Alisha: A dark Romance Ch. 05

His phone rang only once before it was answered.

"Ben, what can I do for you?" he said in his deep voice. I might not like the man, but I knew he was one of the best at his job.

"I was hoping that you could get a message to Alisha. Could you ask her to call her daughter? She's worried that her mother is not answering her phone. I guess that you or one of the other bodyguards are with her."

There was a long pause, and then he said. "I thought she was with you."

"Why would you think that; the months not up yet."

"Well, she got Janice to drive her down to your place on Monday."

Today was Thursday, so she'd been missing for three days, and I think Jamal was as worried as I was. In the background, I heard him call out, "Get Janice on the phone." There was a mumbled reply, and then he said, "I don't care where the silly bitch is, just get her on the bloody phone."

Jamal was still talking, and I registered he was speaking to me. "Ben, are you still there?"

I acknowledged him, and he continued, "We're trying to get in touch with Janice. Ali asked Janice to drive her down to your place on Monday afternoon."

"Yeah, I gathered that only I haven't seen her since fashion week, and she's not down here. Has Sandy spoken to her?"

"We're checking; I'll get back to you as soon as I hear anything." With that, he rang off.

Time passes slowly when you are desperate for something, anything to happen. I tried calling Ali, and I got her voice mail. I sent her a text and then an email. Jamal got back to me after what seemed to be an eternity, yet was probably less than an hour. He'd got in touch with Janice, and it seemed she'd left Ali at the restaurant in our local village. Ali had told her to go, as I was going to pick her up from the restaurant.

"Janice says she told your wife that she wasn't happy leaving her there alone." Jamal's tone was annoyed. "But your wife insisted and sat down at a table inside that was set for two. She couldn't see clearly, as it was dark inside, but she swears she saw a man who she's convinced was you join her after a few minutes. That's when she left."

I wasn't sure what to think. I couldn't work out why she would have traveled seven hours to meet a man, yet that seemed to be what had happened. Slowly, I came to the conclusion that given the level of security that surrounded her, if she'd wanted to meet someone without their knowledge, doing it down here would have been one of her options. Her bodyguards had becoming used to stepping back and leaving her alone when she was here.

Well, that could explain the why, but not who she was meeting. Several hours later and a bottle of wine, I was no closer to a solution. I knew it hadn't been me at the restaurant, and if Janice had thought the person resembled me, then that ruled out Tony and Ricky. It didn't exclude Jamie, but it just seemed too extreme that Ali would come all this way to meet him.

Those were the only men with whom I'd gathered she'd had any form of relationship. I had no idea; there could be countless others I knew nothing about. By the time I realized that the simple solution would have been to ask Gaston, the owner of the restaurant who it was that Ali had met, it was far too late, and the restaurant was closed. Tomorrow I thought and staggered off to bed.

Jamal was at my door early the following morning, his worried expression doing nothing to ease my concern.

"We woke up the owner of the restaurant," he said. "We didn't learn that much. She was there for a few minutes until she was picked up by a taxi."

"Huh, then who was the man she met?"

"That was the driver; she told Gaston she was expecting a car to pick her up. When the man turned up and gave her name, Gaston pointed her out. By the way, he asked for a Mrs. McMichael and didn't appear to know who she was."

"Did Gaston get anything, where she wanted to go or the taxi details?"

Jamal shook his head, "Nothing, the restaurant was fairly busy, and it was because he knows Ali that he let her sit down. She was there, the taxi arrived, and she left. That's about all he can remember."

"Surely he knows all the local taxi drivers?"

"It wasn't anyone he knew, the guy said he was there to collect her and Gaston pointed her out. He admits he never saw the car. We are checking with all the firms and independents who service this area, but we've had no joy yet."

"Does Sandy know anything?"

Again Jamal shook his head. "She got an email on Tuesday morning, from Ali. It said that she'd be away for the rest of the week. She was coming down here and that she had some important news."

I thought about that and pointed out, "It didn't specifically say she was coming here did it?"

"Not in so many words, but that's what we gathered from Janice. She was dropped off less than five miles from this place, so where else could she be going."

