A/N: I am sincerely thankful to each and every one of you for all the views, follows, favorites, reviews and the constant support that you've be showing this story as well as me. I would also like to thank Shirahane Aikawa, Reaper2908, anonymous reviewer, silver scropion, ShizukesAplus and Adela for sharing their views about the last chapter. I hope you have fun reading the following chapter as well.

Chapter 35: Abandoned

(Leon's POV)

The GPS of my car announced that I was at my destination and I looked up to see the name of the building, which is Vivian's fashion house. I parked my car right in front of the place at some distance away from the building, got out and locked it, before making my way towards the place. As I drew closer I saw a couple of people just outside the entrance, talking and laughing a little. I recognized one of them to be Vivian, another as her gay friend Allen and I didn't know the rest of the people, but I didn't see Kate with them. Allen's tone seemed a little complaining, to which Vivian laughed and commented something moving to do what he was doing. It seemed that they were locking up the place.

"See it's not so hard", Vivian said to him, keeping the keys in her handbag and then they both turned to leave, "Leon?!", she exclaimed in surprise when she spotted me and hurried to see me, "What a surprise!", she added with a bright smile on her face.
"Hey handsome!", Allen greeted me with a wave, joining his friend.
"Hey", I said in acknowledgement, "Kate's not with you guys?", I asked them, when I was sure that Kate was indeed not with them.
"Well yeah she came earlier", Vivian replied speaking in a casual tone, "But she left already", she looked at Allen.
"She left?", I asked them in confirmation.
"Yeah she got a call from her….mom", Allen said as if trying hard to remember the detail, "After that she just left", he added with a shrug.
"Oh I see", I responded to the information.

I wasn't really expecting to not find Kate here. I knew that she was heading here from the call she had made to Vivian from her office, and I had even offered her a ride here because I knew her car was in the garage. I still couldn't leave her alone, so when she declined saying she'll take a cab instead, I hurried off to get my car from the parking. I just caught up with her in time, when she was hailing a cab to head here. I followed the cab since I didn't really know where this place was but unfortunately, I lost the cab at a traffic light. And then I had to call Kate's PA to get the address of this place and it delayed my arrival here.

"Anyways what are you doing here?", Vivian asked still smiling up at me and I snapped out of my thoughts, "Besides looking for Kate, of course."
"You invited me to come see the place, remember?", I reminded her with a slight friendly smile.
"I am afraid you're a little late", she said to me in an obvious tone, "We were just locking it up", she added looking back at the building, and then she sharply turned her head to look at Allen, "Allen, you left the lights on, on the upper floor", and I lifted my head to see that indeed there were lights on the upper floor as well, "Now we have to open this up again."
"We don't have to", Allen said with a shake of his head, "Leaving the lights on just for a night won't cost too much", he added in a somewhat carefree tone.
"You know I am particular about energy saving", Vivian said getting the keys from her bag; "I'd rather do the locks over again then to leave those lights on."

"Ah... there's no need", one of the women who were with them said, "I have the perfect solution, follow me", she led us to the a fuse box that was outside the building, "Pass on the keys please", and Vivian handed her the keys, "I usually close this place up and sometimes I too forget to turn off the lights or stuff", she spoke unlocking the fuse box, "So I usually flip the main power of the building", she did just that and a few sparks flew out of it, which made Allen cling to Vivian in slight fear.
"Is it suppose to do that?", Allen asked her in tone of concern.
"No", the woman looked back at us gravely.
Vivian let out a sigh, "Well what's done is done", she lifted her head to look at the upper floor, "Guess it solves our problem. I'll call an electrician to check it in the morning."
"Yeah, I hope it's not something major", the woman said a little remorsefully.
"Well we won't know until tomorrow", Allen said with a shrug, "But let's just take care of it then, we should all head home."
"Yeah", the small group of people agreed, and then they said their goodbyes and went on their way.

"We should head home too", Vivian said to me and I just nodded. We started to walk towards our cars, "You want to have dinner at our place?", she asked Allen.
"Yeah sure", he agreed to her invite and I heard a sharp crashing sound just behind me.
"Did you hear that?", I asked others, stopping in my tracks and looking back, trying to figure out the source of that noise.
"Hear what?", Allen asked me puzzled looking back at me.
"It was noise of something hitting the ground", I told him looking at the ground.
"Must be some alley cat or something", Vivian said not really showing too much interest in it, "Don't think about it too much."
"Yeah you're right", I agreed with her and we resumed to walk towards our cars once again.

