Creepin' Up On You
Chapter 13: Danger Zone
Brad walked over to Lily, but then stopped, and turned to face Jasmine. "Jasmine, that's disgusting! I love men and only men, and there is no way I am going to have sex with a woman. Heck, even if I were to have sex with a woman, it certainly wouldn't be with Lily. I'd have better taste in women than that! Even you wouldn't be that cruel to make your best friend have sex with her." Brad pointed to Lily and wrinkled his nose. "Ew!"
Jasmine tapped her lips with her right index finger as she thought about it. "True. All right. Dumb idea. I won't make you do that, Bradley."
Brad nodded. "Thank you. Now, shouldn't you be going? After all, you wouldn't want to keep your future husband waiting."
Jasmine smirked. "Bradley, a woman should always keep her man waiting. It's less pathetic that way. We don't need men—they need us." She glanced at her silver Cartier dress watch. "But I need to stop by Victoria's Secret to pick up some more of my Noir perfume. After all, I wouldn't want to go only looking sexy. I have to smell sexy as well." She looked at Brad. "I trust you'll look after our little prisoner while I'm gone?"
Brad nodded. "Of course."
"Kiss, kiss!" Jasmine said, pulling Brad down and kissing his cheek. She glanced at Lily and gave her a slight nod. "Later, Loser." And then she was gone, locking the door behind her even though Brad was still in the room.
Lily let out a sigh of relief after waiting to make sure Jasmine had left for sure. "Thank you." She placed her hand over her heart. "Oh my gosh, I thought you were going to do it at first."
Brad rolled his eyes. "Honey, please! Yuck! I despise the thought of actually having to do it with a woman."
Lily smirked.
"But I do apologize for the insults. I just figured the best way to get what I wanted from Jasmine was to insult you," Brad then explained.
Lily nodded. "Of course! You were smart to do that." She realized she hadn't finished her dinner. Now that her heart rate had returned to normal, and she was no longer terrified that Brad was going to rape her, she went back to eating it. "What's that?" Lily asked after swallowing the last of her enchilada. She nodded toward the door, where there seemed to be a colorful strip of something. "That wasn't there before." She had already finished her beans, though she had no idea why they gave beans as a side for a bean enchilada. She smirked at the thought as she went on to her corn.
Brad went over to the strip, and picked it up. He examined it, then looked at Lily with a mixture of shock and pity.
Lily swallowed down the last of her corn, it going down slowly. "What?" Her stomach suddenly felt a little queazy. She didn't know if it was the baby, the food, or the look on Brad's face. She was gonna go with the look on Brad's face. She nodded toward the strip. "What is that?"
Brad held it close to his chest. "It's nothing important, really."
Lily reached out her hand. "Let me see it, Brad. Please."
Brad sighed, then slowly walked over to her. He handed her the strip. "Maybe Jasmine's not totally insane in thinking she can win Rufus over after all."
Lily looked at the photo strip. When she saw Rufus kissing Jasmine, she instantly felt her stomach start to lurch. Every one of the photos looked as if Rufus were into Jasmine. Really into her judging from the kiss.
Lily's stomach lurched again, and she knew that the food wasn't about to stay down. She tossed the picture strip down, jumped off her bed, and ran to the toilet. She barely had enough time to lift the lid before she emptied the contests of her stomach into the toilet.
R&L
"I still can't believe you're going to the benefit with that psycho," Jenny said as she watched her father grab his coat and slip it on.
Rufus sighed. "She's a nice person. You shouldn't judge people you don't know. Besides, I told you, this is the last time I hang out with her. I realized you were right. She is just a fan, and should stay that way."
"Well, you don't even have to go tonight with her. You don't owe her anything, you know," Jenny tried.
Rufus shook his head. "I made a promise to her, and I'm not about to break it. She's looking forward to this night, and I don't want to disappoint her."
Jenny rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
Before Rufus could respond, the elevator doors opened, and in walked Chuck with a man, whom Rufus had never seen before.