"Well, obviously not here," I pointed out. "She's not got a lot of people she knows down here. I mean, everyone in the area knows who she is, but really the only person she got close to was Sophie."

Jamal looked confused.

"Pete's wife," I elaborated, and he nodded in understanding.

"Could she have been coming down to see her?"

"I suppose so," I said. "Only I'm pretty sure Sophie's been away all week. I think she's was going looking after her Cousin Henry's kids. He and his wife have been going through a rough patch, and he wanted to treat her to a vacation. Pete was here yesterday, moaning that he had to get the twins up for school.

"He didn't say anything about seeing Ali," I added.

"Could you check?"

"Sure." I gave Pete a call.

Five minutes later I told Jamal what I'd learned, which wasn't much. Sophie had been at Henry's since last Saturday and would be back this Sunday. Pete had spoken to her daily, and she'd not mentioned seeing Ali. He said he'd ask her if Ali had contacted her, but he was fairly sure she hadn't.

"Crap," was all Jamal said. He looked disappointed; I guess he'd hoped Sophie had been the solution to the problem. I know I'd had the same hope.

My phone buzzed on the table; the caller ID showed Julia's face. I groaned, I'd forgotten to call her back, I still wasn't used to being a father.

"What the hell do I tell her?" I asked Jamal.

"She's a bright kid; I'd tell her the truth."

I took the phone and walked out to the terrace while I told her what I knew. I came back indoors ten minutes later feeling like I'd been pulled backward through a bush.

"I need you to do me a favor," I said to Jamal. I felt a bit embarrassed needing his help after the earlier incidents.

"Julia wants to come here; I'll call the school and my parents, but can you arrange for one of your guys to escort her here?"

He nodded and made a call while I explained the situation to Julia's school and then my parents. Mum and Dad wanted to come down, as well, but I put them off, I really don't have the room.

Jamal and I collected Julia from Toulouse airport that evening. Raf was carrying her bag and gave me a worried smile as he followed the hurrying girl. Julia launched herself into my arms and just sobbed while I comforted her.

She was full of questions that none of us could answer, we knew no more, and it was frustrating all of us. We kept trying her phone but had no success.

I thought Jamal was going to physically attack Janice when she arrived. I could hear his raised voice from the boat where Julia was helping me with some painting; it was make-work, but it kept both of us occupied. I hurried up and got Jamal to stop.

"Christ, she was only doing what Ali told her to do. If it's anyone's fault it's hers, not Janice's," I argued. "We just need to know if you've thought about anything else that can help."

Janice looked relieved at my intervention and shook her head. "Sorry, I've been racking my brain, but I can't think of anything new."

"So, what did happen?" I asked

"Just what I told Jamal," she said.

"Tell me, us," I corrected as Julia took my hand. We sat down on the terrace and Janice told us what had happened.

She'd been with Ali and Sandy when they'd gone to meet the photographer to sort out the schedule for the spring collection photo shoots. That was in the morning, she explained. The meeting had dragged on, and they'd sent out for lunch.

"I'm not sure what happened, one moment she was fine, the next she was shouting at the photographer. Something about doesn't he know anything, and he should read the brief. She stalked out of the studio telling Sandy to deal with the idiot; that she had better things to do with her time."

"Did she say what?" I asked.

Janice shrugged, "Not to me. Anyway, we left Sandy dealing with the photographer, and I drove her back to the apartment. She asked me to come up with her, she was going to lie down but thought she'd need me later. She was only in her room for 15 minutes, and then out again. Ali had a small suitcase and told me to take it down to the car and would I drive her here."

Jamal interrupted, "Did she specifically say here?"

Janice had to think for a moment, "Not really, she said she was coming down here to discuss things, so I assumed it was with you. When we got close, she got a text and asked me to drop her off in the village."

She looked at her boss, "I told her I should wait until she was picked up, but she insisted I go. Ben, it's the same restaurant you and she went to all the time, Gaston and the staff all know her, so I felt fairly safe leaving. Even so, I waited in the car until I saw the man I thought was you turn up. That damn restaurant isn't very well lit, but I was sure it was you, so I left."

She looked very unsure of herself, and I hasten to reassure that I wasn't upset with her.

