AN: I'm alive! And no one's more surprised by it than I am. I've had a crazy schedule in the last couple of months and so I haven't really been able to update any of my stories. But fret not, I do intend to complete all of them. Anyway, I've been reading the reviews and I'm glad you liked the story. Thank you so much for taking the time out to leave a review. So here's the next chapter. Hopefully this will set the pace for the next few chapters. Please do read, follow and favourite and most importantly, let me know what you think.
Stefan was good at interrogating suspects. He knew how to get answers from even the toughest criminals but getting answers from his brother was going to be a whole new kind of ball game. He sighed loudly and knocked on the front door. It was still 7.15 am and he was sure that Damon would still be home. A few seconds later, the door opened and Damon grinned at him. "Since when do you knock?" he asked.
"Uh…" Stefan hesitated.
"Spit it out, baby bro", said Damon as he stepped away from the door to let Stefan in.
"The captain wanted me to talk to you again about yesterday", answered Stefan. "I just want to know if there's anything else you'd like to tell us about the guy you were talking to."
Damon pretended to think for a few seconds. "Nothing comes to mind", he said at last. "He was just this random guy I spoke to at the bar last night."
"Alright", said Stefan slowly.
"Breakfast's on the table, Stefan", he heard Elena call out. "I'd make it quick if I were you. The toast isn't going to stay toasty all day."
"Thanks", said Stefan as he tucked into his breakfast beside Damon. "Did you hear that they recovered dad's painting?"
"Which one?" asked Damon absent mindedly.
"Are you talking about the one that was stolen last year?" asked Elena.
"That's the one", confirmed Stefan.
"That was a total waste of police resources", said Damon. "That painting was ugly!" He looked up from his breakfast to see Stefan glaring at him.
"Ignore him", Elena said to Stefan. "He's an architect, not an interior decorator."
"Well, anyway", Stefan continued turning back to his plate of food; "The whole station's excited about it. This is the first time we've been able to recover something that was stolen from the Good Samaritan. I guess there's still hope that we can catch this guy."
"You're calling him the Good Samaritan?" asked Damon sceptically. "I thought he was a thief."
"He is but most of the charities he's donated to say that they were really in need of the money at the time", answered Stefan by way of explanation. "He may have hurt one group of people but he did help another."
"Sounds like you're defending him", said Damon.
"I'm not", said Stefan. "I just think that despite the fact that he's a criminal, he's got a good heart. He doesn't keep the money for himself, at least we don't think he does. He gives it all away to the people who need them. As far as criminals are concerned, he's not as bad as the rest of them."
Damon couldn't help but grin at his brothers words. "What are the odds of the police catching him?" asked Elena, concerned.
"Slim to none", Damon answered for Stefan as his brother glared at him. Damon just shrugged. "I mean if you haven't caught him yet, you're unlikely to catch him now. I know you've managed to recover something he stole but since then, that painting has probably changed hands at least a dozen times. I doubt you'll be able to get any evidence off of it."
"That's probably true", Stefan had to concede. "But you never know. May be his luck's starting to run out." Stefan pushed the now empty plate away from him. "It's got the guys excited and it's got me excited too. I could be the guy that arrests a thief who's been a ghost all this while." Stefan got up and then turned to Damon. "Mason might want to talk to you again about the guy at the bar. If he does, try not to piss him off."
Damon considered the request for a minute and then said, "Fine. I'll try but no promises."
Stefan just shook his head and then left after saying his good byes to his brother and future sister in law.
As soon as Stefan closed the door behind him, Elena asked, "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to work now and then I'll be back home in time for lunch", answered Damon. "I don't have clients to meet or anything so I can just work from home after that."
Elena rolled her eyes as she moved closer to him. "You know I'm not talking about that. The police seem to be closing in on you."
"They're not", said Damon with conviction. "I sold the painting a long time ago and I'm sure that there's no evidence on it."
"What if your finger prints are still on that painting?" asked Elena.
"Actually, I'm sure that my prints are on that painting", answered Damon. "And so are Stefan's and my dad's and probably even my mother's. I can assure you, the police will just write it off."
"I hope you're right", said Elena with a sigh before she turned back and started clearing the empty plates away.
"I am right, Elena", said Damon softly, trying to reassure her. "Everything's going to be just fine." He got on his feet and walked up to her and put his arms around her. "Now don't you worry your pretty little head about it. And besides, don't you have a wedding to plan?"
"I do", said Elena. "Thank you for reminding me. I'm meeting with the caterers and we'll probably decide on a menu today and then we're going cake tasting on Saturday."
"We?" asked Damon stepping away. "Did you just say 'we'?"
"Of course I did", answered Elena. "Cake tastings are a couple thing and we are a couple."
"Can't you just pick something out with chocolate in it?" whined Damon.