"Rufus, I'm glad I caught you. I've got some new information on Lily's case," Chuck said in his monotone tone of voice.
Rufus felt his heart speed up. "What is it?"
Chuck nodded at the medium height, balding man at his side. "Jake here says he saw Lily talking to dark-haired woman after coming out of Simply Organic. The dark haired woman was crying, and Lily offered her a tissue. They talked a bit more, then got into a cab that drove away, heading to the right of Simply Organic."
"Why didn't you tell someone sooner?" Rufus asked the guy.
The guy shrugged. "I'm a homeless man." He glanced at Chuck, then back to Rufus. "At least, I was. Who would listen to me?"
Rufus glanced at Chuck with an eyebrow raised. "A homeless man? Really?"
Chuck shrugged.
"See?" the man—apparently Jake—asked. "No one believes me."
"People of the streets see more than people who are too concerned with their busy lives to pay any attention do. He talked about what he saw, and in return, I set him up with a room at the Empire, which he is paying for by being my new personal assistant until he can find another job," Chuck explained.
Rufus turned his attention back to Jake. "Are you sure of what you saw?"
Jake nodded. "Yes. The woman looked to be in her early thirties and had long dark hair. Both women were extremely beautiful, so of course I watched. I only stopped watching them when they could no longer be seen."
"Could you hear what they were saying at all?" Rufus pressed.
Jake shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I was all the way across the street. I could see them real good though because I had my favorite pair of binoculars with me in my cart. I found them last month in a garbage dumpster. As you can see, they come in handy sometimes." Jake snorted. "As you can see. Get it?"
Rufus put of a fake smile. "Cute." He turned to Chuck. "Thank you for finding him. Did you call the police with this information?"
Chuck smirked. "We stopped at the police station on our way here."
Rufus pat him on the shoulder. "Thanks. I have to go to a benefit now, but thank you for this. I won't forget it."
Chuck shrugged. "Don't mention it. I love Lily too. I want what we all want. I want her safely back home."
Rufus nodded politely at Chuck, then headed into the elevators, and down to the lobby.
As he nodded a polite goodbye to Vanya, and headed down the street toward the ballroom, he felt a new sense of hope. It wasn't much, but at least it was something.
He had a little skip to his steps as he walked to the ballroom.
R&L
"I hope my information helps. I'm just sorry I wasn't closer to hear what was really going on," Jake said as he looked around the apartment.
"Just don't steal something and make me regret helping you out," Chuck said, his eyes on Jake.
Jake swatted at the air. "Please! Not all homeless people are like that, you know. I'm just admiring a nice home. It's been a while since I've had a home, and it wasn't nearly as nice as this one."
"You had a home before?" Jenny asked, sitting down on the arm of the couch.
Jake nodded. "But, I had a little gambling problem, and wasn't able to repay my bookie who isn't the type of person you wanna stiff. He burned down my house while I was asleep. Thank God a fireman was able to get me out. I lost everything I had though. I've been in and out of shelters for about a year now."
"Did the guy who burned your house down ever get caught?" Eric asked, picking up on the story as he entered the room. He went into the fridge and got an apple.
Jake laughed. "Yeah. He's not exactly the kind of guy who gets caught."
Eric shrugged. "Tough break," he said before biting into his apple.
Jenny shot her stepbrother a look. "Way to be insensitive."
Eric shrugged? "What? I'm not trying to be insensitive. I'm just stating a fact."
The elevator doors opened then, and in walked Blair and Serena, shopping bags in hand, laughing about something or another.
Under the circumstances of Lily's disappearance, Blair had temporarily given up on her banning Jenny from the Upper east side for sleeping with Chuck. She still tried to avoid having to see Jenny at any cost, but tonight she had made an exception for Rufus's sake.
"Hey, guys," Serena greeted. "We're here to make a surprise dessert for when Rufus gets back. He's been putting up such a font lately, trying to be brave for us when I know he's breaking down inside."