I shook my head and tried not to think too much of the situation. It was a little hard to relax when Kate was not by my side; not being with her was just putting me on the edge. I was constantly getting this feeling that she was in trouble, since the moment I lost track of her cab. I guess I still wasn't over the guilt of the negligence I showed towards her that one time, and then there was also the fact that the other two times she was attacked was when I wasn't with her. There was only one way to get rid of this feeling and that was to call her. I took out my phone and was about to call her when Vivian called my attention.

"How about you give us a ride in your car?", Vivian asked me with a smile.
"But you have your own car", I said a little confused by such a request, looking over at her car that was just a further away from mine.
"Why? Is Kate the only one allowed to ride in your car?", she said crossing her arms, frowning a little at me, "Or is it that she wouldn't like me hanging out with you?"
"It's nothing like that", I shook my head. Although Kate had warned me against Vivian but I don't think she carries any ill will towards her older cousin. I guess she was just worried that Vivian could hurt me to get back at her, or maybe she was insecure but I couldn't really say for sure because Kate was being so difficult to understand for some time now.
"So it's decided then", she said with a beautiful smile and Allen clapped happily.
"Alright", I agreed with a shrug and got back to making the call.
"Who are you calling?", she asked me looking at my phone, "Oh c'mon we are heading home. We know you love your wife don't be so restless."
"I just want to make sure she's safe", I said dialing her number and putting my phone against my ear.
"Alright", she sighed rolling her eyes without a care, "I'll go talk to my driver in the meantime."

Instead of hearing the ring of Kate's phone, I heard a beep sound and I pulled my phone away from my ear just to see that it was low on battery and it switched off right in my face. I just cursed my luck, now there was no option but to head home and find Kate there. I could ask Vivian or Allen to call and confirm on my behalf but I didn't want to seem too desperate about such stuff. Besides I was confident in my driving that I would reach home in no time, and there was no better confirmation than seeing her live with my own two eyes.

I watched Vivian talk to her driver for a bit and then she walked back to us, as her driver went on ahead. I unlocked the car and we all got inside. I connected my phone to the charging point in the car's deck, as Vivian took the back seat while Allen opted to take the side seat. They talked about some stuff and I was glad that I didn't have to be a part of their conversation because I really wanted to reach home as soon as possible, and for that I needed to concentrate on driving.

"By the way Leon", Vivian called my attention once again, "I was wondering, why didn't you and Kate come together? I mean you knew she was coming to see my workplace since you asked about her, so why didn't you two come together?"
"Well we were coming together, sort of, but I lost sight of her cab at a red light and since I didn't know the address to the place so I had to call her PA to get it and hence I got a little delayed", I told her what actually happened.
"Why didn't you ride together like always?", she asked me whilst laughing.
I let out a sigh, "She didn't want to ride together with me", I told her the truth, "She's mad at me over the Swartz incident probably."
"What does Swartz has to do with anything", she asked in a bewildered tone.
"I had a fight with Swartz", I admitted with a sigh.

"Oh so that's why you were so beat up in the morning and that's why she was so mad", Vivian said in a tone of realization and laughed a little, "I should have guessed that it was personal when she talked about destroying both Swartz and Cruz. She goes quite dark when angry."
"Yeah I have been seeing it for some time now", I couldn't help but comment with a sigh.
"I know what you can do", Allen spoke up with quite an enthusiasm, "Give her, her favorite flowers and make up with her."
"Great idea, Al", Vivian complimented him.
"I know I am such a relationship saver", he said in a self important tone.
"I don't know her favorite flowers", I told both of them, if flowers could solve this thing then I don't really mind buying my wife some. Plus it wouldn't hurt to try; at least I'd know that she has no hard feelings if she accepts the flowers.
"I'll ask her mother", Vivian said and called her mother immediately.

Vivian talked to her mother for a bit and I was itching to confirm if Kate was returned back home safely or not, but I tried to keep a lid on my anxiety. Unfortunately her mother didn't have a clue about her favorite flowers either, but still Vivian and Allen made me pull over at a flower store, which was surprisingly still open. They both kept showing and suggesting me flowers to buy, but I couldn't really tell what would Kate like or not like. In the end they both decided that it would be better if they made a bouquet for her and I just presented it to her. I really wasn't sure if I should be tricking Kate in such a way but since both Vivian and Allen were a little forceful about it, so I let them have their way.

