When Cross, his team and Arthur arrived in the parking lot, they headed over to a group of black SUVs.
Arthur walked over to another car, a Ford Mustang.
"Bishop, we shouldn't split up", said Jake.
"I work solo, Cross. Besides, you know nothing of Julia's habits".
Cross threw his hands up in the air. "Suit yourself, the first one that finds her, calls VanKirk".
Arthur opened the door of the car and revved the engine and was the first to leave the underground parking lot of Knox Consolidated.
He drove fast and dangerously towards the cantina.
He stormed inside, ignoring Santos and Miguel and hurried through the kitchen, then up the staircase to Julia's door.
At first, he knocked on it, then when she didn't open, he kicked the door in.
He turned the light on and noticed that Julia's clothes were scattered all over the room and her dress and shoes were tossed in a corner of the room. It was evident that she had come back here, taken a few things and had left.
He was about to exit her room, when something caught his attention on her desk. He walked over and took the picture frame in his hands. It was a picture of the two of them that someone had taken of them as they were leaving Tulum, after their escapade on the secluded beach. Both were smiling and seemed like they were a long-lasting couple in love.
He caressed the photo. "Where are you Julia"?
Julia entered the room. It smelled a mix of old closed closet and mold. She dropped her backpack on the bed and sat at the end of it, looking at the mirror on the wall. She slid off the bed and landed on the floor. She grabbed her head in her hands and started to cry. All of it had been a lie, he had used her and lied to her and she felt not only hurt, but betrayed and humiliated. And the fact that she had truly fallen in love with him didn't help.
"Hi, you've reached Hailey. I can't take your call right now but leave a message"!
"Julia, where are you? It's not what you think. Just let me know where you are, and I can explain everything. You are not safe".
Arthur hung up feeling desperate. It was already the third time he was trying to call Julia since he had left Walter. He knew why she wasn't picking up, she was pissed off and hurt. If only she could give him a chance, she'd realize that his feelings for her were true.
He walked to his room and turned on his laptop as he changed out of his suit into more field ready clothes. He tried to geolocate Julia's phone but got an error message, which seemed odd. He knew it wasn't turned off, but something was blocking him accessing her whereabouts. Very quickly he was able to get around Knox Consolidated's firewall and access the security camera footage. He watched as Julia headed down the hall towards the restrooms. Cross did stop her but had left her continue on her way, unattended. He then watched as Julia had gotten closer to her father's office door. Cross was busy looking at his phone but as Arthur looked closer and rewinded the video, he could see that Cross had watched her from the corner of his eye and was smiling.
"Son of a bitch, you knew…", swore Arthur.
And that wasn't the only thing he noticed. Cross knew that Julia had left through the emergency exit and had done nothing to stop her. What the hell was he up to? He could have stopped her, why hadn't he? Instead, he watched as Cross took his mobile phone out and made a phone call. He couldn't make out what he was saying, but reading lips was one of the many talents he had, and his anger went up a notch as he took in what was behind Cross' call.
"The package is on route, round up the guys. The plan is going just as planned".
Arthur grabbed his leather jacket and left the cantina and headed over to talk to Walter.
When he entered Walter's office, the party had ended, and the place was deserted, aside a few security guys that were keeping an eye on Walter. When he walked into Walter's office, he was pacing the floor and smoking another cigar.
Walter turned around and looked at Arthur.
"Have you found Julia"? he asked worriedly.
"No. Have you heard from Cross"?
Walter shook his head.
"Trust me you will".
Walter's eyes lit up. "You think he knows where Julia is"?
"I'm quite sure he does and I'm going to be here when he calls you".
Walter narrowed his eye. There was something in Bishop's voice that he didn't like.
"What are you not telling me"?
"Cross orchestrated everything Walter. If you look at the video surveillance, you'll see that he deliberately let Julia leave the building".
"What? Why? Why would he do that"?
"He told me himself and now his words are clear to me".
"What did he say"?
"He reminded me that Julia was worth millions. Think about Walter. Who better to orchestrate something like this than your head of security".
"I don't believe it. Cross has been working for me for years. You're mistaken, he isn't planning on kidnapping Julia".
"I hope you're wrong Walter, because otherwise, this is going to get messy".
Julia was still crying when there was a knock on the door.
"Housekeeping", she heard a woman's voice say from behind the door.
Julia wiped away the tears from her eyes. "I'm all good thanks".
"Actually, if it's alright with you, I need to give you towels, I haven't had time to finish servicing your room".
Seeing that Julia wasn't answering, the woman continued. "Look, it'll only take a few seconds. If I don't, my boss will kill me".
Julia stood and looked at herself in the mirror. "Just a second". She put her spaghetti strap top in place and wiped away the mascara that had run around her eyes.
When Julia opened the door, she saw the cleaning lady with a pack of towels in her hands. She was shaking like a leaf. Apparently, she was really scared of her boss and hadn't been lying. Before Julia could grab the towels, the woman was pushed aside by a group of men with guns.
Julia took a step back and discreetly took out her phone from the back pocket of her shorts, keeping it in her hand, hidden behind her back.
The guys walked into the room and put themselves to the side, still with their guns aimed at her proudly. She felt more than uncomfortable as their stare on her grew into desire and some licked their lips and made vivid comments in Spanish.
Seeing Jake walk in, she gave a sigh of relief.
"Fucking hell, Jake! Subtle much"!?
Jake looked at some of the guys. "Secure the area and let them know we have the package and we'll be there in fifteen minutes". Jake then looked at her, but there was something different about the way he was looking at her and took a step in her direction.
She took a step back.
"I have to hand it to Bishop", said Jake as he placed himself in front of Julia. "He made things rather easy. At first, I had no idea at how, I was going to get you out of the building".
Julia's eyes widened.
"I knew your father wasn't pleased about how close Bishop was getting to you and I knew he would bring it up eventually. How happy I was that you just so happen to walk in front of that office door when you did".
Julia started to shake in both fear and anger.
"So? That was your plan? Make me hate Bishop, so that you could swoop in and fix my broken heart and win my dad's good graces"?
He lifted his hand and started to trace the contour of Julia's face with it.
"Oh no Julia, that would never have worked. There is no man good enough for daddy's little girl. I've been working for your father for the past ten years, putting my life on the line for him and for you… and for what, never a thank you, no gratitude and being underpaid for it".
Julia slapped away his hand, defying him, which was something that both excited and aggravated him.
He slapped Julia, harder than that guy Rafael had done, luckily this time, she had the bed to soften her fall, as the force of his slap sent her in a 180-degree spin and tumble.
"Jake what are you doing man"? she heard Wes say.
She felt the air move behind her as Jake pivoted to look at Wes.
Her face stinging, she looked at her phone that was still in her hand, she had three missed calls from Arthur.
"Wes, this is my operation, you've got a problem with the way I do things, you can leave".
"I thought we were only doing this for the money, Jake. You said no violence, no one gets hurt".
Jake sneered. "There is no such thing, Wes".
"Then I'm out", said Wes.
Julia tapped on her phone to recall Arthur's number. She jumped as she heard a gunshot go off.
"Anyone else want out of this operation? I still have a few bullets in my gun".
Julia closed her eyes understanding that he had shot Wes in cold blood.