CHAPTER FIVE

It was a brand new day and Xavier woke up feeling hopeful. For the first time since he was kidnapped, he could tell the time of the day. Streaks of light fell on the bed from the open windows, the sun was rising and it was a marvelous sight. He stood by the window, scoping out his surroundings. There were acres of land surrounding the house, most of the land was covered in trees but the area closest to the house was dominated by shrubs. Not far from his room was a huge garden with beautiful flowers of different kinds, he knew his mother would love them, she had devoted a lot of time to taking care of her garden in their house and she loved grooming flowers to decorate the house. An ache appeared in his chest at the thought of his mother, she was the only family he had and vice versa, he knew his death would destroy her.

         "I have to get out of here." He said to himself. He looked below the window and realized he was about twenty five feet above the ground, it would be almost impossible to land safely if he were to jump. As he was thinking about that, two bodyguards strolled below his room and he knew it would be impossible to leave through this way.

            

*****

The wristwatch on his hand read 9:00am and Chiara was not yet out. He had begrudgingly worn the expensive wristwatch to keep track of time, after been lost in time the past couple of days, he was grateful for the wristwatch. It was a really classy wristwatch, something he would never buy and he hated wearing it, but it felt good to have a knowledge of time, something he had always taken for granted. Being locked in that dark basement had made him value the wristwatch, he didn't mind if it was made of rubber or gold, as long as it told the time.

           He wondered if she was busy in her room or if she was still sleeping. 'it's none of my business.' he thought and shook his head, trying to clear his head of thoughts concerning her.

             Xavier had warmed part of the leftovers and was eating when Chiara came in. She was dressed in sweatpants and sports bra, her skin was glistening with sweat and some strands of hair had escaped the messy bun on her head and was plastered on her forehead and the back of her neck. 

              She spared him a glance as she walked to the fridge. She took a bottle of water, unscrewed it and gulped down the water. She drank as though she had been in the desert for a week. He watched her as she threw the bottle in a dustbin and left the kitchen. His body relaxed when she left and he didn't even know he was tense. A part of him was disappointed to watch her go, 'wasn't she supposed to give me a tour today?', he pondered in his mind.

             He finished his food and rinsed the plates loading them in the dishwasher. He returned all the kitchenware back to their right places and cleaned the countertop. The cleaning was keeping him busy and taking his mind off Chiara. He had never met anyone like her, she was kinda crazy and that should repel him but he was intrigued.

             He sat down in the living room, watching the news and trying to catch up on recent events, crimes in particular. He was hoping his face would come up on the news as a missing person, but that didn't happen. 

            'They are probably holding a private investigation.' He mused inwardly, holding on to the hope that his supervisor had taken note of his absence over the past couple of days. It was not like him to suddenly go off the grid without informing his boss, he was almost certain they would be looking for him. 

              The faint footsteps approaching him brought him out of his thoughts. Chiara was dressed in a blue chiffon long sleeve shirt with a little design, black suit pants and black heeled boots, he wondered how she managed to avoid making noise in the shoes she was wearing. She did look amazing in the outfit and he wondered where she was going.

              "Get up, let's have the tour." She said, answering his questions. He followed her as she weaved through the house showing him the different rooms, there were six bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, three guest bathrooms, a kitchen, a study which also served as her home office, a formal dining room with a wet bar, a living room, a den, an indoor pool, a home gym and a library. She gave him access to the gym, pool, den and library, but the other rooms were off limits. At some point during the tour, she seemed fixated on her phone. She did not look up from her phone for about five minutes and he used the opportunity to look around the house, the house was even more beautiful and grandiose than he thought. She specifically warned him to stay away from her study, she did not want him hanging around the study and that piqued his curiosity. 

             When they were done with the tour, she led him to the study. She sat down behind the imposing mahogany desk and gestured for him to sit.

            "I need you to write a convincing resignation letter stating that you have decided to quit the agency to work in private security." She switched on her laptop and turned it to him.

            He laughed, "You've got to be kidding." he stared at her and noticed the blank expression on her face, there was no sign of humor on her face. "Are you serious?" He could not believe what she was saying.

             "Soon enough you will learn not to question me. When I give an order, I hate to repeat it and when I do, there are consequences." She leaned on the desk and stared him in the eyes. He felt chills run down his back at her cold stare, her eyes seemed so icy, it felt like she could kill him with just her gaze. He ducked his head to avoid her gaze and looked at the laptop, he wasn't sure what to do.

               "No one would believe it." He said in an act of defiance.

              "Oh, they will. Because you are going to the office to submit the resignation letter and you will be very convincing." She smiled and he could have sworn he saw something in her eyes.

