CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
*SOPHIA'S POV*
I picked up the call from Liam.
"Hi," I said and cleared my throat.
"Sophia! I have been calling you nonstop, you weren't picking up!" His voice filled with worry.
"I'm sorry. I was kind of involved in something that I lost track of my phone," I said, returning the plate of sliced apples to the table by the bed.
"Involved in something? What really happened Sophia?" He persisted.
"Nothing—- nothing that you should worry about Liam…..is there a reason why you called by the way?" I diverted the topic.
I heard him take a deep breath over the phone before he spoke.
"Well you mentioned you were supposed to prepare the launch of your new design, I wanted to introduce you to a fashion influencer partner of mine before the launch," he said.
"Really? Thank you, Liam...uhh how about I discuss with Tessa and know how far she's gone with the preparations first?"
"How far she has gone with the preparations? Haven't you been the one spearheading the launch?" he asked, confused.
I realized that I had shot myself in the leg as I cleared my throat and slid my hair into the back of my ear.
"Of course, I have been….. I just decided to share the task with her. Anyways, I will have to get back to you on the launch date" I hurriedly said to hide any discrepancies.
"Okay then, take care alright?" he said and hung up.
I quickly let out a short breath the moment the call ended and looked at the door, I hoped that he would stop waiting outside and come in instead.
***********************************
Liam dropped his hand while still holding onto his phone. He was not totally convinced by what Sophia told him. A part of him felt there was more to what she said.
He sat up on the couch in his apartment and dialled his driver's/P.A.'s number.
"Hello sir"
"I need you to find some information about Sophia, find out if anything occurred in the last 24 hours," he said and rested back on the couch.
"Yes sir"
Liam ended the call, his hands went directly to his face as he gently caressed his jaw, his eyes filled with curiosity as to what Sophia might be hiding from him.
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Tom sat in his office, drinking a cup of bourbon when his P. A knocked and entered.
"If it is about the company, I don't want to hear it today" he grumpily said and drank from his cup.
"No sir, there is news that Sophia was kidnapped yesterday night….the kidnapper has been arrested and is in a holding cell" he reported.
Tom immediately sat up from his seat and placed the cup of bourbon on the table out of surprise.
"She was kidnapped??" He asked, his eyes widened with curiosity mixed with excitement.
"Yes sir, she is currently in the hospital"
"Wow, this is going to be interesting...has the kidnapper said anything?" He asked with curiosity.
"I—I don't know much about that sir"
"Then find out!" He yelled at him.
"Yes sir"
The P.A. said and exited immediately.
Tom rested both his elbows on the table and interlocked his fingers as he pondered out loud.
"Who could possibly want Sophia kidnapped?" he asked rhetorically and then smirked.
**************************************
Two guys in their twenties were arrested and suddenly brought into the station by two cops.
"What are they in for?" the team leader asked all the way from his desk.
"I caught them beating up a man down the alley," he said, his hands resting on the front pockets of his jacket.
"Where is the victim?" the team leader asked and started putting together some documents.
"He was sent to the hospital, he is pressing charges and wants them to remain in the cell till they come to a settlement," he said as he uncuffed the two men one after the other.
"Get their information and put them in the cell with the kidnapper guy," the team leader said and walked out with the documents he had put together.
The other cop who arrested the two men went to his seat and opened up his laptop. He asked the two guys the necessary details he needed and they answered them all as he logged it all on the system.
"Yo, Dave...throw them in the holding cell" he gestured to Dave who walked into the station with a box of files meant for the archive.
Dave placed the box on the shelf and walked over to where the two arrested guys sat.
"Get your asses up!" he said in a high tone and pulled them by their collar to urge them to stand.
The two guys stood, one dressed in a white turtle neck top on a pair of brown pants while the other one was dressed in a plain black top and a leather jacket on a pair of black pants.
One had long wavy hair while the other was on a low cut. Dave pushed them both into the holding cell and locked them up.
"Let's hope the victim remembers early enough to come to a settlement with you both, else you'll both be here without bail," he said and hung the cell keys on his waist after he had locked it up.
The two guys did not say a word except when they were interrogated by the first cop. They looked at each and one gave out a look that signalled something was to happen.
Seated at the corner of the holding cell was the man who was coerced to kidnap Sophia, his knees pulled up to his chest and his head down.
The guy with the long wavy hair walked up and sat next to him, his eyes attentive to the surroundings of the cell while the other guy kept watch.
Before the kidnapper could notice that there was someone else sitting right beside him, the guy with the wavy hair immediately pricked his neck with a very tiny needle and quickly distanced himself to the other side of the cell.
"Ow" the kidnapper exclaimed in a low voice as he rubbed his hand on the area where he was pricked and the sharp pain subsided after a few seconds.
He looked at the guy who pricked him and adjusted himself away from him, with the assumption that he pricked him to only seek for attention.
Within a couple of minutes, the kidnapper felt a sharp pain in his stomach which made him uncomfortable, he kept turning to the left and to the right, his hand clutching onto his stomach in pain as he exclaimed.
"Ahh," he gasped and twirled on the floor. One of the guys arrested, in disguise, went straight to the cell door and banged on it to call the attention of the officers to what was happening.
Dave heard this noise and rushed over to the cell and after seeing the kidnapper groan and turn in pain, he quickly took out the cell keys from his side pocket and opened the cell.
He rushed into the cell and tried to lift up the kidnapper but by the time he got to him, he was already foaming from his mouth.
"Call 911" Dave yelled out from the cell and other cops around rushed over while one of them called 911.
**********************************
Two paramedics pushed a stretcher into the ambulance with the lifeless body of the kidnapper on it, covered with white cloth.
"How did this happen?" one of the cops who was absent at the station asked Dave who had his hands akimbo.
"I have no idea, he was fine a few hours ago," he said, his eyes pondered and his mind baffled.
"Write a report about this and inform those involved with his kidnap case" the team leader ordered and walked back into the station.
"Yes sir" Dave responded and followed as well.
They finally got back into the office.
"What do I write about the cause of death sir?" Dave asked as he held onto a blank paper.
"Obviously the medics haven't figured out the cause of death, what are you then supposed to write down?" His brows furrowed as he looked at Dave.
"Uhh, cause of death— would be unknown?" He asked, his words staggered.
"Just do the needful and close things up smoothly with the parties involved," the team leader said and went back to typing on his laptop.
"Yes sir, I will put a call through to them right after I am done," Dave said and started writing the necessary things on the blank paper.
After a while, Dave was done writing up the report for this incident when he came across the document that was filed for Mr Brown's sudden death by his only child and daughter.
"Sir, what am I to do with this Mr Brown's case file?" Dave asked as he stood up halfway, raising the file for the team leader to see.
"What was the case about?" the team leader asked nonchalantly.
"He was found dead in his car supposedly due to a heart attack but his daughter refused to agree nor accept the cause of death so she filed a complaint," Dave said.
"Oh I remember…..put it in the archives, there was no substantial evidence found for that case," the team leader said and went back to doing what he was doing.
"Yes sir," Dave said and dropped the file inside another box on the table.