Collecting Scars (17 page)

A thudding pain radiated through her head and into her neck but she could feel him lifting her from the floor again. She knew what was going to happen, but was powerless to stop him. A scream slipped past her lips and again he smashed her head into the concrete floor. Everything went black.

Chapter 23

Xavier

MONDAYS WERE ALWAYS QUIET IN the club. Xavier wandered in and out from the cellar, restocking the bar for the week ahead. His bartender Sally was serving a couple of older men who came in each Monday after their bowls game. They always ordered a pint of mid-strength beer and spent an hour or so drinking it, while telling the same old stories.

Xavier was mulling over the fact he had not seen or heard anything from Asha since Wednesday night. Polly had been in to see him on Friday morning, blowing him up. Telling him what an idiot he was to let her get away. It wasn't his doing, what was he meant to do? She wouldn't speak to him. He had called her phone, many times and it had gone to message bank. How long could she stay angry with him?

Admittedly he had been angry at first too. But once his temper had simmered down, he realised if it had of been Maddie, he would have stuck up for her too. It was kind of cute really, even if he did think her brother was a pompous, self-entitled ass. Patrick was her little brother and he knew Asha wanted to protect him.

He felt the silent treatment from Asha had gone on long enough, he would have to accept that Patrick was part of her life. If he wanted to be a part of it, and he did, he would have to learn to deal with Patrick. No one is perfect after all. Everyone came with baggage, isn't that what they say? She was worth it. From the moment she had walked up to the bar that first night with Joanie and Clare, he had known she was something special. He could not even say exactly what it was that grabbed his attention initially. Her long dark hair, her gorgeous full smile or was it the depths of her dark brown eyes. He loved her laugh, he loved the sound of her voice. He loved when she got all nervous and started with her “umming and ahhing,” it was all just so damned cute.

She would come around. He would intercept her on her walk home from work as he had done several times before. Whisk her away to that little cafe he took her to that first time when he picked her up on the side of the road. Asha had loved it there with the waves crashing on the beach. He would tell her how sorry he was for being and ass, and he would apologise again. Hell, he would apologise all night if it meant she would stop being angry with him.

Maybe she would finally relent and open up a little more to him. He was in love with her, he knew he was and he was sure she felt the same, but she was scared and he understood that. “Loving someone means you will eventually have to endure their loss and I can't face losing you,” those were her exact words. Asha faced loss every day. He could never understand the depth of her compassion. He knew he could never do the job she did.

He heard a throat clear and looked up over the bar. Patrick. He had not shaved for a few days and a beard had started to grow. Xavier wondered if that was to disguise the bruising he had inflicted. He felt a small twinge of guilt. But only for the hurt, he had caused Asha, not Patrick. He would do the same thing again in a heartbeat if he heard anyone speak to his woman that way.

“The fuck you doing here?” he huffed out.

“I want to know if you've seen Ash.”

“Not since last week why?” he inquired.

Patrick’s expression changed to one of surprise.

“Why, where is she? What’s going on Patrick?”

“Um ahh,” Patrick seemed lost for words. “I thought she had been with you all weekend. She hasn't answered her phone.” Patrick's face paled as if all the blood had rushed to his feet.

“What are you saying? When was the last time you've seen her?”

Patrick stood shaking his head.

“Tell me, Patrick, what’s going on?” Xavier knew his voice was sounding frantic, vulnerable even. But he could not help it. Patrick was just staring down at his hands, wringing his fingers.

“Shit man,” he finally managed. “I don't know what to do.”

It took all the strength Xavier could muster not to jump over the bar and shirt-front Patrick. Why was he being so mysterious? Xavier barely liked the man already and this was not winning him any further points.

“Tell me,” he managed to grind out through gritted teeth. “When was the last time you saw Asha?”

“Well,” Patrick let out a long exhale. “We had dinner together on Thursday night. Pizza, her favourite with the pumpkin and feta topping.” Why that was relevant Xavier was not sure. “Then we finished off Mrs D's banana loaf.”

“Okay get to the point.”

“I am,” Patrick moaned. “So as I was saying, we ate pizza and banana loaf and she was talking about her day. She said she felt really bad that you guys had argued the night before and she was going to come and see you on Friday night. I never saw her on Friday morning, when I woke up she had already gone to work.”

“She never came to see me...last time I saw her was on Wednesday, when she called me a cave-man and kicked me out of her office, told me she didn't want to see me anymore.”

“Neanderthal,” Patrick stated.

“Pardon?”

“Neanderthal...she called you a Neanderthal, not a cave-man.”

“Same thing,” he mumbled.

“Well technically...”

“Whatever Patrick, where the hell is Asha, have you called her work?”

Patrick stood up straighter, regaining his composure. “That’s why I came here. Gemma came to the house during her lunch break looking for Asha. She said she had called her mobile several times with no answer so she came to see if she was ok, knowing it was not like Ash to just not turn up to work.”

Xavier felt a wave of nausea swirl around the pit of his stomach.

“So she was at work on Friday, yes?”

“Yes and as far as any of us can tell, that’s the last time anyone has seen her. I just figured she was with you all weekend, as she said she was coming to see you. I thought you guys were...well y'know, making up,” Patrick's face pinched in disgust. “I don't really like to think too much about what my sister might be getting up to with her boyfriend.”

“Okay, okay, we have to deal with this.” his head was spinning but he knew what he had to do. Management was what he knew best. “Sally I have to go. Close up for me tonight will you? Just chuck the whole till in the safe and close the door, I'll deal with it tomorrow.”

“Sure thing boss,” Sally called after him. His keys were in his hand and he was already charging for the door.

“Come on Patrick, we have to go to the police, we have to report her missing.”