I just looked at the flowers set in the display cabinets while they talked to the florist, when I came across extremely gorgeous looking red colored flowers. I don't know why but when I looked at them I was reminded of Kate, maybe because they were as beautiful as her. I wasn't really down for this whole idea of getting flowers for her as an apology but now I could imagine myself holding out these flowers to her, and couldn't help but wonder if she would be happy to see these. If I had to present her flowers then these flowers just seemed worthy enough for her.

"We decided to go with classic red roses", Vivian said walking up to me, with the florist and Allen by her side.
"I want to give her these", I pointed at the flowers that really won my heart over, "They oddly remind me of her", I told her with a slight smile, turning to look back those flowers.
"The rarest of red orchids", the florist said sounding a little annoyed when speaking about them, "You basically have to sell your soul to devil to raise these."
"Why so?", Allen asked her curiously.
"It took a lot of pampering for them to bloom; one of the most delicate flowers I have ever grown", the florist told us looking at them.

"Definitely sounds like our princess", Vivian commented rolling her eyes.
"But now when I look at them, I think it was all worth it. I mean they are the prettiest flowers in my shop and they look the same since I picked them up in morning", the florist looked at them admirably.
"I'll take them all", I said to the florist.
"They are very expensive!", she told me seemingly taken aback.
"Don't worry about it", I told her, shaking my head a little. I had spent a lot of money on very wrong things and people, buying these flowers for Kate wasn't really bad call.
"Alright", she agreed to sell all of it to me, "They'll probably wilt by tomorrow, so I'll throw in a discount. It seems like they were waiting for you", she added with a smile.

The florist took those beautiful flowers and she didn't take too much time to make a gorgeous bouquet out of them. We took the flowers, thanked her for her service and headed straight for the home. Allen and Vivian talked through most of the ride, and since I was in a hurry to get back home, I didn't pay too much attention to their conversation. When they asked me something, I had to ask them to repeat their questions and most of the times I kept my replies short.

As we entered through the huge iron gates of the mansion, I felt an odd sense of happiness to return back home. I turned my wrist up a little to see the time; it was just a little over 9:45 PM. The whole trip from Vivian's boutique to the mansion, including the brief stop we made at the florist took just a little over half an hour, but still it felt much longer than that.

I pulled up my car in front of the mansion door, and right when I was releasing myself from the seatbelt, Vivian passed on the bouquet to me. I took the flowers from her, grabbed my phone from the car's deck and we all stepped out of the car. The butler of the mansion, Francis, was at the door without a fail to welcome us into the house. Kate's mother was lounging on one of the couches, and when she saw us, she put her magazine aside and smiled at us. Francis helped Vivian out of her winter coat; she informed him that Allen will be having dinner here and Francis told her that he would make the arrangements right away.

"Really beautiful flowers", Kate's mother said eyeing the flowers in my hand, as she walked up to me and I walked further inside the house, "Is it for Kate?", she asked with a look of admiration in her eyes and then smiled.
"Yeah", I answered her with a nod and smile, "Is she up in her room?", I asked the unnecessary question.
Her mother seemed a little puzzled, as if I had asked her a very difficult question, "Milady hasn't returned yet, sir", Francis informed me in her stead.
The words felt like a slap to my face, "What?", I asked him in confirmation, "Are you sure?"
"Yes", he gave me a nod of affirmation.

I immediately turned to Vivian, "You said she left for home, right?", I asked her in a tone of urgency, as an feeling of apprehension washed over me.
"Yeah she did", Vivian nodded looking at Allen for support.
"Yeah", Allen nodded in agreement, "I am sure she got a call from Mrs. Mason", he looked at Kate's mother briefly, "Because I heard her say mom, then she said she was going out and we didn't see her after that. So we thought her mother called her home urgently."
I looked at her mother and she started speaking even before I could ask her, "Well I did call her but it wasn't anything too important. I just wanted to know when she'll be back, because I wanted to wait for her so we could have dinner together. She said that she'll be heading home in few."

I didn't waste any time in pulling out my phone and calling her immediately, hoping that she was fine and her cab driver just lost his way or something. I cursed when my call was forwarded directly to her voicemail. The next call I made was to her PA, who told me that she didn't have any more meetings or didn't update him about anything on the matter, and I couldn't help but fear the worst. I couldn't stop myself from regretting the moment I let her go on her own. But this was no time for regrets; I had to go look for Kate, before anything worse happens to her. I turned back and hurried to head out but Vivian stopped me, by grabbing hold of my arm.

