Elena glanced at her watch. She was late. She had promised to meet Caroline at the Grill but it had been a busy at the ER in Mystic Falls Hospital. Since she was having a long break in Mystic Falls, she had decided to take up a locum job at the ER. Damon would be spending a lot of time here at Mystic Falls because of Salvatore Industries. Elena realised two-city living arrangement wasn't going to work and she did think about getting a permanent job here at Mystic Falls Hospital. Mystic Falls was her hometown and she would be glad to spend the rest of her life here with Damon. But she hadn't discussed with him yet. He had been so busy with Salvatore Industries in the last few days that she had hardly seen him until late at night.
They would talk, Elena decided. If Damon was willing to move the administrative and business divisions of Intercorp to Mystic Falls, and leave the others under Enzo, then that should settle everything. She would get a permanent position at the ER in Mystic Falls Hospital.
They would talk tonight, she said to herself. After she met Caroline, she would go to the supermarket for grocery shopping. She would make dinner for Damon tonight and they would talk.
She hurried back to the parking lot, used her key fob to unlock her car and slipped into the front seat. She left the car door ajar to allow in the slight breeze while she took out her phone. She hardly cooked but she could definitely find some simple recipes online.
The passenger-side door opened abruptly. Sarah Salvatore slid into the seat. She had a gun in her hand.
"Sarah!"
"Give me the phone," Sarah said.
Elena handed her the phone. Sarah tossed it out the window.
Elena stared, unable to believe this was happening to her. She swallowed. "What are you doing here?"
"Close the door."
"Sarah…"
"Close the door!"
Elena had no choice but turned to pull the car door closed.
"Drive," Sarah ordered.
"Where are we going?" Elena started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.
"Dunham Lake."
x x x
"Someone has got her," Damon said.
He was standing in the parking lot at Mystic Falls Hospital. He had his phone crushed to his ear. He was holding Elena's busted phone in his other hand.
"What is going on, Damon?" Caroline demanded. "Who has got Elena? Where is she?"
"Elena was here at the hospital but she never got back to the Salvatore boarding house. Car is gone. I found her phone."
"Why would anyone grab Elena?" Caroline asked. "Because of money?"
"She wasn't kidnapped because of money." Damon looked at Elena's phone. "This is personal. This is revenge."
"What the hell is going on here?"
"I think Sarah is the one who grabbed her." Damon climbed into his car and fired up the engine. "I'm sure of it."
"But why?"
"A mix of revenge and panic and a lack of impulse control."
"Bad combination. Where are they headed?"
"I don't know but I don't think they have gone far away. I will drive around and see whether I can catch them."
He ended the call and concentrated on his driving. He had no idea where Sarah had taken Elena. A litany started up in his brain. It pounded through his veins. I won't be too late. I can't be too late.
But his timing was off. He could feel it in his bones. He needed help from someone. He made another call.
Wes answered on the second ring. "Damon? What do you want now?"
Damon told him
x x x
"I know this has been a very difficult time for you," Elena said. She couldn't think of anything else to do except keep talking. "You have put in a lot of hard work in Salvatore Industries."
Sarah's smile was devoid of any real warmth. "You have no idea."
Don't get paranoid here, Elena told herself. Stay calm. Sarah is a little upset. Perfectly natural.
She took a deep breath. "You know, Sarah, you should seriously sit down with Damon and talk about this whole thing. You and Damon are family."
"You have got it all wrong," Sarah said. "Damon doesn't treat me as family. Neither does my father."
"Why do you say that? You father loves you. And Damon sees you as family."
"My father doesn't love me. He never appreciated me. I finally realised that. No matter how hard I try, he will never think I'm good enough."
"Who helped you to see the truth? Wait, let me guess - Mason, right?"
"Mason found out that my father's plan to replace me."
"Mason probably lied."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he needed your help, you twit. For a smart woman, you are about as dumb as a brick when it comes to men."
Sarah stared at her. "What are you talking about?"
"Think about it for half a second. It was Mason's idea to buy the share of Salvatore Industries, wasn't it?"
"Mason wants to help me," Sarah said quickly. "If we have managed to buy enough shares, then I will become the president of Salvatore Industries."
"Mason bought the shares under S&M trust but did you know who owns S&M? It is Mason! You really are dumb. Trust me, Mason lied to you from the start. He used you, to get his hands on the company. He won't give Salvatore Industries to you."
"What is it with men?" Sarah said, clearly bewildered. "You give them everything and they walk all over you. Stop the car."
Elena brought the car to a halt and slowly unfastened her seat belt.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Give me the keys."
Elena obeyed.
Sarah opened the passenger-side door and backed out of the seat, never taking the gun off Elena.
"Now you get out," she ordered. "Slowly."
Elena obeyed as she glanced around her surroundings. There was an eerie silence around the lake today. The place truly was deserted.
