Inked

Chapter 19

                              Bentley calls Peyton. By this time it is 5am.

Peyton: Hello

Bentley: Hey, it's Bentley

Peyton: Hey. Did you hear from Harley?

Bentley: No....but I found her phone.

                             Peyton sits straight up in bed

Peyton: What do you mean you found her phone?!

Bentley: I called her phone while I walked the block and I found it in a bush not far from the apartment. Something happened Peyton....something bad.

                                      6 am Wednesday at Toothsome Chocolate Factory

Boss: Ember, have you seen Harley? Her shift started an hour ago.

Ember: No sir. Would you like me to call her?

Boss: Yes please. Tell her that she better have a good excuse for not showing up, and I expect to see her in my office when she gets here.

Ember: Yes sir.

                                    Ember calls Harley's phone

Bentley: Hello?

Ember: Um...This is Ember from Toothsome Chocolate Factory. Is Harley there?

Bentley: No she isn't. This is her boyfriend Bentley...Harley has been missing for almost 24 hours. I was going to come by in a bit to see if any of you had seen her.

Ember: What!? What do you mean she is missing?

Bentley: Harley disappeared yesterday at 2pm. No one has seen or spoken to her since. Her phone was found in the bushes near her apartment.

Ember: OH MY GOD! I will tell our Boss Jack. Please keep me updated!

Bentley: Will do. Bye.

                                                     *Bentley*

                   He hangs up and groggily rubs his face, He has tattoo appointments to reschedule today. He's had less than an hour of sleep, and he needs some sleep to stay focused on finding Harley.

                                                     KNOCK KNOCK

Bentley: HOLD ON!

                  Bentley gets up and puts on pants before opening the door to see Peyton and Officer Jones.

Peyton: Hey, mind if we come in?

Bentley: Sure. Come on in. Let me grab Harley's phone I found.

Officer Jones: Thank you sir.

                Bentley goes back to his bedroom and grabs Harley's phone....coming back out and handing it to Officer Jones.

Officer Jones: Thank you. Where did you find it?

Bentley: Not far from their apartment complex. It was in a bush, I was walking the block and I called her phone and followed the music.

Officer Jones: Good thinking

Bentley: Harley's work called right before you guys showed up. I answered her phone and they said she didn't show up for work. They haven't seen or spoken to her either.

Officer Jones: I know that protocol usually says 48 hours but with this new evidence, I'm going to personally file the missing persons report as soon as possible.

Bentley: I also wanted to talk to you about Harley's ex. He recently moved to Orlando and he has been popping up randomly everywhere.

                            The officer pulls out his notepad and starts writing.

Officer Jones: What's his name?

Bentley: Joey.....I don't know his last name.

Peyton: It's Lewis. Joey Lewis.

Officer Jones: Joey Lewis. Okay. What else do I need to know about him?

                        Bentley looks over at Peyton before she speaks.

Peyton: Joey has a history of violence. A bad attitude and temper to boot. He has abused Harley on numerous occasions. She finally got away from him about 6 - 7 months ago. We have been here for almost 4 months now.

Peyton: He has sexually raped Harley. He has beat Harley. He has verbally abused Harley....Joey is a crazy person.

                             Bentley is seething now. The rage is building and he feels like he is about to snap.

Officer Jones: Alright. I'll look into it. We will keep in touch.

                              Officer Jones walks out of the apartment and Peyton just looks at Bentley with tears in her eyes.

Bentley: I knew he was abusive....but I didn't know how bad or what happened.

Peyton: She doesn't like to talk about it. Joey was a class act. Master manipulator. Convinced her that everything he did was out of love. Choked her, slapped her, raped her, abused her verbally, talked down to her, isolated her.....

Peyton: One day he had gotten angry when she was home alone. He called her and told her he was on his way to kill her this time. She got so scared that she called me to come get her. He was found walking down the road with a hammer and chains. Unfortunately, the police did nothing because there was no evidence other than her word that he was going to do anything.

Peyton: So she got out. She left and never contacted him again. But apparently he found her...

Bentley: Motherfucker...

Bentley: You aren't staying at your apartment alone, I'm coming.

                Bentley grabs some clothes and they head back to Peyton and Harley's apartment.