A/N: This story is dedicated to my girls: dreamgirlforever and RedBeverlyHead :)
Amused voices and buzz of laughter was spreading around magnificent Powell's dining room.
"So, I just heard the best gossip about Nicholas Deering. You are going to die when you hear who he's engaged to." said Tanya, clenching her hands with emotions.
"Why? Is it someone we know?" Evelyn's gossip instinct sharpened.
"Excuse me! Miss Evelyn!" ear-piercing scream of the maid resonated all over the room, when she'd been thrown at the wall by masked individuals.
"Adrian…" Evelyn clenched her hand on Adrian's. Sound of shots surprised everybody. Each of thugs came to the table with opened sacks.
"I think they want our jewelry." trembling voice said Tanya. Evelyn with protecting gesture covered her necklace and looked at husband with tears in her eyes. He touched her arm with comforting gesture.
"Listen to me." said Adrian to masked men, standing up. "This is Beverly Hills. You're not gonna get away with this. If you leave now, we won't call the police." Strong punch at his temple swept him of feet. Evelyn was pursing her lips to not cry. Adrian was trying to buck up. She turned to him, but the raider tugged her from chair and put a gun to her head. She squealed from terror underneath his hand, which was covering her mouth. Her breath started to rapid.
"Move and I'll shoot her!" growled to Adrian and started to backing away pulling Evelyn with him.
"Adrian!" she screamed hysterically, when she freed her mouth for a while. Adrian in one move gathered up from the floor, but his next action stopped shoot at the ceiling. Guests froze with fear.
"This time I missed." said the gunman and threw Evelyn to one of his allies. "Next time I could hit. Try to notify anybody what happened and you'll never see your wife again." he warned Adrian and showed the exit to his fellows by the move of his head. Evelyn wasn't even resisting anymore. When the door slammed, Adrian plopped at the chair all shook-up.
"God, what I have to do now?" he laid his eyes on guests, which were staring at him dull, and buried his face in hands, knowing, that they won't help him.
xxx
The pulsing pain, which was blowing up the head, woke Evelyn. She rose from dirty floor and looked around. She was in dank, musty place, where reigned semidarkness. She suspected a cellar. Snatch of what happened was returning. The dinner, which they gave with Adrian, after they arrived from their trip to South America, masked raiders running into their house, unearthly terror and anger in Adrian's eyes when he saw how gun landed to her temple and how she was dragged by force out of the house. And then was only darkness. She was wondering how long she spent at this sordid place. She started walking back and forth, searching didn't know yet for. Finally she came upon at the light switch. Sickly light brightened the room. Weeping concrete walls, no windows, no useful things and the door. She came up to it and pull the handle. Nothing happened.
"Oh, what I was thinking? That they leave it open for me?" she said to herself, wondering what to do. She slid down the wall finally and plopped on the cold concrete. "Fucking great…"
Even the moment didn't pass and she felt how the cold is overtaking her body. Sleeveless dress wasn't good to chill basements. Nor to kidnaps.
"Why they just didn't take that damn necklace!" she thought and rose her hand to the neck. "Oh, they did." She'd rubbed her arms to warm herself and wrapped her knees. While later, when she'd counted 17 spiderwebs and 3 spiders in the corner, the door opened up with smash.
"I see you're awake already." laughed the man in balaclava.
"What do you want from me?" Evelyn asked defiantly, standing up. The man didn't answer nor make any move. "Money?" she asked again. "We could pay you, just let me go."
He gave a sinister laugh and came up to her. He moved his finger through her cheek and grabbed her chin. In her eyes sparked fear.
"No, that would be too easy." his whisper hit her face. Then he freed her and went to the exit. "We want justice." said. "But if you'll be polite, maybe we'll consider your request." he left the room and the door slammed loudly.