***

At the police station, Xavier and Patrick filed a report. Patrick gave the police a recent photo he had taken on his phone of Asha the last night they had gone out together. They were both questioned at length as to where and when she was last seen.

Xavier explained over and over to the police about Asha's experiences with the black van. He could not give too many details, he had not thought of it as being a real problem when Asha had told him. Obviously, it had scared her, but he didn't think for even one minute that something like this could possibly happen. Maybe it was his fault. Should he have paid more attention to her concerns? Could he have stopped this from happening?

They were several hours with the police, answering their questions. Patrick was distraught and Xavier actually felt a little sorry for the younger man. It was like watching himself going through the exact same experience all over again.

When they left, they exchanged phone numbers with the promise to let each other know if either of them heard anything. Patrick was listed as next-of-kin, so if the police had any information they would, of course, contact him first. Xavier climbed on his bike and knew where he had to go.

It was only a little while later that he knocked on the front door of his parent’s home. Although he had grown up in this house, he did not live here anymore and did not feel right just walking in. His mother answered, wearing a nightgown and looking like she had just woken.

“Oh sorry mum, did I get you up?”

“No don't be silly son,” she huffed pulling him into the house and into her arms. It was just what he needed, he hugged her tighter than he had for many years. He had not told his parents what had happened yet, but as mothers do, she had sensed something was not right and just hugged him back. Gently running her hand up and down his back, soothing him.

“What’s wrong with you? Someone scratch your motorbike or something?” his dad grouched from the doorway.

Typical, his dad chose right now to be an asshole.  “It's Asha,” he said, feeling a sob catching in the back of his throat as he pulled away from the warmth of his mother's embrace. “She's gone missing. No one has seen her since Friday night.”

The colour drained from his mother's face, he knew how much she adored Asha, both as a nurse and more recently as his love interest.

His dad huffed and raised his brows. “Just like Maddie, bet that bloody Frank has something to do with it.”

“For goodness sake, Dad, are you ever going to let the thing with Frank go? They never did find any evidence to prove he had anything to do with Maddie's disappearance.”

His mother flinched beside him. They rarely spoke of the daughter who had vanished all those years ago. Xavier felt terrible, knowing full well that whatever had happened to Asha and god-forbid it was anything like what had happened to Maddie, it was bound to bring all those old demons to the surface. He was sure his parents still thought of his beautiful sister, even if they refused to speak about her. He knew he did, every day.

He wished she could have met Asha, he just knew they would have got along like sisters. He understood his parents found it easier if they did not talk about her. In the early days of her disappearance, they had talked about her a lot. The investigation had gone on for some eighteen months and his father was positive Frank was in some way involved.

Frank and his father had worked together as detectives. Xavier had long suspected his father had left his job as he felt he had failed by not finding Maddie and bringing her home to her family.  It had destroyed him. It had destroyed all of them. His mum had been diagnosed with breast cancer the following year and he was convinced it was related to the stress of losing Maddie. His mum's cancer diagnosis had been his dad's excuse for giving up work, to care for his wife. But he didn't believe that was the main reason at all.

Frank had lost his job when he had been arrested and charged under the suspicion of his sister's disappearance. Poor Frank. His family had taken a beating too. He and Mary had separated for a time and he heard on the grapevine, that Frank had another woman during that time.

Joanie had never believed her dad would do anything to hurt anyone. She struggled terribly to come to grips with her dad being accused of kidnapping and eventually possible homicide.

Nothing was ever proven, there was never a body. Never any evidence Frank had anything at all to do with Maddie going missing and no one ever knew what had become of her. After the investigation team closed the case, it was ruled that Maddison Arnold was 'missing, presumed dead'. That was hard, they had all held out hope for years afterwards that she had got cold feet about her engagement to Tom and had taken off interstate and she would come back eventually. That had never happened. It had been six long years and now it was almost like deja vu. Asha, his gorgeous Asha, gone. It was almost too much to take.

“I still have some friends in the force, I will see if I can hurry investigations along,” his dad huffed.

“Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate it.”

“Come now,” his mum soothed. “I'll fix you something to eat.”

That was his mum's answer to most things.

Chapter 24

ASHA CLUNG TIGHT AROUND XAVIER'S middle as they road along the Great Ocean Road, the wind blew in her hair. Xavier's hair blew in her face just slightly since neither of them were wearing helmets. Xavier turned his head to her as they went along and smiled. She had always loved his smile.

“I love you Asha,” he called over the rumble of the bike.

Asha's heart swelled. She loved him too. She had been wrong about the happily ever after. Xavier had rescued her, charged in and whisked her away from her prison, driving off into the sunset.

The thumping of the bike on the road grew louder, thump, thump, thump. Slowly Asha became aware of the light, slowly, slowly she opened her eyes. She was not on the back of the bike, she was not wrapped around Xavier, her head still thump, thump thumped.

Gradually her eyes focused and sitting across the room, on the floor, legs up in front of him was her captor. Still masked. Still evil. Asha's immediate reaction was to put her hands to her throbbing head, but only one hand came. Not understanding she pulled her other hand and felt something restricting it, something cold, hard, and metal. Turning too where she knew her hand was trapped, she noticed a thick heavy chain. Her wrist was shackled to the chain and the chain to the head of the bed. Giving up, she knew she couldn't go anywhere, she slumped on the floor beside it.

“Think you’re so damned smart don't you Asha?” She could not see his face, but she could hear the sneer in his voice. “Well, how smart do you think you are now huh?”

Asha had nothing, what could she say? He would not give her any answers. She hung her poor aching head. She was going to die here. It was only going to be a matter of time until this monster killed her.

“You think you're going to get away don't you?”

Why answer him? To be part of his sick little game?

“Think someone might come save you huh?”

Yes, she had hoped that.

“Think your precious Xavier is going to come charging in here, like a knight in shining armour and whisk you away?”