Double update day. Chapter 12 will follow.
The first thing Damon does when he's unceremoniously shoved face first onto the pier is pick himself up and brush the sand off of his jeans. He grimaces at the hard, sweet iodine-like metallic taste of blood when a drop leaks from his nose and onto his lips.
One thing he knows for sure is whatever the hell is going on this city, it's big. Why else would Richard Lockwood and his cronies go to such lengths to keep it hidden? Kidnapping, possibly even murder... His mind quickly shifts to Elena, he has to keep her safe somehow.
She's as pigheaded as she is stubborn and God, he's still crazy about her. Somehow, someway, he's going to have to try to avoid her - at least long enough to figure out what to do next.
And then the light bulb goes off in his mind - he recognized one of the voices just as he was coming to. "Mr. Silvestri..."
What was Dahlia doing on that yacht? As soon as Damon gets back to Bonnie's, he's going to try to find out who owns The Mystic Princess.
Running down the dock, Damon jogs out of the pier, slowing to a stop only when he reaches a taxi stand. Flagging one down, he gives him the address to Bonnie's place, hoping that she won't be waiting when he gets there.
Having looked all over for Damon and coming up empty handed, Elena goes home. Her red brick building sits on the corner with parking in the rear. Finding a good spot is usually hit and miss.
The rear entrance has a strip of overgrown Rhododendron that hugs the building and runs almost the entire length of the lot. They are beautiful in the spring when they bloom with reddish pink flowers.
She leans against the hood for a few moments. Watching the occasional beam of headlights pass her by.
A big Dodge pickup pulls into the lot, and a bald man gets out. She's seen him before, knows he lives there but doesn't know his name. He slowly walks to the building's entrance and goes inside.
"The hell with it," Elena mumbles to herself, locks her vehicle, and walks in, trudging up the stairs till she reaches her floor.
After setting her bag on the counter, she pulls a bottle of Jack out of the cupboard and a shot glass. She flops onto the couch, and empties one, barely grimacing at the burn. Throwing back another, she sets it down then spreads her legs out in front of her and her arms behind her head, resting them against the inside arm of the sofa.
Elena lays there for what seems like a long time - well long enough to empty the bottle. To be fair, there wasn't much left anyway.
Nothing brilliant has popped into her head. Sighing, she pads to the kitchen to throw away the empty bottle then retreats to her room to attempt to get some rest.
She showers and dresses in a pair of jean cut offs and a tee shirt. Elena stuffs her things in her bag and slings it over her shoulder. On the way out, she makes sure the door is locked then ducks into the stairwell and outside to her VW, more determined than ever to find him.
She drives down Main street on her way to Bonnie's apartment. A few blocks later she notices a 7-Eleven. Running inside, she gets herself a fountain drink and a pastry for breakfast. Within minutes, she's slurping on her straw, enjoying the blast of the air conditioner, and listening to Van Halen's 'Dreams' blasting on the radio while she drives to Bonnie's place.
She parks directly across the street, guzzling on her Coke. Street activity is sluggish in the mid morning heat. Two men stand at the corner bus stop, waiting for a ride. They look bored and she can relate.
And then out of the corner of her eye she sees it, a slight hitch of the curtain in Bonnie's window. A Grinch-like smile forms on her face as she gets out of the car, throws her purse over her shoulder and strolls across the street.
As soon as she reaches the door, she takes in her surroundings, looking left to right before picking the lock. She stoops down to do the job when suddenly it flies open and Elena finds herself spread eagle over the threshold.
"Elena? What are you doing?" Bonnie demands to know, as she watches her get to her feet.
"You're home!? I thought I'd find Damon here," Elena explains, brushing the dirt off her cut offs.
"Since when are you and Damon keeping company again?" Bonnie pushes the door shut and Elena follows her into the kitchen.
"We're not. I'm a bounty hunter... I intend to turn him in for failing to appear in court."
"A bounty hunter? You?" she scoffs, shaking her head.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena's jaw clenches, she's a little angry now.
"You're not exactly the type," Bonnie points out, adding, "and what did he do this time?"
"I don't appreciate the skepticism," she shakes her head no at the cup of coffee that her friend offers. "What he did was assault a cop, then he didn't bother to show up for his hearing."
"Why would Damon assault a cop?"
