Chapter Fourteen

On the day John was taken by the Warden, Daphne had a date with him that night, but he hadn't shown up yet. She tried calling his cell phone, but it only went to voicemail.

"John, I'm at the restaurant for our date," Daphne said. "Are you going to show up? Are you still mad at me? I love you. Please call me back,"

Daphne felt ridiculous for leaving that message, but it wasn't like John not to text her to say he was running late. She didn't want to believe it but felt something was wrong.

XXXXX

The next day on campus, Daphne arrived at the restaurant for a lunch date, hoping that John would show up, but he didn't. She called his cell phone and only got voicemail. She hung up, annoyed. Daphne thought John was being childish for ignoring her calls like that. At least, that's what she hoped.

XXXXX

Throughout the day, Daphne checked her cell phone, and John had left no texts or voicemails. Daphne couldn't believe John wasn't talking to her. It just wasn't like him. So, she went to John's dorm and pressed on his dorm room intercom number. His roommate answered.

"Hello?" the roommate asked.

"Hi, it's Daphne," Daphne said. "Is John there? I really need to talk to him,"

"That's funny," the roommate said sarcastically. "I need to talk to him, too. He owes me money,"

Daphne started to feel sick and felt that something was wrong.

"You haven't seen John?" she asked. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"About two days ago," the roommate said, getting suspicious that something wasn't right.

"You haven't seen John either?"

Daphne began worrying about how his roommate had asked his last question.

"No, I haven't," Daphne said, unable to hide the worry in her voice. "You haven't seen him?"

"No, and it isn't like him to flake on me like this," the roommate replied.

Daphne felt her throat tighten as she couldn't imagine John disappearing like that. She hated being faced with the situation, and that's what happened.

XXXXX

The next day, Daphne was walking through the university courtyard as a woman in her forties who looked like John walked towards her. Daphne accurately guessed this woman was John's mother.

"Excuse me, are you Daphne Blake?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Daphne said.

"I'm Brenda," the woman said. "I'm John's mother, and I know you're his girlfriend as John's told me wonderful things about you,"

"Thank you", Daphne replied.

Brenda walked closer to Daphne.

"Have you seen my son?" Brenda asked. "I haven't been able to reach him,"

Daphne felt sick as she thought his mother would have heard from him. But as Brenda had tracked Daphne down on campus, there was no doubt something was wrong, and they decided to go to the police.

XXXXX

A few days after reporting John missing, the police called Daphne to the station. She couldn't imagine why she was there but desperately needed to know where John was. A Detective sat in front of Daphne in an interrogation room. He was in his mid-thirties with brown hair and grey eyes.

"We still haven't found any new leads regarding your boyfriend, but I have a few questions for you," the Detective said.

"What questions?" Daphne asked curiously.

"I'm curious if you talked to John about your past," the Detective said.

Daphne couldn't see how that was a relevant question, but she was there to cooperate.

"Just minor things," Daphne said. "Nothing major,"

"What do you mean by minor?" the Detective asked.

"That I had a boyfriend in high school," Daphne replied.

"And how about major? How would you define that?"

Daphne began to feel nervous as she couldn't see how her past was relevant.

"I don't want to say," Daphne said. "That's really personal,"

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me?" the Detective asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Daphne said. "I don't get why you're even asking me,"

The Detective cleared his throat.

"Okay, I'll explain it to you," he said patiently. "I did a background check on you, and I know you have a son that you gave up for adoption. Now, did you tell John about him?"

Daphne was stunned and angry that her past was thrown in her face.

"No, I didn't tell him," Daphne said, unable to contain her frustration.

"So, he didn't know before he disappeared?" the Detective asked.

"No, I didn't tell him about William," Daphne said. "Our relationship was going fine,"

Daphne paused for a moment.

"W-W-We were sleeping together on a regular basis," she said nervously. "We were happy,"

The Detective frowned at her.

"Why so nervous all of a sudden?" he asked. "Have you got something you want to share?"

Daphne didn't want to talk about her sex life, but given where she was, she felt like she didn't have a choice.

"The last time John and I had sex, I called out my ex-boyfriend's name," Daphne said.

"And how did he take that?" the Detective asked.

"Not well, but I apologised like there was no tomorrow, and he had gotten over it," she replied.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

Daphne hated what the Detective was implying, and she started crying.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Daphne cried, frustrated. "Look, we had our fights now and then, but we were happy and in love! Now, can't you just go out there and find him?"

"It's not that simple, Miss Blake," the Detective replied. "We have to look at the case from every angle and explore every possibility,"

The Detective asked Daphne more questions about her relationship with John, but he no longer considered Daphne a suspect by the time he was through.

XXXXX

It has been a week since the Warden murdered John and had his body buried in the woods. As the Warden sat in his office that night, it was satisfying to him to get rid of the competition as far as Daphne was concerned, but the most frustrating thing was he couldn't set Daphne up for it. It would have been too complicated, being that John was his son and that Daphne was fucking him. He was frustrated that he couldn't get Daphne into his custody yet. He knew he would one day, but in the meantime, he had to be patient. Then the phone rang, and he knew it would be his Contact in Los Angeles.

"Hello," the Warden said. "What news have you got to share with me today?"

"Bad news, I'm afraid," the Los Angeles Contact replied.

That was the last thing the Warden wanted to hear.

"What do you mean by bad news?" the Warden asked.

"Fred and Carolyn broke up," the Los Angeles Contact replied.

The Warden stood up from behind his desk.

"What do you mean they broke up?" he asked, frustrated. "I thought they were fine,"

"They were fine, but Fred called out Daphne's name the last time he fucked Carolyn," the Los Angeles Contact replied.

The Warden sat down behind his desk, dejected, as he listened to the details. With Daphne on Fred's mind again, he had competition that he thought he had gotten rid of. The Warden did consider murdering Fred, but he knew that it couldn't be someone Daphne was romantically involved with. All the Warden needed was someone local, and he could easily frame Daphne with. At that moment, he couldn't think of anyone, which was frustrating.

XXXXX

After the line of questioning she had been through at the police station, Daphne needed someone to talk to. Daphne wanted to speak to someone she felt she could feel close to, and she called Brenda that night.

"Hello," Brenda said.

"Hi, it's Daphne," Daphne replied. "I'm wondering if you have any news regarding John?"

"No, I haven't heard anything," Brenda replied. "Have you heard anything?"

"No,"

Daphne could hear Brenda crying before she even called. It was a voice that sounded defeated, and Daphne didn't want to feel that way.

"Have you heard from John's father?" Daphne asked.

"No, I haven't," Brenda replied.

"Would I be out of line if I asked why?"

Brenda thought that was a strange question, but she kept that to herself.

"John's father and I don't speak as we got divorced years ago," Brenda said.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Daphne said.

As Daphne didn't know the circumstances of the divorce, Brenda thought her remark was laughable.

"I'm not," Brenda said dismissively. "He's an asshole,"

"Right," Daphne said uncomfortably. "Even so, do you know how I might be able to get in touch with him? I have friends that do investigative work,"

"I don't have his number, but I can tell you where he works," Belinda replied. "He's the Warden at a prison in California,"

That was the last thing Daphne expected her to say, and she hoped the next answer to her question wouldn't come with an answer she didn't want.

"Which prison?" Daphne asked.

"The Women's Prison in Coolsville," Brenda replied.

And that's when Daphne knew she would never see John again. Daphne had no way of proving it, but she knew the Warden had a sick obsession with her, and there was nothing she could do to help John if he was still alive.