"Leon, where are you going?", Vivian asked in a tone mixed with surprise and concern.
"To look for Kate, of course", I told her in an obvious tone, releasing myself from her grip.
"I think that would be unnecessary", her mother said being a little carefree for the moment, "You're being a worrywart as always", her mother let out a laugh, "She might have went somewhere else, we should wait."
"She's right, we should wait some more", Vivian agreed with Kate's mother.
"If you want to wait then you can, but I can't sit back and relax, when I know she might be in danger", I said to both of them, "I am going to look for her", I added it more as a declaration, before almost making a run back to my car.
"How? Where?", Vivian asked me in a tone of bewilderment, following me close behind, "You don't even know where she could be?"

I really didn't feel like having an argument or explain how much big of a predicament I was in at the moment. I just unlocked my car and got inside, dumping the flowers that I had been holding all along onto the side seat. I put the keys in the ignition and started up my car, and just then both Allen and Vivian got in the back seat, saying that they will come along with me. Since I'd just waste more time if tried to convince them otherwise, I didn't say anything to them. I backed up my car and took the car straight out of the mansion.

It was starting to get late so I didn't encounter too much traffic but whatever traffic we came across, I managed it well driving as fast as I could and under the speed limit. At any other time I might not have cared too much about speeding but today I didn't want to be flagged down by a cop, when every second matters. I had no idea where Kate might be at the moment or in what condition she might be in, but I knew where exactly to start my search for her, and I hoped and prayed to god that she was fine.

"Leon, where are we going?", Vivian asked me after some time.
"To your new workplace", I replied monotonously, keeping my eyes on the road.
"Why?", Allen asked in a puzzled tone.
"Kate was last seen there and if I have to start searching for her somewhere then that's the perfect place", I gave them my reasons to go and look for her there.
"Do you think we should inform the police?", Vivian asked me and I gripped the steering wheel really tight.
"I can't say for sure but I guess we should", I responded, "It might all be for nothing and she really might have gone somewhere without informing us, but if she might have really gotten herself into trouble then the police could really aid us in tracking her."
"Okay, I'll call the cop that was looking into the matter of Uncle Keith's death and ask for his help", she said in a very serious tone.

Vivian called up the police officer, explained the whole situation to him and asked for his help. The talk went on for a few minutes with her trying to convince the cop that Kate might be in danger given the current circumstances, when she had been already attacked three times. It took a while but she was successful in gaining the cop's support and she ended the call with a thank you. She informed me that the cop and his partner would meet us at our destination in some time and that he'd ask the cyber cell to track Kate's last phone location, so we could search her. I felt a little at ease knowing that I could now find her even quicker with all the aid.

"Can you two tell me what exactly happened between Kate's arrival and departure in detail", I asked of those two in the backseat.
"Well she arrived around 8:45-9:00 PM, I guess", Vivian started to speak; "We all were in the tailoring room, organizing the merchandise that had been delivered in the evening. When she arrived we gave her a tour, then we walked back to the tailoring floor, and I introduced her to the designers. We all got talking about random stuff, when she got a call, right?"
"Yeah I clearly remember she was standing just in front of me when I was doing Cruz's impression", Allen continued Vivian's retelling of events; "I know she mentioned her mom and said she was going out, then she left."
"Did you two actually see her leaving the building in cab or a car?", I asked them to get a better picture of the events.
"No, the tailoring floor is on the second floor, so we didn't actually see her leaving the building", Vivian told me, "And actually to be honest, we thought she would be coming back but she didn't."
"And you didn't find it odd?", I couldn't help but ask.

"Well we had to lock up, so we didn't think much about it", Vivian replied with a shrug, "We all left the room and all the designers headed down the elevator, while Allen and I went to put some old fabrics in the storage room. Then we locked both the storage and tailoring room, got down in the elevator. I asked the receptionist if she saw Kate and she told me that Kate went out a while ago, whilst talking on the phone and she didn't see her coming back. Also, when we stepped out to lock the main entrance we didn't see her car either, so we assumed she left for home already."
"Her car is in garage", I told them with a sigh, "Her driver might have thought that she would ride back home with me, like always, so he probably didn't bother to fetch another car for her. And she wanted to avoid me, so she took a cab."
"Well we didn't know that otherwise we would have been more careful", Vivian said in a very serious and concerned tone.

I couldn't really blame them for whatever happened; it's not their fault to have overlooked such a thing. Any normal person in such a situation would have the similar thought process and would have been equally negligent about such a small detail. I really cursed the moment I lost that cab, which Kate took, at the traffic light. If it wasn't for that thing then probably Kate would have been with me right now.

