Page 25 of His Toy
CHAPTER 8
Zaid
Whenever I searched for Heather, I checked the sitting room first. I watched her from the mantel. Perched on the chaise, her eyes on the window, she reminded me of a lone sunray flower surrounded by a fortress of mountain stone. Delicate. Precious. Persistent. Her head tilted and shifted as she watched the woods.
Today was for rest. She could use it after yesterday’s training exercise.
I went to the surveillance room and watched her on the footage. Ever observant. Her mind somewhere else.
She needed nature.
Quick research told the story that Maben sisters moved often, only once staying with a distant relative long enough for the high school years. In their adult years, Heather followed closely behind Hazel. Heather’s digital narrative spun a persona that she was content to work minimum wage jobs and share bedrooms with many housemates, so long as she was always near a national park.
Was it torture for her to be close to Mount Charleston, near Red Rock Canyon, the woods, the fir, the aspen, the bristlecone pines? To feel the natural shade climb over the house. Smell the fir as wind descended upon us. The wildflowers blooming.
I had the power to change her conditions, to grant her the freedom to explore my property. If I told her where to look for the markers in the woods, I knew she would listen. But there was one small truth I held onto: Heather could turn on me at any instant. She may have been concealing an ulterior motive.
I knew she would never lie, but I still could not trust her to always obey.
A small white car drove up the long path to the house, and Grant immediately notified me. I acknowledged, then dismissed his message. I called Kiley. “Go through the back entrance,” I said. Heather did not need to meet Kiley now. We would save that for later.
“Sure,” Kiley said, and hung up.
Before the curve up to the driveway, the car parked behind a few trees. A small woman with short, orange hair and light blue eyes, a ball cap tucked over her head, got out, swinging a large shoulder bag with her. She trekked up the hidden trail in the brush.
I couldn’t give Heather freedom, but I could get Kiley to help Heather in other ways.
On the surveillance cameras, Kiley moved to the side of the house, and though Heather couldn’t see the stranger clearly, she noticed the rustling of the bushes. Watchful. Observant. I admired that.
In the research room, Kiley plugged in her laptop.
“Look up Heather Maben’s parents,” I said. Kiley glanced up, then resumed setting up her materials.
“The cursory search wasn’t enough?” she asked.
“We need more. Their deaths. Their lives. Anything you can find.” My phone buzzed in my pocket; one of Veil Security Services’s clients had an urgent request. First, I needed to deal with Heather’s parents, then, I could deal with whatever arrogant billionaire needed hand-holding at his latest event.
“Introduce yourself to her,” I said. “Talk to her. Find out what you can. Work your magic.” Kiley sucked in a breath, not willing to say aloud how much she disagreed with my orders. But I knew Kiley for a few years now, and I knew what her reaction was about. She hated talking to the prisoners of any kind.
But was Heather a prisoner?
“You want me to talk to her?” she finally asked. “Might as well take her out for coffee. Maybe the nail salon while we’re at it.”
“Kiley,” I said firmly. “It’s your assignment. You only need the seeds from her.”
The agitation flickered on Kiley’s face. Mouthy as Kiley was, she was still diligent. She was the best investigator we had.
“I’ll talk to her,” she groaned. The laptop brightened to life, and she began typing. “If I make her feel awkward, remember thatyoucould’ve been the one to do this handy work.”
I turned towards the door, but Kiley’s voice stopped me.
“Isn’t it weird though?” she asked.
“What?”
“You’re helping an abductee. A prisoner. She’s irrelevant,” she said.
Heather was those things. She was supposed to be disposable. If she weren’t alive in the end, it wouldn’t matter. All that mattered was that Eric died in a bloody fucking nightmare.