Chapter 24: Possibilities
Mick and Beth had grabbed a few things from the loft and spent the night at Josef's in one of his guest rooms. One reason was to be closer to Kayla but also so they could keep working on finding Candice. They had both worked late before turning into the guest freezer. They woke up early out of habit, having a child will set your clock.
Beth helped Jean get Kayla ready for school and along with a team of guards they took her to school. Kayla was in good spirits despite the guards around. Beth came back to Josef's while Jean went into the office.
She was just making it into the war room when David found his way out of the freezer, "you drugged me."
Everyone looked up at him. He was angry. He was exhausted last night but he had wanted to keep working, saying he'd sleep when he found Candice. They all knew he needed to rest and had convinced him to at least drink some blood. He drank it so fast he never noticed the heavy sedative inside it. Once he had passed out Mick and Josef got him settled in a freezer for some much needed rest. They knew he'd be upset but he needed sleep.
"That was my idea," Josef pointed out. "You needed freezer time weather you want to admit it or not."
"I need to find Candice."
"You do. But what good will you be to her if we find a lead and you're too tired to follow up on it?" Beth asked gently.
He didn't say anything at first. He knew she was right. He needed to stay in his best shape for her.
"She'll need you at your best when we find her. If we find her and you are too tired to handle it then you could endanger her."
"I know," he growls. "I know I have to rest, I have to feed. I know all of this but I don't know if she's getting any rest or any food. How do I rest peacefully in a freezer and fill myself with blood when I don't know if she is okay."
Mick stepped up next to Beth wrapping an arm around her instinctively. "I know and we will find her. We didn't stop looking at all. Someone was always working on something, trying to turn up a lead."
They didn't have time to argue about this. He knew they were only trying to help. "I'll take better care of myself for her but don't drug me again." He doesn't wait for anyone to answer before he continues, "What do we have?"
"The phone records finally came through. We were just about to start sorting through them. Why don't you go finish getting dressed and we'll have the copies ready for you." Josef added looking at David in a pair of tight pj bottoms. "Your clothes were washed and put on the dresser."
When David came back he was dressed and well fed. As promised a copy of Candice's phone records was sitting at an empty seat for him. He looked it over and saw her call to Beth and then to him neither lasting around 25 seconds, long enough for voicemail to pick up. Then directly after calling him a call placed to Ryan lasting for several minutes.
"She called him," David says it in shock.
Having already seen the records and looking over Ryan's as well Beth is starting to believe he wasn't involved. "I'm starting to think maybe Ryan didn't do this."
David's head snapped up. "She called him and then they both disappear. He deactivated his tracker and killed the guards watching him. You think that was a coincidence?"
"No," Beth sat up. "I think it's a misdirect."
Mick leans over her shoulder and looks at the calls, "So we know she placed these called up until here," he indicated the calls to Beth and David. "We saw her on the surveillance camera. So then we assume she called Ryan. Why would she call him? And what happened after that? No activity on her phone for hours until Beth calls and gets voicemail and a text is sent."
"He sent it to deflect us. He knew Beth would expect a call back so he sent a text so she wouldn't think anything was up. Then he sent me a text saying she couldn't make the trip."
"Why would he do that?" Beth asked. "Why would he text you something like that. Anyone who knows Candice knows she wouldn't cancel by text. He'd know that. He's supposed to love her—"
"I LOVE HER," David growled.
Beth shot up out of her seat and leaned forward over the table towards him meeting his anger, "I know you do. I'm not questioning that I'm just stating the facts. He said himself he left because he was in love with her. Which means he knows her, he knows her habits well enough to know that would be a red flag. All I'm saying is he seemed smarter than that."
Slamming his fists down on the table making it shake David falls to his seat. He shouldn't be fighting his friends. They were only trying to help. "You're right. He would know that. But what other explanation is there? If he didn't take her than who did and where is Ryan?"
"Coraline?"
"Why would she take her? If we're assuming she wants you back, then why kidnap Candice. Candice holds no value to you Mick."
"I think of her as family," Mick defended. "But you're right. Candice isn't the best bargaining chip."
Beth shrugs, "Maybe she took Candice for Ryan. Give him what he wanted so he'll help her. Maybe she called Ryan for whatever reason. Maybe whatever was on her mind when she went to her car she needed to talk to someone and since we didn't answer she tried him."
"What would she call him for?"
"Well we know that after that she drove to the Westwood, and then she makes a few stops through town before ending up where it was found. The SUV shows that it was in the same area as the Westwood but nothing else matches up."
"Then we need to go back there and check it out."
To Be Continued…
Evilous