"I could but then it just wouldn't be the same", said Elena. "Promise me that you won't try to get out of this."
Damon just gave her a mischievous grin and made his way back to their room. He picked up his coat and looked at his watch. It was 8.30 am. Stefan's little unexpected interrogation had set him back a lot more than he had expected but it didn't matter. It wasn't like he needed to be there on time. He just needed to spend enough hours at his office to make sure that his assistant, Rose, didn't let the building burn down to the ground. He went back to the hall and found Elena sitting on the couch with her legs under her, going through a magazine. She looked up when she heard his footsteps on the landing. She held up the magazine she had been reading and asked, "What do you think?" The page showed a beautiful outdoor setting with a tall arch at the centre with vines creeping all around it. The chairs were decorated in white and gold as were the little pedestals on either side of the arch. The whole thing was set up along the edge of a grass plain. On the other side, was a clear lake that glistened in the summer sun. It really was a sight to behold. "It looks amazing", answered Damon as he took the magazine from her hand.
"This place is actually not too far away from here", said Elena. "When I first read about I wondered how I'd never seen it before. It's right in between Mystic Falls and Whitmore. It would be the perfect place to have this wedding."
"I think so too", answered Damon with a smile.
"I'll call and find out if we can rent it for the day", said Elena as she took the magazine back and started flipping through the pages again.
"I'll be back by noon. I'll see you before you have to leave for work", he said to Elena. He leaned forward and kissed her before heading out. As soon as he stepped outside his house, Damon had the strange feeling that he was being watched. He looked around to see if he could spot something out of the ordinary. But when he couldn't he got into his car, adjusted his mirror and began driving towards his office. Within a matter of minutes, he realised he had a tail. Damon pulled up to the side of the road and got of his car. He stood leaning against the door as he watched the other car come to a slow halt a few feet ahead of his own car. When he saw that the driver had no intention of getting out, he walked to the car and gently tapped on the window. The diver lowered her window and asked, "What can I do for you?"
"You could stop following me", suggested Damon coldly.
"And why would I do that?" asked the woman.
"I don't know. May be because it's creepy", said Damon with a shrug.
"Do you mind stepping away, I'd like to get out?" asked the woman. Damon took a step backward allowing her room to open the door. Once outside she extended his arm to Damon and said, "Caroline Forbes, private investigator." Damon shook her hand as he took in her appearance. She was tall and well dressed. To him, she looked a lot more like a wealthy politician than a private investigator. "I was hired by Giuseppe Salvatore to look into his stolen painting. He didn't really believe in the police and I don't blame him."
"Yeah, neither do I", commented Damon. "But that still doesn't explain why you were following me."
"It's my job to follow potential suspects, Mr Salvatore", answered Caroline. "Also, I happen to have a couple of questions for you."
"Ask away", said Damon, relaxing his stance.
"You were at your father's house the night the painting was stolen, am I correct?" she asked.
"You are", answered Damon. "My father was hosting a little family get together that night."
"Who else was there?" asked Caroline.
"Just me, my brother, my dad, his brother and his wife", said Damon.
"That's five people", noted Caroline. "Are you telling me that a burglar struck when all five of you were inside and none of you heard a thing?"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you", said Damon. "If you want to know what happened that night, you could just read the report. The police were pretty thorough about that."
"I have read the report already", said Caroline. "There are a few things that just don't add up."
"What things?" asked Damon. He was starting to lose his patience.
"The painting was in its place at 6 pm before dinner but by the time you moved back to the hall at 7 pm, the painting was gone", Caroline recounted the facts that she had read in the police report. "The maid at your father's house confirmed seeing it at 6.40 pm when she brought out dessert. So the painting disappeared in 20 minutes. Where were you during those 20 minutes, Damon?"
"I was at the dinner table with the rest of my family", answered Damon, easily.
"No, you weren't", said Caroline. "At least, not the whole time."
"That's right", said Damon. "I got a call from a client that night and I stepped outside so I could take it."
"And then you came back in 10 minutes later. When you stepped out of the room did you see the painting?" she asked.
"I don't know", said Damon, trying to concentrate. "It had to have been there", he said at last. "I probably just didn't notice it."
Caroline simply nodded. "Do you remember the name of the client who supposedly called you?"
Damon hesitated. "I don't know", he said. "It was a long time ago."
"Well, I can tell you", said Caroline. "I looked into your phone records. I'm sure the police didn't do it because Giuseppe is your father and by extension, you were also the victim."
"Where exactly are you going with this?" asked Damon. "Can you please get to the point quickly; I have to get to work?" He rubbed his temple willing the forming headache to go away.
"Fair enough", said Caroline. "I have a theory. You pretend to be getting a phone call from a client and you excused yourself and stepped out of the room. But instead of going outside the house like you claimed you did, you just opened and shut the door so everyone else thought you were outside. You then took the painting and hid it away."
