Pepper woke up and looked out the window. Wherever they were she was surrounded by trees. Her wrists were throbbing and she had a stiff neck from the way she slept. She knew that Rick probably took her phone but what he didn't know about was her bracelet. It was one that looked like a platinum Cartier bracelet but it could send a distress signal to Jarvis and he could notify Tony immediately. However she couldn't send the signal just yet because her wrists were still tied and she really needed her phone because she needed to let Tony know what he would be walking into. There were 3 armed men. Rick opened the door and pulled her up.
"Time to eat. I'm going to untie your wrists. Can I trust you to cooperate?"he asked.
Pepper nodded while he untied her wrists and he noticed the bracelet.
"This looks expensive. I'll be needing that from you too," he said.
"No, please. It was a gift," she begged.
"Do I look like I'm messing around? Hand it over," he said shoving the gun in her face.
Pepper slipped it off her wrist and handed it to him immediately.
Tony was going out of his mind but he decided to wait until Monday to see Pepper. He would show up at the office and force her to talk to him. He had a bad feeling that something was up but Pepper was a master at avoiding him if she wanted to so he put it out of his mind and continued working on his new suit designs.
Why did she leave me so suddenly? What was in that letter that left her so shaken up? Something is up and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.
Pepper ate her breakfast and she stared across the table at her cousin Dawn who wouldn't meet her eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"she whispered.
"I didn't want you to judge me the way I judged you. I thought I'd be long gone before I started showing," she whispered back.
"I wouldn't do that to you," Pepper said.
"I'm sorry," Dawn whispered.
"I need my bracelet. I can send a distress call to Jarvis and he can notify Tony. We need a plan," Pepper whispered.
"Ok what?" Dawn whispered back.
"I'm going to try a bathroom window. You need to get the bracelet and hold your finger over the grooves and Jarvis will detect a heat signature and send a distress signal to Tony with our location. I'm going to try and find help on foot,"
Dawn nodded just as Tim the driver came back over to watch them closely.
Amanda pulled her car into a space next to Pepper's and she knocked on her apartment door. A few minutes went by and she knocked again but there was still no answer. She peered through Pepper's windows and she couldn't see anyone. The apartment sounded silent except for her cat Copper who was meowing at her empty bowl.
Amanda knew immediately that something wasn't right. Ginny mentioned getting away but she said she would call her to look after her cat while she was gone and her car was here and there was no sign of her or her cousin and she left the cat with no food she thought. The first thing she was going to do was call a locksmith and the second thing she was going to do was get in touch with Tony Stark.
About 30 minutes later the locksmith showed up. She explained that she was cat sitting and that she got locked out and the guy bought her story. He was a young kid and new at the job and Amanda made sure he had a good view of her cleavage and she flirted with him a bit and he unlocked the door for her. Once inside Amanda snapped into action she found Pepper's cat carrier and scooped Copper up and put her in it. She grabbed the bag of cat food and her litter box and loaded up her car one item at a time and then she sent her a text.
Ginny where are you? I stopped by the house and Copper had no food. I called a locksmith and they let me in so I took Copper to my place. Please call me soon.
Amanda's next stop was 10880 Malibu Point. The home address of Tony Stark.
"I need to use the bathroom," Pepper said.
"It's over there. Don't try anything funny Tim will be right outside the door " Rick said.
Pepper got into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She got to work quickly on opening the window but the screen was stubborn. She used all her might and she could not open it. She opened the cabinet and began to search and she found a pair of medical scissors and she began to cut at the wire on the screen as much as she could and she pushed it the rest of the way open and launched herself out the window and hit the ground hard scraping herself along the way. The ground was extra rocky and she slipped and rolled down the hill feeling lots of twigs and rocks digging into her along the way and then she felt a pain like no other and heard a loud snap. She broke her leg and the pain was excruciating. She ripped a piece of her shirt and grabbed at some fallen branches to make a splint and have a walking stick.
"Rick, she's been in there awhile," the man outside the bathroom door said.
Rick came over to the bathroom and shot at the lock and the gunshot caused Dawn to jump. He pushed the door open and saw the open window.
"SHIT," he yelled out.
"What happened?" the third guy said as he joined him.
Dawn took this opportunity to get the bracelet and hold her finger over the grooves and she put it back where it was and sat back on the couch while she waited for them to return. She really hoped she did it right.
"Go after her and bring her back," Rick ordered his men.
Amanda pulled up to Malibu Point and she was stopped at the gate and an electronic voice came through the speaker.
"This is the residence of Tony Stark. Please state your name and reason for your visit," JARVIS said through the speaker.
Tony was hard at work in his workshop when JARVIS interrupted him.
"Sir a friend of Miss Potts, Amanda Forks is here. Shall I grant her access?"
"Yes, let her in please," Tony said wiping his hands and running up the stairs to meet her.
"Hi I'm sorry to drop by like this but have you heard from Ginny? Or Pepper?"she said remembering that he knows her as Pepper.
"She left here Friday night very upset. I texted her Saturday morning and she responded and then nothing. I went by her house Saturday and her car was there but no one was home. I figured she got a ride and she would be home today. I was trying to give her space. We sort of broke up," he explained.
"She came to see me Saturday morning and she told me she was going through some stuff and that she needed to get away and she asked me if she found a place to go if I could watch Copper. But I went there today and her car was there but the house was empty and Copper was meowing at his bowl. I called a locksmith and they let me in and I have him in the cat carrier outside but she never called me. That's so unlike her. I'm worried. I tried calling and texting and I got no answer," she said.
"I'll do a locator on her phone," Tony said.
They waited and nothing came back.
"That means the phone is off. I can't track it when it's off,"
Pepper was literally dragging herself along in excruciating pain. She felt dizzy and she didn't know where she was. She figured her best bet would be to find water. She kept going downhill and prayed that Dawn sent a signal. She could hear Rick's men getting closer now and she pulled herself up quickly. There was a small space between two rocks that formed a bit of an alcove and she tucked herself in between them to hide. She wasn't sure how long she was going to have to hide.
"We can keep the cat here for now. We should go back to the house to look for clues. She got a letter on Friday that her cousin brought here. She said her cousin said it was sent to their old place and she read it and then totally freaked out and ran out of here with no explanation. I wonder if that has anything to do with her disappearing," Tony explained.
"I didn't bring her key back with me. How will we get in?"she asked.
"Silly girl. I'm Iron man," he exclaimed.