Blair nodded. "And we bought him the most delightful bath supplies. I mean, who isn't relaxed after a good bath?"
"That's the woman!" Jake suddenly cried out.
Blair shot him a quizzical look, then turned her attention to Chuck. "Who's the guy?" She nodded toward Jake.
"He's my new assistant that gave me information on Lily. Apparently, he saw Lily talking to a thirty something dark haired woman after coming out of Simply Organic. The girl was crying, and Lily gave her a tissue. Then they got into a cab together and took off, never to be sen or heard from again," Chuck explained in his monotone.
"Huh." Blair said, as if pondering it for a moment. She turned her attention back to Jake. "What do you mean by 'that's the woman'? I know you can't be talking about me, because I clearly am not anywhere near my thirties." Blair tossed her hair back confidently.
Jake shook his head. "Not you. Her." He held out the photo strip of Rufus and Jasmine, his newly manicured finger pointing at Jasmine.
"Wait. What?" Jenny asked, jumping up off the couch arm and walking over to Jake.
Jake nodded. "I'm positive. The binoculars I found are top grade. I may not have been able to hear anything, but I had no trouble seeing—trust me."
"Are you sure?" Blair asked, her tone extremely serious.
Jake nodded. "Without a doubt." He tapped the top photo over Jasmine's face. "That's her."
Blair, Chuck, Jenny, Serena, and Eric all looked at each other, and then at Jake, who was still looking at the picture.
"She's a hot one, isn't she?" Jake asked, licking his lips.
"She's a kidnapping psycho, that's what she is," Blair said.
"We have to call the police!" Serena stated.
"Yeah, Dad's actually out at the benefit with that psycho stalker!" Jenny said.
"I'm gonna call Dan and Scott. They can head over to the benefit and warn Dad before it's too late," Eric said, already heading to the phone.
Chuck was already on his cell phone, dialing the police.
R&L
Rufus' heart did a flipflop, and his eyes did a double take when he saw who he thought was Lily walking toward him. She's here! She's okay! She's come back to me! She knew I'd be here and came to tell me she's back! His heart pounded harder at the thought.
Then, as quickly as his happiness and excitement came, it evaporated. It wasn't Lily walking toward him at all. No. The closer the woman got to him, the more he realized that it was a now blonde Jasmine—not his beautiful, blonde, missing wife. His heart sank, and his shoulders dropped.
Jasmine didn't seem to notice. She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed his cheek. "Hello, Darling!" She stepped back, and held her arms out. "So, what do you think of my new look?" She spun around, giving him a look at her from front to back.
Rufus swallowed hard. "You look just like Lily."
Jasmine grinned. "Do I?" She looked down at herself, then back up at Rufus with a grin. "I guess maybe I do a little." She winked at him.
Rufus bit back a comment. Jasmine knew darn well that she looked like Lily. How could she not? Lily was of course a million times more beautiful to him, but there was no doubt who Jasmine had been trying to model herself after. The blonde hair and the Lily-like style were, not to sound clichéd, a dead giveaway.
Jasmine latched onto his arm. "Shall we go inside?"
Rufus nodded, reluctantly curling his arm around hers as they walked up the stairs, and into the ballroom.
Rufus gave their names, and photographers took photographs.
Already, Rufus regretted bringing Jasmine. The poor girl was a little obsessed with him it seemed. Now there was going to be photos of them in the newspaper. Great. Just great. Like he really wanted to have to explain who she was. It was innocent on his part of course, but one thing he leaned about the Upper east side was that people loved to gossip and start rumors. He bet Gossip Girl was gonna have a field day with this one.
The benefit included dinner, but guests were already dancing. Rufus supposed dinner hadn't been served yet.
"Oo, let's dance before dinner! I've always dreamed of waltzing at an event like this!" Jasmine said with excitement as she pulled Rufus out onto the dance floor without even waiting for a response.
"You should know, I'm not too good at waltzing," Rufus protested as Jasmine dragged him to the middle of the dance floor.