Elena's expression hardens, "He's working on a story. I don't have time for this small talk, Do you know where he is?"
"Have you checked Stefan, Ric, his parents?"
"Seriously Bonnie," Elena deadpans, throwing her arms up in frustration.
"You know he likes to hang out at the ballpark..."
"I caught him there the first time, it would be kind of stupid for him to go there again," Elena's belly is churning as she's anxious to leave.
"It would be but this is Damon we're talking about," Bonnie grins.
"He's no fool," Elena retorts.
"Is the bounty the only reason you're chasing him?"
"Why would you even ask that?" she asks, dismayed.
"I don't know, you and he were good together..."
"Sometimes yes but I really have to go. Can you text me if you hear from him?"
"Sure," Bonnie walks her to her car, waving from behind when the little VW pulls into the stream of traffic.
Damon wanders into a beachfront bar and slides onto a stool. The bartender promptly appears and places a napkin on the counter in front of him.
"What'll it be?"
"Bourbon, straight up." The tense smile on his face matches his mood. He knows sooner or later that Elena's going to find him. She's like a dog with a bone when she's determined. But for now, she's out of his way, he needs to figure out where Ric's being held plus he'll need to come up with an excuse to placate her.
"Like that won't be easy," he mumbles under his breath.
"Did you say something?" The bartender returns with his drink.
Shaking his head, Damon reaches into his wallet, pulls out a twenty and tosses it on the counter. The man collects the bill and leaves to attend his other customers.
The bourbon goes down hot and smooth. He's tempted to have another but pushes back the urge, looks from left to right down the sidewalk then leaves the establishment in a hurry to get to his car.
The insistent buzzing of his phone rouses Damon from his nap. Half asleep, he feels around for the device, finding it on the coffee table.
"Hello," he mumbles, still held captive by his dreams of her.
"Ahh, did I wake you?" Elena snickers.
Immediately alert, Damon lurches upright. "Where are you?"
"Sitting on the steps outside your door. I saw you through the window...you should probably close the blinds if you're going to sleep on the couch."
"Christ Elena, I didn't intend to sleep on the couch," he drops in chin to his chest in frustration.
"Are you going to let me in?" she pushes the button and the doorbell rings shrilly through the small house.
Rolling his eyes, he pads over to the door in his bare feet, his toes curling into the soft carpet. Swinging it open, he finds himself face to face with the girl he just can't shake. Not physically. And most importantly not emotionally.
Elena follows him to the living room. "I thought we had a deal...Every time I think I can trust you, you pull something like this, running away again? What happened to us working together?"
"Surely you knew I wasn't being serious? This is my story and I'm not sharing my byline with you or anyone else," he pulls the stopper out of a decanter of amber colored liquor and pours some in a glass. "Want one?"
A line appears between her brows as she considers him. "Isn't it a little early?"
"It's five o'clock somewhere?" he lifts an eyebrow.
"Fine, then as soon as you're done with that drink, I'm turning you in and there will be no next time. Fool me once and all that..."
"Time's running out, Elena, I have to find Ric," he lifts the glass to his mouth.
"If that was true, I wouldn't have found you sound asleep," Elena arches an eyebrow.
They stare at each other in silence.
Both thinking.
Elena tapping her chin.
Damon frowning.
Elena breaks the quietude first, "Come on, let's go," she closes the distance between them.
"You really think you can take me in?" he gives her a lopsided grin.
His mockery makes her blood boil.
"You were okay letting me help you find him now all of a sudden you're being weird. Did something happen?" she tries to maintain her composure.
Damon locks eyes with her for several seconds, he's the first one to turn away. "It's nothing Elena, I just work alone okay?" he empties his glass.
"God, you always, always do this. You brush me off like my opinions mean nothing to you. And if you ever ask yourself why I ended it, this is why." she grabs the bottle of bourbon and tips it to her mouth, taking a generous swallow. After slamming it on the bar top, her eyes narrow in on him. "Now let's go."
His dark brows bounce up and down mischievously but when he turns his back to her, she quickly snaps on a pair of flex cuffs. "I said, let's go."
Before Damon even realizes what's happening, she prodding him through the door and down the sidewalk towards her car, still in his bare feet.
Chapter title: 'I Found You' by The Wanted.