"So, at no time did Ali say it was Ben she was coming to see?" Jamal said.

"Not in so many words, but as I said, that's what I thought she implied. Actually, she said very little all the way down, she sat in the back and was using her tablet most of the time."

I had a thought and asked, "Is there any way we can track her phone or the tablet."

"We should be able to," Jamal replied. "It was one of the first things I checked. Neither are responding, either they are off, or Ali's deleted the tracking app. The last location was the village."

"So, wherever she is, she doesn't want to be found," I said.

"That's what it looks like."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next couple of days passed slowly with no news. After a discussion with Jamal and Sandy, it was decided not to contact the police. As Jamal pointed out it appeared she decided to disappear; she was only missing because she decided not to tell us where she was going.

That didn't make it any easier for Julia and me. Julia went up to the farm to see Abigail, and I asked her when she got back if she'd seen Sophie.

"Nope, Abi says she's going to be looking after her cousins for a few more days. I think she said she'll be back on Wednesday. Abi will be glad when she gets back; her Dad's been like a bear with a sore head." I smiled and made a mental note to go up and see him later.

I was getting a daily update from Jamal. He'd gone back to Paris but had left Raf and Janice behind. They were following up what leads they could, but they were few and far between. They were monitoring Ali's phone and tablet but had seen no activity.

As Julia pointed out to me, I'd managed to hide out for almost 13 years; the fact that her mother could do it for a week wasn't too surprising. The problem was that one week became two and then three and still, there was no news.

Sophie came down to see me as soon as she returned. She had only one small piece of news. It seemed that about a week before Ali disappeared she called Sophie and asked her for the phone number of a reliable local car hire firm. Jamal was quick to follow this up, and yes, they remembered Ali.

"It was a bit odd," the receptionist said. "She paid extra to be collected from a restaurant in Caux-et-Sauszens. She booked it for two weeks, but she only had the car for two days. We found it parked on our forecourt, and the keys and 500€ were posted through our door."

"Do you know who returned the car?"

"It had to be Mrs. McMichael."

I wasn't so sure.

We knew that Ali was still taking an interest in the business as Sandy would get an email with instructions every few days. It had to be Ali, as only she knew about some of the items in the mails. Jamal tried, but no one was unable to trace the IP address, they were sent through countless cutouts. I hadn't been aware that she was that computer savvy. Either that, or she was getting some serious help.

Julia refused to go back to school until her mother came home. To stave off a big argument, I agreed so long as the school, and her grandparents was okay with the situation. They were, with a few conditions, so I ended up needing to find a tutor for my daughter. Fortunately, Sophie came to my aid and found a retired teacher from the UK. It turned out that Elizabeth and her husband had a boat on the canal and had retired on to it a few years ago. Their boat, Rianna was moored in Beziers for the winter. Elizabeth was happy to drive over to the cottage three days a week and follow the lesson plan that Julia's school forwarded.

October rolled over to November, and there was still no news from Ali. Somehow, and I have no idea how it was achieved, Sandy and Jamal managed to keep the fact that Ali was missing from the press. I suspect that they blamed her absence on reconnecting with me, and as no one knew where I lived, it was a good ploy.

It was the end of November, and I was doing the last check on the Never Again. Winters can be surprisingly harsh in the south of France. Since I was no longer living on her full time, I would close her up for the worst of the winter. Julia was helping me lay out the tarpaulins on the bank to check them for wear.

That's when I remembered I'd not topped the fuel tanks. Never has extra-large cruising tanks, two 1500-liter saddle tanks and they were both three-quarter empty. I cursed at myself for being so forgetful, I'd forgotten once before, and the fuel had ended up contaminated with water and bacteria. Both tanks needed filling and treating with a biocide. There was no way I could get a tanker down to her where she was moored, so it looked like one last trip to the nearest marina that sold fuel was needed.

"Do you fancy a sail down to the marina in Carcassonne to top up the tanks tomorrow," I asked Julia. "It would be a lot easier with the two of us. We can go tomorrow and come back the next day."

"Can Abigail come, too?"

"Sure, give her a call and check with her parents."