"Oh, come on! You can't tell me you don't know how to waltz! I'm sure you've waltzed plenty of times with Lily," Jasmine said as they began to dance.
"I can dance. Just not very well," Rufus rephrased.
"Well, let me teach you then. This is called the Viennese Waltz," Jasmine said, taking the lead.
Rufus knew how to dance the Viennese Waltz. He meant what he had said—he really wasn't good at it—but he mainly didn't want to dance with Jasmine. And he really didn't want to dance with her in public.
Ever since Jasmine had kissed him earlier, he had been turned off from her in a major way. Now he had to wonder how he had even gotten himself mixed up with her.
R&L
"You know, if Lily never comes back, maybe you and I could get to know each other a little better. I could be great for you, you know. I'd be an amazing girlfriend, and an even more amazing wife for you," Jasmine whispered in Rufus' left ear as they danced. This was Heaven, dancing with him. She knew he wanted her. Otherwise, he never would have agreed to take her to the benefit tonight. Also, she was sure that he had enjoyed her kiss in the photo booth.
She had to get him to sleep with her. Time was slipping away. She'd already have to pretend the baby was early once he or she was born. She had to sleep with Rufus ASAP so that he would actually believe the baby was hers and his.
She felt Rufus tense up in her arms. "Lily will return to me. Don't even suggest that she won't."
Jasmine sighed. The poor thing was in denial. She stroked some hair out of his eyes. "I'm just saying, you might have to accept the fact that she's never going to return. You have no leads. Heck, you never even got a ransom note. You would have gotten one by now if she was kidnaped. I think you're going to have to start accepting the fact that Lily left you, and doesn't want to be found."
Rufus was quiet for a moment, so Jasmine took that opportunity to kiss his cheek. "I can take care of you, you know. I'm great with kids. I can be an amazing stepmother to your children—Lily's too. You just wait," she purred into his ear.
Rufus gently pushed her away. "Actually, Jasmine, a lead came in today. Somebody saw her talking with a thirty something brunette woman outside of Simply Organic the day she went missing. She was seen getting into and taking off in a taxi with the woman."
Jasmine felt her heart pound. Damn! Brad was supposed to have made sure no one was around to see that! She'd have to speak with him when she got back. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I changed my hair color then. I wouldn't want to match the description of a possible suspect," she said, meaning it to come out as a joke, but meaning it full well.
Rufus snorted. "Yeah."
Jasmine placed her arm around Rufus possessively. Luckily, she didn't think he suspected her. But she was going to let Brad have it when she got home. After all, she couldn't afford another slip up like that. Not when she was so close to finally getting everything she ever wanted.
R&L
Eleanor came over to them as the song ended. "Hello, Rufus. I'm surprised to see you here when your wife is missing." She nodded at Jasmine. "Who's your friend?"
Rufus turned to Eleanor. He half didn't want to see her because he didn't want to have to explain who Jasmine was. On the other hand, he was happy to see her. Anything interruption that saved him from having to be alone with Jasmine was a good interruption. "Hello, Eleanor. I wasn't going to go, but Jasmine, who is a big fan of Lincoln Hawk, talked me into going anyway. She had a childhood friend who died of cancer when they were kids. It meant a lot to her to come here tonight in memory of her friend."
"Actually, I'm more of a fan of Rufus than Lincoln Hawk. And, by now, Rufus and I have moved passed the friend and band member stage. We're extremely close now," Jasmine said, latching tightly onto Rufus' arm.
Rufus tensed up again. Great! He'd have to talk to Eleanor later. The last thing he needed was for her to think he was having some kind of affair with Jasmine. As if that were ever gonna happen. He wouldn't date Jasmine if she were the last person on earth! He was just so extremely turned off by her now. She was pushy, and borderline obsessive.
Eleanor looked at Jasmine with distaste. "You know, it's funny. That outfit you're wearing is the exact outfit Lily was going to wear to the benefit. She showed me the day she went missing. She was about to buy it when I ran into her in Saks."