"Wait!" Evelyn exclaimed. "What about me? What I'm supposed to do?" she was pounding at the door. When nobody answered her, she collapsed onto the floor and started to cry.
xxx
Two days passed and he still hasn't got any message from kidnappers. He was at his wit's end, tearing his hair out. After the event, he wanted to go to the police immediately and told what happened, how some bastards irrupted to his house and abducted his wife, but then he remembered one of those guys warning. He didn't know what to do. He was afraid, that if he notify the case, they could find out about it and hurt Evelyn. Unable to sleep, he was waiting for call with any information. For every sound he was picking up the receiver, but only dull tone was answering him. The time was passing inexorably and he has the obstinate feeling, that somewhere his wife could hurt, when he's sitting like an idiot and doing nothing.
xxx
Two guys entered to the basement. Evelyn was sitting against the wall, with lips blue from cold, looking numbly at her favourite as yet Manolos. One of men started to talk.
"We'd consider what you said. That is quite good idea. Now we'll call to your hubby and cut a deal about the ransom. You could talk to him. You're alive, nothing's wrong. Don't try anything stupid." he looked at her and she nodded. The kidnapper dialed the number and turned on the speaker. Adrian's frantic voice suddenly broke the waiting time.
"Yes?!"
"We want 10 million dollars for your wife. Put them to the case and go out your house tomorrow at 8 p.m. The black car will draw up and you'll drop the case through the backseat window. If the sum will be good, we'll let her go."
"I want to talk to her." shakily said Adrian. The man who was handling the phone, nodded with approval to Evelyn.
"Adrian?!" she squealed with little hoarse voice.
"O My God! Evelyn! Is everything all right?"
"I'm…fine." she said uncertain, trying to avoid kidnaper's beady look.
"Evelyn…" Adrian started, but it had been interrupted him brutally.
"Well, enough of that endearment. 10 millions, tomorrow, 8 p.m. No cops, otherwise a harm will come to your wife." he warned.
"Why a harm?" said the second man, standing mutely until now. "Maybe she would like it…" he came up to Evelyn and crouched beside her, stroking her hair.
"Do not touch me." she said trying to keep her dignity.
"I've heard that redheads are fiery temper." he blinked lewdly and moved his hand up her thigh.
"O my God!" she screamed fearful.
"And you're screaming already." the man laughed brazen.
"Evelyn! Evelyn?!" Adrian's frightened voice was hearable. Suddenly kidnapper disconnected, leaving him with uncertainty, freaking out about his wife's fate.
"You were good. You're kind of actress." the man next to her gave a laugh again. "But remember, if your hubby will make a mistake, I won't hesitate to finish, what I've started today." they both left, leaving her without any food nor heat source. She was thinking only about, she want Adrian to do everything what they want, because then her nightmare will end.
xxx
Everything was planned. After kidnappers call Adrian has gone to the police, because he couldn't stand waiting nobody knows what for. He thought that they'll think he's crazy, when waving his hands and almost screaming, he was telling what happened, but they took him seriously. He has to go by kidnappers advances, trying to act like nothing had happened and let the police do their work. He was opposing at the beginning. After all they should shake down all fucking Beverly Hills to find his wife. Those psychopaths may rape her already or do something worse. He heard her screaming, before the call was hung. Officers calmed him down and convinced to their version, so that he was on tenterhooks now, sitting at hall with case by his feet. When the phone rang beside, he shoot up and grabbed it in one quick move.
"Go outside the house and have your phone by the ear all the time." the man on the line gave order, not giving Adrian chance to speak up. He moved to the door with case in his hand, doing what police tell him to do – meeting demands of kidnappers. He went out the house and took a look around uneasily.
"Do you see us?" he heard on his cell phone.
"No."
"It's because we're not stupid. We know that cops are nearby. That was wrong choice." the man said and hung up. Adrian was looking straight ahead completely devastated and listening to disconnected tone on his phone, thinking if something bad happen to Evelyn, it'll be only his fault.
xxx
Evelyn thought, that she won't give up that easy. She had pins in her hair and on movies they could open up every lock. She came up to the door and slipped the pin, which she just took off, to the lock, trying to open it. She had no idea what she should do to let go the blockade, but she believed that will happen sooner or later. She stopped her efforts to change clearance angle of the pin, when she heard the steps.