I gave the port captain a call, and he confirmed that they had the quantity of fuel and additives I needed. He also confirmed that the locks would be open; they weren't always working this late in the year.

It's not a long trip but we needed to go through three sets of locks, and it took us a good three hours. The refueling and other bits took up the rest of the day. I'd booked an overnight mooring, so after the refueling we tied up on a pontoon and cleaned up.

I took the girls out for a meal in the evening. We walked up to the old medieval town and were lucky to find a table at one of the more popular restaurants. As we waited for our first course, I was startled to see how much Abigail looked like Jane, her late mother.

I must have fallen silent because Julia nudged me and asked if I was okay.

"Sorry," I muttered, "Seeing Abi in this light suddenly reminded me how much she looks like her mother did at this age."

"Dad doesn't talk about Mummy much these days, and I was too young to remember much about her. I just remember her perfume and her blonde hair. What was she like?" Abigail had always differentiated between the two women in her life by calling her late mother, Jane, Mummy and Sophie, Mum

"She and your Dad were a couple all the way through school," I told her. I drew on my memories of a happier time, and over the meal, I told them about growing up in the village with Jane and Pete, how they had been the one constant, of the numerous girlfriends, I'd had because none of them could give me what Pete and her mother shared.

"But what about Mum?" Julia asked

"That was when my life changed," I admitted. "She was the only woman that managed to eclipse your mother, Abi, and that says a lot about her."

Rather than make Abigail happy, she looked nervous. "I think Mum called her yesterday."

I gave her a confused look; she couldn't mean Jane could she, then I kicked myself as I realized she was talking about Ali.

"Your mother called Ali?" I tried to confirm.

Julia tried to say something, but I gestured for her to keep quiet as Abigail answered.

"I think so, Mum was talking on the phone and I never heard it ring. I'm sure she called the caller, Ali. Then she saw me and went off to the kitchen to finish the call."

I sat back in my chair and stared at the litter of our meal spread out in front of me. Julia was asking Abi if she knew any more, but I tuned her out. If it was Ali, had she and Sophie been in contact all this time?

None of the past months made any sense. Yes, I'd asked Ali to take some time to think about what she wanted from me, but given the circumstances, that hadn't been an unreasonable request, and she'd agreed. Why the vanishing act, and more importantly, why put her daughter through all this heartache.

"Do you know if your mother has had any other calls like that one?" I asked Abigail.

"No, as I was telling Jul's, that was the only one I overheard, and I'm not even sure it was her. It's not like I'm going to check Mum's call log."

I asked for the bill, and we walked back down to the boat. The girls each took one of my arms, and we walked in comparative silence. The girls wanted to share Julia's cabin and were soon settled down. I pottered around, tidying and locking up the boat before heading off to my cabin with a nightcap and a book.

I hadn't slept on the boat for some time, and it took me a while to settle down and register the familiar movements and sounds. Odd sounds woke me several times, and I had a disturbed night's sleep.

I finally gave up very early the next morning, had a shower and got dressed. The girls were still fast asleep when I checked on them, so I decided to let them sleep in. We didn't need to start back until midday, and there were a few boats moored up nearby that I recognized, so I thought I'd call and say hello to the owners.

I made a coffee and sat up in the wheelhouse, it was way too cold to sit outside, but I latched back the door, so I had a clear view of the marina towards the footbridge that led to the train station. A few hardy souls were making their way across the bridge, and I watched them hurry along.

A tall figure made its way against the flow and paused in the middle. A woman, I realized, as she pulled back the hood of her thick coat. Short black hair stirred in the gusts of wind. For a moment I thought it was Ali, but the hair and the way she held herself looked wrong. Damn it I was starting to see her everywhere and shook my head in disgust with myself.

She had her back to me and seemed to be checking out the boats moored downstream. Slowly she turned to face the direction of the marina. I fumbled for the binoculars and pulled her face into focus. It was Ali, but a gaunt tight faced Ali that I barely recognized.

She registered the Never Again and then my figure as I moved into view in the doorway. She froze and stared at me; then she started to move back across the bridge, away from me. I stepped forward and down onto the pontoon and then stopped.