Chapter 47
STEPHANIE
Why was no one answering the boss’s damn phone? Mary Jane, Jance Williams’s secretary, was legendary within Williams Inc. Surely she was in the office by—I checked my watch again—seven oh five. Frustrated, scared, and on the verge of letting out a scream that would probably get me institutionalized, I ended the call.
When I stared at the number on my phone, I realized I must have Jance’s private line. Not his usual office line that should’ve, at the very least, connected me to his secretary. I paced around on the sidewalk for a second. That was as long as it took for me to prioritize.
I could either try Jance again so he could confirm that Jeremiah thought he and I had a stalker and that they should arrest her first, or I could call the police and then keep trying to get a hold of one of the richest, and probably meanest, men in America.
Lifting my phone again, I did what I should’ve done five minutes ago and called the police. An emotionless voice answered the call. I couldn’t say the same for my own voice, which was bordering on frantic.
In a nutshell, I told her what I knew. “This Stephanie Donavan. I’m Jeremiah Williams’s secretary. He came to my apartment to give me a ride to work, but he’s disappeared. His car is all banged up. It looks like someone might’ve driven into him. I think he may be injured and that he’s been taken.”
“Jeremiah Williams, as in—” She sounded doubtful as if I couldn’t possibly be insinuating that the city’s favorite billionaire bachelor had been kidnapped.
“Yes!” I screamed into the phone, losing the ability to control the volume of my voice. “That one. Jance Williams’s son.”
Ordinarily, with all us regular people, I was sure she would’ve asked a lot more questions when someone called to say a person was missing. Jeremiah was no regular person though. Every person in the city knew his name and that of his father and their company.
They were as close to royalty as we got in New York City. The operator was no different. I heard her start barking things at people in the background, and then she took my address before hanging up the phone with a curt, “They’re on their way.”
The police would be here in double time, I was sure. In the meantime, I had to get a grip on my emotions and get back to letting Jeremiah’s father know what happened.
Sucking in a few shallow breaths, I forced myself to calm down and willed my lungs to expand further, to take in more air at a time until I was managing proper breaths. The effect was immediate.
My vision, hazy and blurry since the onset of the panic when I first realized what was going on, cleared up. Anxiety and fear over Jeremiah’s wellbeing and his whereabouts still chewed up my insides, but at least I was able to focus again.
Passersby stared at me and the wrecked car I was standing next to, but no one approached me. Some even glared at me like they couldn’t believe I wasn’t getting out of their way or even worse, making such an emotional scene in public.
To those, I gave scathing looks in return and texted Tiana before I made the next call. My roommate who was also my best friend was right upstairs, and I needed her now. She would know what to do. And if she didn’t, she would at least be able to keep me from bubbling over.
Lord knew I was one false word away from Total Meltdown, DEFCON Level One. Some people thought level five was the bad one, but it wasn’t. Level one was when shit got real.
And shit had definitely gotten real this morning. What could Jannie possibly have done with him? He was at least a foot taller than she was and had to weigh a lot more. A cold shudder ran through me at the thought of him immobilized, knocked out cold and at her mercy. I knew he had to be out cold to have let her take him.
If it was even Jannie! My subconscious yelled at me. Jeremiah and his family were among the city’s elite. The super wealthy. It wasn’t impossible someone took him for ransom, or even that one of Jance’s enemies had come out of the woodwork to kidnap his last remaining son.
Jack was dead, but Jeremiah was alive. I choked back a sob when a small voice inside my head whispered, or he had been a couple of hours ago.
If anyone wanted leverage against Jance, taking Jeremiah sure would hit where it hurt. I shoved the thoughts aside, trying to focus on staying positive. The police were on their way. I would tell them about Jannie, but they would find out what happened to Jeremiah. And they would find Jeremiah himself, alive and well.
They had to. They just had to. Another sob rose from my chest when I heard Tiana call my name. “Steph? What’s going on? What happened to Jeremiah’s car?”
“I don’t know,” I managed to choke out between the sobs I tried to keep inside. Crying hysterically when the cops got here wasn’t going to help me help them to get Jeremiah back. “It was like this when I got here, and he was gone.”
“Gone?” she asked, worry causing a line between her olive green eyes. “I’m assuming you called the police?”
I was grateful she didn’t question me. Didn’t ask if I was sure or if I’d tried to find him. She knew me well enough to know I was and I had. “They’re on their way. I tried his father, but I haven’t had any luck yet. I’m going to try Neil next.”
Neil had been Jack’s best friend. He was like the unofficial third Williams brother. If anyone would be able to get a hold of Jance fast, it was him. He would probably also want to help however he could. The fact that I preferred talking to him in much the same manner as one might’ve preferred hugging a fluffy teddy bear to sitting on cactus didn’t even matter.
I would’ve spoken to Jance if I could’ve, but since I couldn’t get through to him, I was happy to call Neil instead. Thankfully, he was an early bird.
In no time, he answered with a crisp “Neil Colman speaking.”
“Neil?” My voice was shaky, thready. Tears still burned in my throat and made it hard to talk normally. “I need to speak with Mr. Williams, would you please give me his number?”
I couldn’t stand still, resuming my pacing as I waited for his answer. Neil knew how Jance despised me. If I were him, I would’ve paused too. “Is there anything I can help you with?”