex against me. He died for what? A pretty face?" I clenched my hands into fists, knowing he was trying to bait me.