Rufus' heart started pounding.
"What a weird coincidence!" Jasmine said with a nervous laugh.
Eleanor nodded. "It's the same dress, same, shoes, same jewelry. Hm." She looked at Jasmine's outfit for a brief moment more, then turned her attention back to Rufus. "Well, I guess I better go see what Cyrus is up to." She placed a hand overtop of Rufus' arm. "I have to go make sure he isn't filling up on the hors d'oeuvres before dinner. If I don't get a chance to talk to you later, take care of yourself now, and hang in there."
Rufus nodded at her. "Thank you, Eleanor."
As Rufus watched Eleanor walk away, he felt sick. Suddenly, it all made sense to him as several pieces of conversation began to fill his mind.
"Jake here says he saw Lily talking to dark-haired woman after coming out of Simply Organic. The dark haired woman was crying, and Lily offered her a tissue. They talked a bit more, then got into a cab that drove away, heading to the right of Simply Organic."
"You know, if Lily never comes back, maybe you and I could maybe get to know each other a little better. I could be great for you, you know. I'd be an amazing girlfriend, and an even more amazing wife for you."
"I'm just saying, you might have to accept the fact that she's never going to return. You have no leads. Heck, you never even got a ransom note. You would have gotten one by now if she was kidnaped. I think you're going to have to start accepting the fact that Lily left you, and doesn't want to be found."
"You know, it's funny. That outfit you're wearing is the exact outfit Lily was going to wear to the benefit. She showed me the day she went missing. She was about to buy it when I ran into her in Saks."
"It's the same dress, same, shoes, same jewelry. Hm."
"So, do you want to go eat now?" Jasmine asked, breaking Rufus from his thoughts. She nodded toward the tables. "They just announced that dinner is served."
Rufus suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. Coincidence his ass. Jasmine had Lily. The crazy bitch had taken his wife!
He had to get Lily back—now.
He turned to Jasmine, and smiled. "You know what? Why don't we get out of here? I'm hungry for something that they don't serve here."
Jasmine's face took on a look of confusion. "Like what?"
Rufus winked at her. "Something more..." He placed an arm around Jasmine's waist and purred into her ear, "dessert-like."
Jasmine was grinning so widely, Rufus wouldn't have been surprised if her face cracked. "All right. Let's go."
"Can we go to your place?" Rufus asked, now rubbing her bare back that her open-backed dress exposed. "My kids are at mine, and I don't want to start rumors by going to a hotel."
Jasmine's grin wavered just a bit, but she was still smiling. "I'd like that! Let's go."
Rufus nodded. He took her hand, and led her out of the ballroom, and into the cool night air. He knew what he had to do. He had to pretend to be into Jasmine just long enough to either find Lily, or get information out of Jasmine where Lily was. He wouldn't give up until he did. His wife needed him, and there was nothing and no one that was going to stand in his way.
R&L
"Eleanor!" Dan asked, rushing over to Eleanor at the benefit. "Have you seen my dad?" He was out of breath. His and Scott's cab had been gotten stuck in a traffic jam, so Dan just paid and tipped the driver before running the last block with Scott.
Eleanor placed a hand to her heart. "Goodness, Child you're out of breath."
"Where is my father?" Scott pressed.
Eleanor glanced at him. "He left a few minutes ago with that Jasmine woman." She wrinkled her nose. "There is something about her I don't like. She was even wearing same the outfit Lily had chosen to wear tonight."
"Wait. What?" Dan asked.
Eleanor nodded. "Yeah, yeah, she was wearing the same outfit that Lily had shown me in Saks the day she disappeared. Peculiar, isn't it?"
Dan and Scott looked at each other.
"Did you see what direction they went?" Scott asked, his attention back on Eleanor.