"That's ridiculous", said Damon.
"Is it?" asked Caroline, arching her eyebrows.
"That was a pretty big painting. Where would I have hidden it?" asked Damon.
"I still haven't figured out that part yet", said Caroline.
"When you do, be sure to give me a call", Damon said and turned on his heels and headed back to his car. He heard Caroline call out behind him, "You better watch your back, Good Samaritan because I'm going to hunt you down."
"You give me too much credit", said Damon as he got into his car and continued driving back to his office. He checked his rear view mirror every few minutes and sure enough, he saw Caroline's car following him. For the first time in a long time, Damon could feel his heart thump viciously in his chest. He took a deep calming breath and tried to ignore the blonde woman following him. It wasn't until he was finally within the confines of his office, that he was able to relax. He mentally berated himself for panicking. He reminded himself that Caroline's theory was just that. She had no proof to back up what she was saying. The thought helped. He pushed her out of his mind and even managed to get a good portion of his work done before he headed back home.
To his surprise, the drive back home was uneventful. Caroline and her car were nowhere in sight. He figured she had finally given up, at least for the day, and decided to leave him alone. Once home, he pushed the door open and called out, "Elena, I'm home." When he didn't get her usual cheery reply, he called out again, this time louder. "Elena, where are you?" He quickly bounded up the stairs and into their shared bedroom. When she wasn't there, he proceeded to make a thorough search of the house. Finally, he gave up and decided to call her. When he did, he heard faint sounds emanating from their bedroom. He slowly stepped back inside and found that Elena's phone was still on the dresser. Damon felt himself panic. This really wasn't his day. He picked up her phone which indicated that she had a voice message. When he played it, he heard a woman say, "Hey, Elena, this is Vicki Donovan. We were supposed to meet at the Grill at 10 am today. If you forgot, it's okay. I'm sure you're pretty stressed out right now; most brides are. Just give me a call when you can and we'll reschedule. Bye."
Damon dialled the number and got Vicki on the line. "Vicki, this is Damon", he said. "Did Elena make it to the Grill today?"
"She didn't", answered Vicki. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's all fine", answered Damon, robotically and hung up. He put Elena's phone back in its place and dialled Stefan's on his. As soon as his brother answered the phone, he said, "Elena's gone. I don't know where she is. Her phone's here but she's not."
"Damon, would you relax? She probably just went out and forgot to take her phone with her", said Stefan calmly.
"I don't think so", said Damon, starting to panic. "There was a message on her phone from Vicki Donovan telling Elena that she could reschedule their meeting since she'd forgotten about it today. And I know she hadn't cos she told me that she was going to talk to her about the menu today."
"Did you try calling Vicki?" asked Stefan.
"Of course I did", answered Damon. "She didn't make it to the Grill. I've searched everywhere. She's not here."
"Okay, just stay there", said Stefan. "I'll be there in about ten minutes."
For ten agonizingly long minutes Damon paced the living room. He scrolled through the contacts on his phone wondering if he should try calling any of Elena's friends to see if she'd gone to see one of them. He decided against it, realizing that he was too worked up to have a civil conversation with any of her friends. The doorbell finally rung and Damon took off at a sprint and pulled the door open. His relief however was short lived when he saw Caroline Forbes standing at the door, reading from a small notepad. "Now is not a good time", he told her.
"It would be easier if you just told me exactly what happened", she said. When she looked up, she was surprised to see a pale and dishevelled man in front of her instead of the arrogant one that she had spoken to just hours earlier. "What wrong?" she asked.
"None of your business", he answered rudely. "The police will be here soon and I'd much rather talk to them than to you."
"The police have been working your father's case a lot longer than I have and yet I made the connection between you and the art. The police may have the piece back but they're no closer to finding who stole it." Caroline looked him in the eye and asked, "Who do you want investigating for you, me or them?"
Damon caved and let her in. "Elena's missing", he told her. "She's my fiancée. She was supposed to meet someone today but she didn't show. Her phone's still here as well and she doesn't have to be at work for a few more hours."
"Do you mind if I take a look around?" she asked him.
"Go ahead", he said. As Caroline went into the kitchen to take a look around, Damon stood by the door, waiting for Stefan.
Minutes later, Stefan arrived and Caroline walked back into the living room at the exact same time. "When you came home, was the door locked?" she asked Damon.
"We never really lock our house when one of us is in", he answered sheepishly.
"Who is she?" asked Stefan.
"Stefan, this is Caroline Forbes. She's the PI dad hired when his painting went stolen", said Damon. He then turned to Caroline and continued, "I'm sure you know my brother." Caroline simply nodded.
"Why is she in your house?" asked Stefan. "Your house could potentially be a crime scene. The last thing you need is some amateur tainting the evidence."