Sarah angled her chin towards the lake house in front. "Inside."
"Sarah, listen, you don't want to do this. This is crazy."
Sarah grabbed the door handle and hauled it open with one hand. "Go inside. Walk slowly and stay where I can see you. Understand?"
Elena moved inside the lake house. "Sarah, don't do this, please. Talk to Damon. I'm sure the two of you can figure out something."
"The plan had failed. I have never thought my father would ask Damon to take over Salvatore Industries. I tried a quick, surgical strike to get rid of Damon. I thought any investigation of a deadly car accident involving a drunk driver would be superficial at best."
Elena was aghast. "You tried to murder Damon?"
Sarah smiled grimly. "Unfortunately, Mason failed me on that occasion. I did not want to risk another attempt here in Mystic Falls during the takeover. There was too much media attention focused on Salvatore Industries. But who would have guessed my father would ask Damon to act as the interim president?"
"You manipulated Matt and Pete to help you," Elena said as she took a quick look around the house. She had to find a way to escape. 'You are the one who fired up the rumours."
"I can't let Damon take over Salvatore Industries. We were so closed. The press conference would destroy him. The board of directors would want him to step down and nobody would ever believe a man who seduced a sixteen year old and got her pregnant."
"But it didn't happen that way," Elena pointed out. "Vicky appeared and cleared Damon's name."
"He is a lucky bastard."
"Damon is trying to help Salvatore Industries," Elena explained. "He doesn't want the company to fall into Mason's hand."
"Mason won't lie to me." Sarah shook her head wildly. "He won't!"
"He only wants Salvatore Industries. He won't marry you after all!"
"I have lost everything!" Sarah's fingers tightened on the gun. "Damon Salvatore takes everything from me and he is going to suffer."
Elena took a few steps back and came up hard against the wine cupboard. She put out a hand to steady herself.
A shadow shifted in at the front door behind Sarah. Or maybe it was just her fevered imagination, Elena thought.
Keep her talking. Time was exactly what she needed. She had to buy some for herself. Sooner or later Damon would find her.
"You want to kill me because you think it is going to hurt Damon."
"It is obvious he is in love with you."
"You set out to get revenge."
"That's it in a nutshell."
That shadow shifted again. This time Sarah noticed. She started to turn around.
There wasn't going to be a better chance, Elena thought. She grabbed two bottles out of the rack and flung one of them directly at Sarah. Sarah turned back quickly, yelped in panic and managed to dodge the missile. The bottle shattered when it struck the floor, splashing dark red wine on Sarah's pants and shirt.
"Damn you," Sarah shrieked. "What have you done?"
Elena was already in motion. Clutching the remaining bottle, she fled for her life, racing to one of the rooms.
The gun roared. Elena heard shots crack in quick succession. Some sounded as if they had struck the wall.
"Down, Elena."
It was Damon.
Elena reacted instinctively to Damon's command, throwing herself on the floor
Shots boomed in the room. Elena heard a gun clatter on the floor.
"You damned son of a bitch," Sarah grated.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the house.
Elena looked up. The sheriff and a few officers had formed a ring around Sarah, shouting at her not to move, their weapons primed to fire if she did. Sarah had fallen to the ground and she had dropped her gun when she was shot by the sheriff.
"Give it up, Sarah," Damon said. "It is over."
"It should have been mine!" Sarah cried. "Mine!"
Elena stood up and watched Damon and Caroline rush towards her. She was trembling so violently that when Damon reached her, she fell into his arms.
"Damon," she whispered.
His arms tightened around her so violently that she could not say anything else for a long while.
The sirens were louder now. Elena heard the vehicles pull into the driveway and screech to a halt.
Damon glanced at Elena again. He started to speak. Then he noticed the blood leaking from her foot.
"You are bleeding."
"It is okay," she said quickly. "I stepped on some glass. Don't worry."
Damon scooped her up into his arms.
"I'm okay, really," she said.
He carried her out the door into the sunlight.
"We need a medic here," he said in firm voice.
Cops and medics were swarming across the driveway. Jenna and Logan emerged out of the controlled chaos. They headed toward Damon and Elena.
"Is she all right?" Jenna asked.
"I'm fine," Elena said. "It is just blood. Cut from glass, nothing serious."
Someone in a uniform raced toward them, medical kit in hand.
"What have we got here?" he said.
He looked at Damon, not Elena.
"It is not that bad, really," Elena said.
Damon ignored her.
"Broken glass," he said to the medic.
"Get her to the aid car," the medic said. "I will take a look."
The sheriff materialized out of the crowd.
"What is the situation inside?" Logan asked.
"Under control," Sheriff Forbes said. "Everything is under control now. How is Elena?"
"She is bleeding," Damon said as he moved around the sheriff and carried Elena to the aid car, where the medic waited.
"It is not that bad," Elena said. "Seriously."
Damon ignored her.