          He knew she had a plan, but he had one of his own. He would escape when he goes to submit the letter, it was the perfect opportunity. With that in mind, he took the laptop and started writing.

           "There is no wifi on the laptop, so don't bother trying." She said and took out another laptop from one of the drawers.

             He struggled to write the resignation letter, he had worked really hard to get into the agency and the thought of resigning was nerve wracking, even though he knew it was not real. He would do his best to keep his job, he just had to escape her. He debated asking for help through the letter but dismissed it, she would most probably find out.

             "I'm done with the letter." 

             Chiara nodded her head and continued working on her laptop. Xavier glanced around the room, not sure of what to do. He had checked the laptop for incriminating information, but all he saw was games and songs, there was no file on the laptop and the browser history was clear, absolutely nothing. He stared at the bookcase in the room, it was filled with different business and marketing books, he wondered if she actually read them. A book caught his eyes and he looked closer at it, it was titled 'Expressions and Emotions: How to understand them'. He read the title on the spine again, to be sure he had not imagined it, it was correct. 

    'Why would she read something like that?' he wondered.

*****

      Chiara finished responding to the important emails and she closed her laptop, returning it to the drawer. She took the laptop Xavier used and read through the letter. She carefully combed through the letter, looking out for coded messages. When she was done, she printed the letter and put it in a file. 

            "You can go and change your clothes." She told Xavier. 

           Her phone pinged and she checked it, it was a message from Marcos.

            'I'm five minutes out', the message read.

           She left the study and went outside to welcome him. She dismissed the guards on duty just as Marcos' Ferrari rolled in.

             "Have you packed it?" She asked referring to Xavier's apartment. She had told him earlier to pack Xavier's apartment and close the rent on the place.

             "Yeah, the moving truck is coming." Marcos said as he alighted the vehicle. 

        Just as he spoke, a truck came down the driveway. She directed the men to move the things into the outdoor pool house which she used for storage. She paid them and sent them away after threatening them to keep their mouths shut.

           "What is going on?" Marcos asked with concern. It was strange for her to do this, whenever they needed someone to disappear, they burnt all the belongings, her ordering them to be brought to her place was weird.

            She ignored him and walked into the house. She saw Xavier in the living room dressed in a white button down shirt, grey striped chinos and white sneakers. She sat down and Marcos followed her, he looked at Xavier with suspicion and curiosity.

            "Marcos, this is Xavier, Xavier meet Marcos." Both men stared at each other but did not say anything.

               "Why is he here?" Marcos asked. When she didn't answer, he held her hand and she turned to face him. "Chiara, why?"

               Chiara took a deep breath and stood up, she went to the dining to get a bottle of whiskey and a glass. She poured a glass as she entered the living room and handed it to Marcos.

               "Thanks." He said and gulped it down.

              "I need you to accompany Xavier to his office, he has an errand to run. Excuse me, I'll be back soon." She said and left the room.

*****

Marcos was surprised when he saw Chiara's message, it was not unusual, but the details struck him. The address was familiar, he knew he had seen it somewhere, he just couldn't remember.

       He replied her and immediately made arrangements with a moving truck. It was his day off and he had planned to rest but when he saw her message, he stood up and got dressed. There was almost nothing he would not do for her, he had fallen for her years back and he still loved her, quirks and all.

            He followed her instructions and dismissed his bodyguard and driver and he drove himself to the address. 

             When he arrived at the building, he ensured the place was safe, then he went to check out the apartment, it was on the tenth floor of the building. He picked the lock and entered, it was a decent apartment with an open floor plan and it was smart, but it did not have any personal touch. He strolled to the main bedroom and checked the room, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He was about to leave when he noticed a framed picture on the bedside table. He moved closer to it and picked up the picture, it was a picture of a man in his early thirties with an older woman, he had an arm around her shoulder and they were both smiling. He was staring at the picture when it clicked, it was Xavier McKinney, the guy Chiara looked up. Now he knew why the address was familiar, he had looked up the guy as well, out of curiosity.

              'This is interesting.' He thought and smirked.

             He left the apartment and went to the reception area on the ground floor. He requested for the caretaker and he was directed to his apartment. He knocked on the door and a portly, short man opened the door, the man seemed to be in his fifties.

           "Who are you?" He asked, still standing in the doorway.

          "A friend of Xavier, your tenant." The man stroke his beard like he was trying to remember who Marcos was talking about.

           "Oh! The police."

           Marcos chuckled at this and nodded his head. From his findings, Xavier was a FBI agent, not a policeman, but he did not bother correcting him.

            "What can I do for you?"

