chapter 4

Chapter 4

..STEELA..

I stare at the ribbon in my hands, my heart is beating rapidly, surely Benji couldn’t do this to me, why would he even help take me to the police station when he is the one behind this? I let out a sign as I try to figure out what is happening and where the hell my baby is.

I go to the kitchen but lose my appetite as soon as I see the food, how can I eat when I have no idea where my baby is or if she had anything to eat, I let out another sign and get a bottle of water and proceed to go through all the rooms in the house in hope of finding anything else that belonged to Zoey,

I reach Benji’s master suite, above his bed is a big portrait of him and his late wife, I stare at the picture for a few seconds before looking around the room, when I don’t find anything, I go back to the living room and take a sit on the couch, I stare at my phone wishing who ever took zoey would call, eventually, I fall asleep.

I am woken by someone tapping my shoulder, ‘Zoey?” I open my eyes and left disappointed to see Daisy standing before me,

“hey Stella” the little girl says

“hey baby, when did you come back?” I ask

“a few mintues ago”

“where is your daddy?” I ask looking around the room,

“he is in his room” she responds, I take out the red ribbon from my pocket and show Daisy,

“is this yours?” I ask, the little girl looks at the ribbon keenly shaking her head

“I only have pink ribbons” upon hearing her reply, my mind is filled with doubts as I begin to suspect Benji yet again

“are you sure?” I ask, the girl nods

“of course, I don’t have a ribbon like this” she says, I put the ribbon back in my pocket

“don’t worry, Daddy is doing everything he can to find Zoey” I pull the girl in for a hug, I begin to wonder what Benji’s motive behind doing this might be, is he trying to get back at me because of my hatred for him?, all this doesn’t make any sense to me.

“you are here” I hear Benji’s voice and find him standing at the doorway

“yes, any news from the police?” I ask studying his face

“no, but they are doing everything they can to find your daughter” I let out a sign and turn to Daisy

“can you give me and your Daddy a minute to talk?”

“sure” Daisy replies and rushes out of the room, I then turn to Benji unable to compose myself anymore

“where the hell did you take my daughter?” I ask angrily

“what are you talking about” Benji asks putting up an innocent face but am not buying it, I show him the ribbon I found earlier

“this the same ribbon Zoey was wearing before she disappeared, tell me how the hell it got here” I question, Benji holds the ribbon in his hand,

“where did you find this?”

“right here in this house on the floor, care to explain how it got here?” Benji lets out a laugh which irriates me even more

“is this funny Benji?, tell me, where is my daughter, what the hell did you do to her?”

“why the hell would I kidnap your daughter and if I where to do  that you think I would bring her here and even escort you to the police?” he pauses and stares at the ribbon again

“this belongs to Daisy, she left it here a few days ago when she came over. Instead of wasting your time thinking am the bad guy, why don’t you to try to think of any enemy you might have that might do this to you” Benji definitely had me there, I had began to feel stupid for suspecting him until he lied about  the ribbon belonging to Daisy,

“I haven’t been here for five years, how could I have any enemies?” the only other person capable of doing this is my dad but even he isn’t among my list of suspects, I am already convinced Benji is the one behind this. I don’t plan to let him know that am suspecting him though, since he flat out denied it and even lied to my face, I have to find something solid that pins him as the culprit

“fine, then let the police do their jobs” before I could respond to him, his phone begins to ring,

“It’s the police calling” he says before he answers it, my heart beats rapidly as I wonder what is happening, did they find my baby?

Benji speaks on the phone for a few minutes his eyes looking at me, he eventually hangs up the call

“what did they say?” I ask almost immediately

“they found a little girl’s shoes and think they might belong to Zoey, we need to head there so you can identify them” I blink away tears as a wave of fear washes over me

“lets go” I say as I stand up,

“let me get Daisy” Benji says as he rushes out of the room. I wait for him at the front door, when he comes back, we get into his car and he drives off.

The drive to the police station only takes ten mintues, when we reach there, we leave Daisy in the car while Benji and I go inside, am trying very hard not break down as the police officer welcomes us, when he shows me the shoes, I fail to hold the tears in as I nod

“these are my baby’s shoes” I say in between sobs, Benji hugs me as my sobs get louder

“its okay” he says kissing my hair, I don’t push him away but inwardly pray he really is innocent, otherwise, I am ready to kill him myself.

“can I have a word with the officer in charge in privacy?” I ask when I manage to compose myself

“sure, this way” one of the officers says and leds the way

“I will be right here” Benji says offering a smile, I nod and follow the officer.

When we get to the officer in charge of the case, I close the door behind and bring out the red ribbon

“I have a suspect and want you to investigate this privately”, the officer takes the ribbon from me

“please take a sit” he says and I do so

“this is the ribbon my daughter was wearing before she disappeared” I explain

“where did you find it?” the officers asks

“at Benji’s house, when I asked about it, he lied to my face. I want you to make him top of your list of suspects and find out where he is keeping my daughter. Track his previous locations or tap his phone, I don’t care what you do, just please find my daughter” I pled with him…