I pulled my car to a stop in front of the building that is Vivian's fashion house. We got out and walked towards the building, when I stepped on to something and it cracked under my weight. I looked down, pulling my phone out of my pocket to see clearly what exactly I had stepped on. It seemed to be a piece of plastic or glass or something. Vivian asked me, what I was looking at but I was already turning on the flashlight on my phone. Once the area was brightly lit I could see that parts of a cell phone were sprawled on the ground, not just any cell phone but the model Kate owned.

"Is that Kate's?", Vivian asked is a tone of surprise.
"Oh my god", Allen gasped in anxiousness; "Don't tell me something bad has happened to her."
"Do you think she might be kidnapped?", Vivian questioned me in a very grave tone.

My mind was already skimming through the possibilities of what might have happened here. The chances of her getting kidnapped were there but if such a thing happened then she might have called for help, and people might have known it. Even if it happened too fast and she didn't get a chance to scream for help then surely the receptionist might have noticed it but then again if she wasn't at her post then she might not have. It all should have happened before I came, but I was sure that these phone parts weren't here when I was here before. If it were there then I would have noticed it there and then, because they were right in front of the building, and if not me then someone else might have definitely stepped on it.

It only meant that these pieces came here after we left, but Kate had already left before I came, and her phone wouldn't just drop out of the sky. It was then that I remembered that loud noise of something crashing into the ground, when we were leaving. I had turned to look back but since it was too dark I couldn't make out the pieces of the cell phone. I looked up immediately and saw that a window was propped up open on the second floor of the building and I had no memory of it being so the last time I checked.

"Did you leave that window open?", I asked Vivian looking up at that window, just to confirm my doubts.
"I don't really remember", she answered in a confused tone, shaking her head a little.
"I don't even remember opening them", Allen said somewhat nervously, "Are you going to tell us, what you're thinking because you're scaring us."
"What's on the second floor?", I asked looking at them in an urgent tone, not really bothering to answer their question.
"Tailoring room and storage room", Vivian answered looking at Allen quizzically.
"What's it like?", I asked her fearing the worse, "I mean the rooms, what does it look like?"
"Full of clothes, both finished and unfinished, fabrics and mannequins", Allen replied promptly and my suspicions were confirmed, "It's like a huge closet!"

"Shit!", I cursed out loud making a run for the entrance of the building, but of course it was locked.
"Leon, will you tell us what's going on?", Vivian asked me in an anxious tone catching up to me, as I stood at the entrance to the building.
"You have the keys, right?", I asked her instead, I really needed to hurry, "Open it quickly!", I added in a tone of emergency.
"Yeah just a minute", she started to search for key in her hand bag.
"That's a little too long", I couldn't help but say a little impatiently.
"Here", she pulled out the bunch of keys and I started to put one key after another into the lock of the door, "What's the hurry?", she asked me once again sounding bewildered.
"Kate is locked inside on the second floor", I answered her trying to figure out which key belonged to this door.
"What?!", she screamed in surprise, "That's impossible, we were the last one to exit the room and she exited before us."
"Look I don't really know how she got there but I am sure she's up there, alone and scared", I said to her somewhat conclusively.

Vivian didn't ask me anymore questions, as I still tried to unlock the door in the dim light of my cell phone. The whole area suddenly lit up, and I heard the sound of a car pulling to a stop right in front of the building. I didn't bother to turn and see who it was, and put another key in the lock. There were at least 20 keys in this bunch and now I understood why Allen was complaining while he was locking up this place earlier. All the keys almost looked the same, and for someone new it was hard to know which key belonged to where.

As I put another key in the lock, I really hoped it to be the one and my prayers were answered as the key finally turned all the way, as I finally managed to unlock the door at my 7th attempt. I pushed open the door and made a run for the elevator but when I pushed the button, it didn't lit up and I remembered that earlier one of the employees might have blown the power of the entire building. I lifted up my phone to look for the way to the stairs and I found a sign pointing to the back. I hurried through a door that led to the staircases, and ran up the stairs taking two steps at time.

It had already been more than an hour since the time I had last been here, and that's probably how long Kate had been locked up inside this place. I still remembered the night she got herself accidentally locked in her own walk-in closet. She couldn't even stand a second in there, and was crying and screaming to me to let her out; that's how much she was scared of being locked inside the closet. And now that she had been locked in a closet like room for an hour; it wouldn't have been any less than a nightmare to her. I mentally prayed for her to be fine because I was almost there.

A/N: Thanks a lot for reading the chapter and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and that it wasn't much of a drag or something. Please free to leave your thoughts about chapter or the story; I look forward to hear from you and appreciate your feedback. I'll see you all next week with another chapter, till then take care and have a great time! :D