"Oh shit!" she recoiled hastily and started walking back and forth nervously, trying to put her pin back in her hair. The door opened and the one of the kidnapper came in. "Oh God, he'll kill me…" thought Evelyn.
"I've heard weird scuff…" he turned to her. "What are you doing?"
"I'm straightening up my hair." her voice was calm, when she was grappling with the pin, trying not to look nervous. "This may be rats." she suggested.
"Oh really?" he moved to her. He has wispy posture and her height.
"Yes. I think so." She nodded feverishly, trying to hide her fear.
"The rest go for the ransom now, but remember, if you're lying, it could turn out that your husband spent 10 million dollars for nothing." he drew a little knife and put it to her pale neck, making tiny cut from which very slowly started to weep blood drops. He wanted to scare her, but she wasn't thinking of it. Her only thought was that she's all alone with that man and no one else is supervising her. And the door is open.
"I wouldn't dare to do that." she declared, placing her hand on his shoulders. A smile came upon his face, but she dissipated it by the strongest boot she could give him on his vitals. The man collapsed onto the floor and she started to run as fast as she could. She hasn't feel exhaustion, cold nor fear. Everything replaced the adrenalin, which were driving her. She left the building and went straight ahead, running through unknown area and turning around all the time to see if anybody's coming after her. It was raining. Cool drops were misting her face and single locks stuck to her cheeks. The thing of which she thought, and what she considered as funny to be able to think about something like that in her situation, was that running in rain wasn't romantic as in movies. When she was enough far to feel more safe, she slowed down. Her lungs were burning and she almost twisted her ankle, bounding in heels. She came to a stop for a while to calm her breath, slipped down her shoes, took them in her hand and went further. The street was dark and the area looked doubtfully. The shiver gone through Evelyn's back. Few meters next to her she'd heard the voice.
"Hey, sweetness, why so rush?" her steps quickened. "Don't run away!" exclaimed the voice, when she started to run again. She was hoping that no one will go after her. She broke out from kidnappers' hands without any particular harm and now she has let to hurt her in some dark corner? She was feeling lost in unknown alleys, but she was pressing forward. Finally single lights from windows started to glow. From one building issued hum, laughs and sound of crushing glass. A tavern. She pushed the door and came inside breathless. Few tipsy persons looked at her and then came back to their conversation. Apparently shook-up, straggly wealthy woman hasn't made any impression on them. The bartender, which had seen her from the entrance, asked her, when she came upon the bill:
"What can I get you?"
"I would like to say vodka, but no… I need to make a phone call. I must notify the police…" bartender's face scowled.
"No. We don't need trouble here."
"I'm begging you." tears shown up in her eyes. "Or just tell me where I'll find the nearest police station."
"Along the street to the end and then left. Right behind empty buildings begins civilization. You could call from there. And now go." Evelyn took her Manolos from the chair, on which she put them and left. Although her adrenalin hasn't droop yet, she started to feel terrible exhaustion, pain in her lacerated feet without shoes, hunger and cold. And the fear came back. The fear that somebody will find and kill her though. God, how much she wanted to be now at home, snuggle at Adrian's arms and cry.
As the bartender said behind empty buildings civilization had begun. Light from the street hit her eyes, when she went from dark alley. And probably she even knew where she was. She was here with Dahlia, when she was alive yet, to gossip freely away from their neighborhood. Socialites were very rare here. She walked few meters and saw sign of familiar restaurant is blinking to her invitingly. She came inside, only few tables were occupied. No one even noticed her. She came up to the bar and leant above the counter, turning to the bartender, which was standing backwards to her.
"I need to make a call. It's urgent." the woman sprung, spilling all around ice cubes, which she was just adding to drink.
"God, you scared me." she said turning around to Evelyn. One glance at her was enough for girl to know that she wasn't joking about urgency. "The phone is in the backup. Follow me." Evelyn went after blond haired bartender and after a while she landed at small, cluttered room. Girl showed her the phone hung at the wall and she nodded thankfully. She quickly dialed the number and were impatiently waiting. Finally somebody picked up the phone.