Caroline bristled as she put her hands on her hips, "First of all, I am not an amateur. I happen to be very good at what I do. Secondly, I don't think this is a crime scene at all."
"If you're so good at what you do, then why haven't you found who stole the painting?" asked Stefan. "The police on the other hand were able to recover it."
"Yes", acknowledged Caroline. "But are you any closer to finding who did it?"
"Are you?" countered Stefan.
"I have some promising leads", she said, looking at Damon.
"Why did you even let her in?" asked Stefan, turning to Damon.
"I don't know Stefan", answered Damon. "May be because my fiancée is missing and I'm desperate!"
"Again, I don't think she's missing", said Caroline. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary when you came in?"
"Nothing", said Damon. "It was just very, very quiet."
Caroline nodded once again. When she spoke, she sounded sympathetic. "There was a clean spot next to your suitcases and Elena's side of the wardrobe looked very bare. I doubt if that's all the clothes she has."
"You think she left", stated Stefan.
"I do", she answered. "I found this", she said handing over the item to Damon. "It looks like an engagement ring to me."
"It is", answered Damon softly. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
Just then Matt walked in. "What's going on?" he asked. "Why aren't you searching the house?"
"Matt, that's Caroline Forbes, she's a PI", said Stefan. "And this is Matt. He's my partner on the force."
"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Matt.
"I think Elena packed up and left", answered Caroline. "Her things are gone. She probably just got cold feet or something."
"Her phone's still here", said Damon. "Her clothes are gone but that doesn't mean that it wasn't staged."
"Damon, I really doubt that", said Caroline.
"No", said Damon. "You don't know her. She wouldn't leave. She was excited about getting married. I hated doing all this wedding planning stuff but she didn't."
"Damon, we'll look around the house once more", said Stefan. "Why don't you just sit down and we'll see if we can find anything." He then turned to Caroline. "Thank you, Ms Forbes. We can take it from her."
Caroline nodded her assent. She then turned to Damon and said, "I'm sorry" and then walked out the door.
Damon sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. He heard Stefan say to him, "The police are going to search the house." He nodded when he realised Stefan was waiting for an answer. He didn't know how long he just sat there but it felt like an eternity. He couldn't stop his mind from showing him all the worst case scenarios. He tried to push it all out of his mind, but he was failing miserably. He felt the cushion next to him dip with the weight of someone sitting down. "We couldn't find anything else", said Stefan softly. "We can't be sure that she was taken by someone. There were no signs of forced entry and like Caroline pointed out, her wardrobe has been almost cleaned out."
"She didn't leave, Stefan", said Damon wearily. "I know she didn't."
"We have to entertain the possibility-", said Stefan before Damon angrily cut him off.
"How could you say that?" asked Damon. "You know Elena as well as I do. I get that if this was any other case, you would be looking at the possibility but this is Elena we're talking about. She would never leave."
Stefan sighed. "All signs point to her leaving", he said. "I will do everything I can to help you look for her but the police won't. This isn't a missing person's case as far as they're concerned."
"I knew I shouldn't have bothered calling", said Damon as he got to his feet.
"Where are you going?" asked Stefan.
"To look for Elena", answered Damon. "I don't care if you don't believe me but I know this. I know she didn't leave out of her own accord."
"Let's say she didn't. What then?" asked Stefan. "Where are you going to look for her? For all you know, she might not even be in Mystic Falls."
"I know that!" exclaimed Damon. "Which is why I wanted the police to help but if they can't then I'm going to do the best I can. I can't live not knowing that she's alright." He didn't wait for Stefan to answer. He slammed the door behind him and walked to his car. He pulled out of the garage and started cruising through the streets with no destination in mind. As his brain started functioning, he realised that she wouldn't be on the road and so he stopped by some of her usual haunts to see if anyone had seen her. All the while he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He knew that Stefan was probably worried and wouldn't stop calling until he answered but he was in no mood to deal with his brother right then. He switched his phone of continued his search.
As dusk began to settle, he had to acknowledge the fact that he had absolutely no clue as to what he was doing. He felt frustrated beyond belief as he parked his car in his garage. He turned his phone and saw the numerous voice mails from Stefan. He sent him a quick text telling him he was fine and walked back into his house. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he felt the silence grow more and more oppressive. He slowly walked further inside and despite everything, he kept expecting Elena to walk through one of the doors and make a joke about how he was the one worrying now. His feet carried him forward on their own accord and soon he found himself in their room. He could still smell her perfume and he felt his eyes well up with tears. He slumped into bed and stared at the ceiling as he tried to blink the tears away. "Where are you, Elena?" he asked the empty room. He closed his eyes and tried to think of any place in Mystic Falls, he might not have checked already. Anger flooded his thoughts when he remembered the police's insistence on not helping. They could have found her by now but they were just adamant. He felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally and in spite of the thoughts that plagued his mind, he drifted off into a restless slumber.