Eleanor shrugged. "All I saw was them heading out the door looking rather chummy. It's rather disturbing to see that Rufus has moved on so quickly, if you ask me. I didn't strike him as the type to give up so easily. After all, Lily has barely been missing a week, if that. Or maybe more. I don't know. I'm too full of wine to do the math." And, with that, Eleanor was off to mingle again.
"Great! Now what?" Scott asked.
Dan sighed. "We get ahold of Chuck. He'll know what to do."
Scott nodded, and they quickly headed out of the ball room, Dan already dialing Chuck's number.
R&L
"I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to take a shower and get ready for you first. Is that all right?" Jasmine asked once they had arrived at her place, and had made it up to her bedroom.
Rufus shook his head. "I don't mind at all. Though, I don't see how you can make yourself any more beautiful than you already are." He pulled her close, and kissed her lips. He wanted to puke as he did it. However, he kept it in his mind that he was doing it for Lily.
Jasmine broke the kiss and smiled. "You just wait! You'll see. Make yourself at home." She grabbed some lingerie from her drawer, then headed into the bedroom's bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
Rufus sighed a sigh of relief once he heard the water running. He waited a moment in case Jasmine had forgotten anything, then he jumped into action.
First thing was first. He had embedded Jasmine's address into his brain the moment he had heard Jasmine give it to the cab driver. He hadn't been able to text the address to Dan yet, because Jasmine would have seen him.
He quickly texted Dan the address, as well as a quick note. Dan, Jasmine has Lily. I'm at Jasmine's house. If you don't hear from me in an hour, send the police.
After sending out the text, Rufus looked in Jasmine's closet. He jumped when he found the blowup doll. For a split second, he had thought it was a body.
He took a closer look at it, and wrinkled his nose in disgust when he noticed it was an anatomically correct blow up doll of him that she had made. "Disgusting!" he muttered.
He shoved the doll back into the closet, then looked around a little more. All she had in there was clothing, and a box full of books and old junk.
Next, he went to her desk. It didn't take long for him to see all the pictures of him. There were even newspaper photos of him and Lily, only Lily was cut out of the picture. It made him shiver.
Quickly, he opened the drawers, and searched around. There were newspaper clippings about events he had gone to with Lily, and band reviews for Lincoln Hawk.
He searched through the other drawer, which had the same type of thing.
He was just about to give up, when he saw it. There was a glint of gold in the way back of the drawer. He picked it up and saw that it was a key ring.
"What's this?" he asked quietly. He looked toward the bathroom, and listened closely. The water was still running. He could hear Jasmine breaking into song as she messed around with shampoo bottles, or whatever it was she had.
If he worked fast, he could do a quick search, he figured.
He looked under the bed, then felt stupid for even thinking Lily would be there. Then, he quietly slipped out of the room.
First, he looked through all the upstairs bedrooms. Then, he headed down the stairs, and searched the downstairs rooms. There was no sign of Lily.
Then his eyes saw it. There was a set of stairs leading down to, what he assumed was the basement.
He took the stairs two at a time, then tried the basement door once he got to it. It was locked, of course.
He looked at the keys on the key ring. There were three keys and three locks. He knew these had to be the keys to the door. Now the trick was finding out which key went where.
It took him just a few moments to figure out which key went where.
"Yes!" He whispered as the door unlocked. He pushed the door open, and his heart soared then he saw Lily sitting on a bed, looking straight at him. "Lily!" he cried out.
Lily's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Rufus, you found me! You didn't stop looking after all!"
"Lil, I'd never stop—" Rufus cut himself off as he saw a man he'd never seen before come out of the bathroom that was down there.
"Who the hell are you?" Rufus asked, nodding at him.
The man could only stare at him in shock.
Suddenly, Lily's face turned to horror. "Rufus, look out!" She screamed.
"Huh?" Rufus asked. But, before he could turn around to see what had gotten Lily so spooked behind him, he felt a hard blow to the head.
He groaned, then fell to the floor, vaguely recalling Lily's screams as he dropped. "Lily, I..." He couldn't finish the sentence before he slipped into darkness.