"Police Department? It's Evelyn Powell. I've been kidnapped…"
xxx
"Adrian Powell?" he heard in receiver.
"Yes."
"Police Department. We've found your wife. If you could come and…" Rhythm of his heart was offbeat and his mouth in moment was dry like Sahara Desert. He interrupted uncertain the officer:
"Is she…"
"She's alive."
After 10 minutes he'd shown up at the police station. He had to break all traffic regulations to get there that fast. He forced the door and made for young officer who was on duty.
"Adrian Powell. I'm here to…" he started.
"I know." said the man, nodding. "Follow me."
After quick walk through the corridor, they reached the door, which the man opened and let Adrian go before him. Evelyn was sitting at the chair, wrapped by the blanket, holding in hands cup of tea. Right after she saw him, put back the cup and threw the blanket to be able to run towards him. He closed her in tight embrace and leant his chin in her hair; without heels she was shorter than him. He was rubbing gently her back, tying to soothe her when she was crying, cuddled to his chest.
"I was so worried…" he said with voice full of emotions.
"We'll leave you now." Two officers start gathering up from their seats. "Your wife gave evidence, you do too, so you could come back home." said one of men, walking out and closed the door, leaving Powells all alone.
"Oh my darling, if something would had happen to you, I would kill myself…" he draw back a little, boring his eyes through her face. She closed her eyes in comprehension and came up to the chair on which she was sitting earlier.
"Just let's go home…" he saw how pained expression run across her face, when she was trying to put her heels on her aching feet.
"Leave it." he approached to her and in one move uplift her from the seat. She took shoes in one hand and wrapped the second one around his neck. Then she smiled lightly and skimmed his cheek, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I love you." he heard her whisper, when got to the exit.
xxx
"You've got your rest?" asked Adrian, when he saw his wife is opening her eyes. Few hours earlier he brought her home, dressed the most visible wounds, fed her with stock he bought on the way home and pack her up to the bed. And then kept watching her while she was sleeping.
"I guess so…" she nodded and rose to the sitting position.
"Is anything you need?" he touched her hand softly.
"A shower, beyond any doubt." she said firmly and slid from the bed. He started up to help her. "Adrian, stop treating me like I'm dying or out of my mind. I can manage it myself." She forced the bathroom's door and slammed.
In a few minutes she was back at the bedroom, with her damp curls falling down on her shoulders and nightgown perfectly tucking in her curves.
"Adrian, I'm sorry…" she said sitting down next to him. "I shouldn't have to light into you."
"Oh Evelyn, my love, don't bother yourself." he pulled her to himself and clasped in his arms, inhaling smell of her almond shampoo. She placed her hands at his chest, feeling his heartbeat. It was soothing and equally makes her feel excited.
"I'm just still a bit fidgety…" she sighed.
He brushed single curls from her face and kissed her in the forehead. Placing the hair over her ear he came across her cicatrizing wound.
"Evelyn, what is that?" he looked shattered at her.
"Nothing…" she looked away as if in confusion. He touched the cut by his lips as if the kiss would make her forget about its existence and soothe the pain. He went further, kissing her jaw line until he reached her lips. She opened them, allowing him for entrance and pulled him closer. They were savoring each other taste until the breath need won.
"I will never let anybody to hurt you again." he said firmly laying her on bed. Evelyn have confidence that the will be making love, so when he only kissed her cheek, tucked her in sheets and stood up, she was surprised.
"Adrian?"
"You're too tired sweetheart." he said, standing in bathroom's doors and smiling, exactly knowing what she had on thoughts. "We have so much time, when you'll get better."
She nodded, touch disappointed and when he's gone behind the doors, she closed her eyes trying to fall asleep with thought of them over next days, not the nightmare she'd been through.
P.S. I know hat story has basically nothing in common with real kidnap and it's unrealistic, but i didn't want to make it too drastic.