The One I Knew

Chapter 2

**Picture is of Alexandra Daddario cast as Rose Phillips**

* Ring Ring Ring *

My phone rang, waking me up from a dreamless sleep. Half asleep and half awake I answered it.

    “Hello?”

    “Rose? We need you at the office ASAP,” Joshua said.

    “What? Why? I was sleeping,” I mumbled, finally just starting to wake up.

    “We got a call, the Mayor’s daughter has been kidnapped.”

    “By who?”

    “Eric.” With that I hung up and changed back into a pair of jeans and a black shirt. I fumbled with my shoelaces and grabbed my coat. Running out of the house I started the car and drove back to office.

    “What exactly happened?” I asked Michael, who was waiting for me.

    “An hour ago we got a call that she had gone missing and then got a call from this mysterious ‘Eric’ saying that if we looked deeper into Malissa’s murder then he would kill her.”

    “You mean he kidnapped Kathryn just to make us stop looking for him?”

“Yep, we brought the mayor in and he knows absolutely nothing. We’re waiting for Kathryn’s husband to come in now,” Michael said, opening the door for me.  We waited for almost a half hour before Charles Hirst stepped through the door.

“What’s happened to my wife?” He asked, angrily.

“Charles, we are searching into it, but we think she’s been kidnapped.”

“What? No,” he said, sinking down into a chair. “This isn’t possible, Kathryn wouldn’t hurt a fly. Why kidnap her?”

“We got a call from the kidnapper who is also Malissa Smith’s murderer. He told us to drop the case or else Kathryn dies,” I said.

“Well then stop the investigation! At least until I get her back,” he said. Standing up he ran his hands through his dark brown hair. He had bright icey blue eyes, with gold specks in them. His eyes glistened as he let out a sob.

“We can’t, we have to stop this killer,” Joshua said.

“Okay, what can I do?”

“Right now, nothing. We have no leads except that the killer’s first name is Eric.”

“Eric?” Charles said. I saw a glimpse of recognition run through his face.

“You know him?”

“He’s my best friend, if it’s the Eric I’m thinking of. But we’ve not talked for years, we thought he was dead.”

“Well if it is him, we need to catch him.”

“But why would he do this?” Charles asked.

“We don’t know and this is when you need to go home and lock the doors. If Eric does go by your house, do not let him in. Just call us,” Joshua said, handing Charles his number.

“Alright. Please find Kathryn for me, I’m nothing without her.” After saying that Charles walked out and drove away.

“He’s hiding something,” I said, looking at Michael.

“I know....But what it is, I have no clue.” Sighing he sat down on one of the chairs, next to me. Sitting there we had no head way into finding this ‘Eric’.

“Wait....If Malissa had planned to meet with him, maybe Kathryn planned to meet with him too? We should have a look at her place and maybe find her,” I suggested.

“Good, you and Michael go to the Hirst’s place and I’ll go call Charles about you two going,” Joshua said, already dialing the number. Michael and I drove down to the Hirst’s place, in complete silence. The sky had taken to a dark, cloudy gray with the sun hidden. The rain began to fall as soon as we reached the house.

“Come in,” Charles said, opening the door for us. We took our drenched coats and shoes off and set them to dry along the hallway. Michael and I followed as Charles led us to the living room.

“So Joshua told me that you two figure that Kathryn planned to meet Eric somewhere and that maybe she left something about her whereabouts?”

“Yes, just like Malissa did. She wrote that she was to meet him in Kilmann’s Orchard and that’s where we found her. So maybe Kathryn left something,” I said.

“Alright, you guys can go look. Our room is the first on the right, up the stairs.”

    Following his directions we found ourselves in a large open bedroom. The walls were a creme color which matched the creme bedding. The room was lit by a small chandelier. which gave off a romantic view. Looking around I searched through the desks and drawers. While I was looking I found a manilla envelope. I shoved it in Michael’s bag when he wasn’t looking. After a few more minutes of looking we decided to leave.

    “Did you find anything?” Charles asked, hopefully.

    “No, sorry. We’ll keep you updated though on our investigation,” Michael said.

    “Alright,” Charles sighed, shrugging his shoulders. He looked like a lost puppy without Kathryn. She must have made him really happy. After putting our shoes and coats back on Michael and I ran through the now pouring rain back to the car.  

    “Hey that’s mine,” Michael complained as I took his bag away.

    “Shut up and pull over,” I said, pointing to the side of the road. I put some gloves on, so that way if there were fingerprints they wouldn’t be ruined. Opening it I found documents about Malissa. The one was of letter between Charles and someone whose name was never shown.

    “Oh, my God,” Michael said, pulling out a document, showing Charles’ signature on a contract. A contract between him and the mysterious man, about Malissa’s death.