             Marcos dipped his hand in his pocket and brought out a wad of hundred dollar bills.

               "I'm here to close his rental agreement on his behalf, he is moving today." Marcos gave him the wad of cash and the man smiled and opened the door. Marcos walked in and the man offered him a seat in his living room. The room was , there were family pictures hung on the wall and a few toys were scattered on the floor, he could tell it was a family home.

               "I'll get the papers." The man said and scurried off. He soon came back with a few documents and handed them to Marcos. "He needs to sign here." He said, pointing at the bottom right corner of one of the documents.

                Marcos ignored him and stood up. "Should anyone inquire about Xavier, you tell them he moved away and didn't leave his new address. Do you understand?" He walked towards the door and turned around.

              "Yes."

       "For your family's sake, keep the agreement. Pleasure doing business with you." Xavier left the fear stricken man in his doorway and went back to the apartment. 

          The movers came and he directed them to pack the furnitures and donate them to a shelter, while the other things were packed in the second truck. He got in his car and directed the truck to follow him.

          On his way to Chiara's house, he was thinking about what was going on. It was out of behavior for her to request the belongings of a target, at least that is what he hoped Xavier was to her, just a target. The secrecy about the whole thing was weird, which made him wonder if it was a personal target. He knew Chiara and her idiosyncrasies, but he could not explain this, it was simply weird. He texted her that he will be arriving soon.

               He arrived at the gate and checked behind him, the truck was still far away. He punched in the security code, he told the security guard to grant the truck access. He had barely packed his car when Chiara asked him, "Have you packed it?"

       "Yeah, the moving truck is coming." He alighted from the car and walked towards her. He was about to ask her a question when the truck came in. She directed the men to her pool house which she didn't use and told them to store the things there. She paid the men and sent them away. As they walked to the main house, he noticed that her bodyguards were not around and it piqued his curiosity.

            "What is going on?" Marcos asked with concern. 

            She ignored him and walked into the house. He followed her into the living room and he saw Xavier sitting down comfortably on one of the couches. Chiara sat down and Marcos followed suit while staring at Xavier with obvious suspicion and curiosity. He had expected the man to be dead or halfway to being dead, him sitting down calmly in Chiara's living room was the last thing he expected. 'What was the deal between them?' he wondered.

            "Marcos, this is Xavier, Xavier meet Marcos." Chiara said in a way of introduction, as though it would answer all his questions. 

               "Why is he here?" Marcos asked. When she didn't answer, he held her hand and she turned to face him. "Chiara, why?"

               Chiara took a deep breath and pulled away from him. She suddenly stood up and left the room. Marcos stared at Xavier and felt his frustration increase. He was debating what to do with Xavier when Chiara walked in with a bottle of whiskey and a glass. She poured him a glass and handed it to him.

               "Thanks." He said and gulped it down. The burning sensation of the whiskey as it went down his throat ebbed his frustration.

              "I need you to accompany Xavier to his office, he has an errand to run. Excuse me, I'll be back soon." She said and left the room.

               He groaned and took the whiskey on the table, he opened it and drank straight from the bottle, he was getting annoyed and he could feel his jaw ticking.

         "Why are you here?" He asked Xavier.

         "Because your crazy friend kidnapped me."

           Marcos threw his head back and laughed in a loud and carefree manner. It wasn't funny in particular, it was just one of her antics.

          "And why did she kidnap you?" He took another chug from the bottle and stared at Xavier. Xavier looked away and shifted on his seat.

             "I don't know." Marcos noticed his hesitation and knew he was lying,

              "So, you do know. I suggest you give her whatever she wants and try not to anger her, or else, it will end terribly for you."

              "You me…" Xavier stopped talking when Chiara walked in, she gave him the file containing his retirement letter and turned to Marcos.

                "Accompany him to his office, if he tries to escape, shoot him. When he is done with his errand, return him."

                   Chiara crouched down so she was on the same level with him and caressed his thighs. She leaned close so there was barely an inch between their faces and looked him in the eyes as she spoke. "Xavier, I need you to come back to me." 

            Marcos felt like he was being punched in the guts as he watched their interaction. He never thought Chiara would show interest in a man and it hurt that she chose someone else. All these years by her side and she picks someone else, he never would have imagined it. It hurt worse than any gunshot wound he had ever experienced.

           He could barely control the anger that coursed through his veins, he felt like ripping Xavier apart till he was nothing more than pounds of flesh. The thought of killing Xavier calmed his anger a bit as he fantasized about the different ways he could kill Xavier. He took another swig from the bottle and stood up.

         "Let's go, I have no time to waste." He said and walked out.

******