Page 108 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Stalker

Someone that wasn’t Ivan.

I slowly rolled to a sitting position. I tried to put weight on my ankle and stand up, but let out a scream of pain. It was a no go. I was afraid I’d broken it. I hobbled on one foot, doing my best to ignore the pain in my ankle and my ribs, until I reached a heavy glass paperweight that had fallen off the table when I’d moved it.

I picked it up and hurled it with all my might at the window, glad I’d played summer league softball for years when I was growing up.

It crashed through one of the panes, leaving a gaping hole. I wanted to jump around and celebrate, but that wasn’t happening with my injuries.

So, I started yelling for help.

I yelled, screamed, pleaded, and cried until my voice was hoarse and my throat hurt.

No one came.

Either no one heard me, or Ivan lived too far out to have anyclose neighbors.

Or…

A more terrifying thought occurred to me. What if Ivan’s neighborscouldhear me? But they were too scared of him to come let me go?

I went back to just lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling and thinking. I thought back to the camera feed Jack had set up at his house.

He’d known I had a stalker. What if that’s why he was staring at me?

What if he’d set up those cameras toprotectme from my stalker? Maybe Jack hadn’t been my stalker after all, and I’d run away from the person I’d thought might love me. The person I’d thought I loved right up until I decided he must be an evil killer. I’d run away from Jack.

And I’d run right into the hands of my actual stalker.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Jack

Nia, Jelly, and I were in the sheriff’s large office. Reynolds and Nadine were, too, as was Old Man Dinardo. It was the middle of the night now, pushing towards the next morning.

“I’m telling you, Ivan came to work just like normal today. He did his shift, then left to do the catering event. Nothing was unusual at all about the way he acted or anything.”

I couldn’t believe that. He had to have given off some clue that he was about to kidnap someone. I paced the floor.

We’d gone to Ivan’s apartment a couple of hours ago. No one had been there. Ivan’s car had been there, but that wasn’t a shock considering I’d seen that he was still driving the deli’s catering van.

Reynolds looked distraught because Nadine was distraught. He and Jelly, who’d grown up with Nadine, were taking turns comforting her while Nia sat looking numbly out the window. She seemed like she might be in shock to me, and I was a little worried about her.

The sheriff kept looking Nia’s way, too. “Are you alright, miss?”

Nia turned to look at him but didn’t say anything.

The sheriff went over to her, kneeled down in front of her, and began saying comforting things to her.

I just stood there while the mayor and Jelly comforted Nadine, and the sheriff comforted Nia.

Nothing was being done to save Daisy, and I wanted to yell at everyone to focus but didn’t want to be a total dick. I turned to Old Man Dinardo, who was staring at his phone. “Do youknow anything else about Ivan? Anything at all that might give us a clue as to where he could’ve taken her?”

“Hold on. My HR guy sent me an email that lists all of Ivan’s details. I’m going through it now.”

I wanted to snatch the phone from his hands. But I forced myself to remain somewhat calm. My anxiety was horrible. I was doing box breathing like crazy, but it wasn’t working its normal magic.

“Hey,” he said leaping up from his chair, “I have something. It’s his mother’s address. I know the area. I’m pretty sure she lives way out in the country.” He paused, reading more on his screen. “Well, lived. It seems she passed away a few years ago.”

The sheriff was already standing up. He called for a couple of deputies and looked as if he was about to leave us in his office. He walked out the door.