Chapter 6: The Hunt

The crystal’s that hung on the chandelier overhead shattered its bright light against the long mahogany desk that Theodore sat behind.

All of his books and documents had been cleared off the desk and all that stood on the obviously expensive furniture was the glass of icy champagne that stood untouched on the polished surface.

Theodore Hills’ face, usually a mask of impassivity and unbridled arrogance , was this night, a picture of rage and his aura was an unhidden thundercloud of fury.

Two largely built men in tailored suits, Marco and Silas, the guards that he had placed in charge of Hannah and part of his personal guards, stood frozen, their eyes darting nervously between the floor, the table and their employer’s seething rage.

For a moment, Theodore sat glaring at both of them. His emotions ranging from disgust to utter disappointment to anger.

Theodore knew that if he did not have so much to lose he would have picked up a gun and put two bullets in their collective heads.

It had been a couple of weeks since Hannah escaped his grasp and the fact that she was able to fool both of his most trusted bodyguards infuriated him. Considering how much he was paying for protection, he would have expected a much better performance from them.

"You two are a special kind of stupid, are you aware? How do you manage to go through the day with a shared brain cell?” He asked, his voice low and menacing.

“Sir… we had no idea that the madam would….” Marco, one of the guards attempted to speak up but Theodore picked up his champagne glass and tossed it at them.

Luckily, they were able to move out of the way and the glass shattered against the wall instead.

“Stupid, fucking imbeciles! How dare you fail at your job and have the nerve to stand there and give me excuses!” Theodore roared, his voice a guttural growl. "You two lost my wife! A grown woman? Gone. Vanished. Like a puff of smoke! What the hell were you doing?!"

“Sir, we had no idea she was ever planning to run away,” Silas, the other guard said, “Not even her body language gave off any signs that she was going to try something like that”

“We had no idea that she was familiar enough with the store to know where the exits were,” Marco added, “We interrogated the employees but it doesn’t seem like she had any inside help, Sir. The madam had just been planning this for a while”

Theodore groaned and buried his head in his hands. How could he have not seen this coming? He never attributed any form of intelligence to the woman and even if she was smart, he never thought she was smart enough to blind side him.

He wished that he could see Hannah so he could strangle her. How dare she try to disgrace him like this? What would he tell people? He had already started getting questions.

He had pacified people’s curiosity at first by saying that he had sent her to Japan for a few weeks since she had always wanted to visit.

However, he knew that soon people would figure something was wrong and eventually the whispers would start. What would he do then?

His mind was running amok. Hannah had vanished just like that. Slipped right through his fingers, right under his nose.

The rumors would start soon. "Poor Mr. Hills,” they would say, “I heard his wife has left him."

"Such a shame, such a disgrace."

“I heard she left him for another man. Quite sad that a man who can conquer the business world could not control his woman”

“Serves him right. Walking around with all that arrogance. I hope she never comes back.”

“He was probably cheating”

“I suppose money can’t buy you love and affection”

“I heard from a reliable source that she didn’t even try to lay claim to any of his money. Was she that desperate to escape him?”

“A shame truly”

The whispers and rumors would morph into mockery, sometimes public, then finally into accusations.

He and Hannah had not been able to have children and people would definitely attribute her leaving to that.

They would say he was a failure, a laughingstock. He, Theodore Hills, one of the most powerful man in the city, a laughingstock because of that wretched woman.

“Sir?” Marco called out when he and Silas noticed that he was not speaking and was lost in thought.

“Shut your mouth before I do it for you!” Theodore snapped.

The guards flinched.They were all too familiar with his temper but this was different. They had not seen him like this.

Silas, stammered, "Sir, I swear to God we… we tried to stop her. She said she wanted… she wanted some time alone with her clothes. To… to connect with the fabrics, she said."

Theodore let out a humorless laugh, the sound chilling. "You swear to God?” He leaned forward and stared at Silas, “Do I look like I give a damn about your God?”

Silas glanced at Marco and then back at his employer and shook his head. “I apologize, sir”

“She wanted time alone to connect with her clothes? It’s obviously something a stupid woman like her would say but you two,” he pointed at them, “How in the world did you Manage to believe that nonsense?"

He had to clench and unclench his fist to calm his trembling hand. Connect with her clothes? The woman loathed those clothes. Each gown, each jewel, each bag, each shoe.

She may not have been aware that he had noticed but he did and it infuriated him. Hannah was ungrateful and when he found her, he was going to make sure that he taught her what happens to ingrates.

The other guard, Marco, a hulking man who felt small under Theodore’s piercing glare, tried to explain, "She… she seemed sincere, sir. A bit… odd, yes, but sincere."

“She even threatened to make sure that you fired us if we didn’t let her do what she wanted” Silas added.

Theodore slammed his fist on the desk, the tremor in his hand betraying the extent of his rage. "Odd? Odd? That bitch knew wjat she was doing!”

“She said that it was our job to humor her whims” Marco said.

“Your job was to make sure that she never left your sight, you fool! She's a viper, Marco. Do you want to know what that woman is?” He asked and gave an answer regardless, “She is a snake. A venomous serpent who has slithered out of my grasp and it’s both your faults!”

“We are so sorry, sir” Silas said, his head low. He was silently berating himself for falling for Hannah’s tricks.

Theodore glared at them, his eyes burning with a dangerous intensity. "Find her. Bring her back. I don’t care how you do it, I don’t care how far you have to go but you will do as you are told”

“But sir…..” Silas began but Theodore cut him off.

“By any means necessary. I don't care how you do it, just bring her back. Do I make myself clear? He asked.

The guards exchanged a terrified glance. They knew their employer's wrath was legendary. They had seen his reactions to people who crossed him, not excluding Hanah. Disobedience definitely had consequences, and those consequences were rarely pleasant.

They were not willing to experience any of that and nodded.

“Yes, Sir,” Marco said, “We understand”

“Good,” Theodore leaned back on his chair, “Get the hell out of my sight. You make me want to vomit”

The guards quickly left the office, shutting the door behind them; both of them glad to be out of that environment.

Theodore thought for a moment and the. picked up the phone, dialed a number and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Hello” the person on the other end, a man in his mid fifties answered cheerfully. He sounded like he was having a good evening.

For some reason that infuriated Theodore. His voice was a chillingly calm monotone when he replied. "Chief Nicholas, it's Theodore Hills. I need to speak with you. Immediately."

There was a brief pause, then a hesitant, "Mr. Hills,” Theodore could hear him sit up on his bed on the other side, “Good evening, sir.it's quite late."

"Late?" Theodore's voice sharpened. "Do you know who you're speaking to, Chief? This is an emergency!” He snapped.

Nicholas sounded concerned. “Is all well?” He asked.

“That discussion cannot be held over the phone. I will be at your office in an hour. Prepare to receive me."

“I’m afraid that cannot be possible”

Theodore was shocked. He was not used to people refusing his requests.

“Chief Nicholas, it seems you did not understand what I have said”

“Mr Hills, it seems you want to hold a conversation with me and it’s quite late you see. A man my age should not be out by this hour”

“Do you realize who you are talking to?”

“Yes, I am. But you see my grandchildren are with me and I have promised my wife to stay put until they return”

“Your grandchildren….” Theodore could not fathom how the man was more concerned about a bunch of silly children. As far as he was concerned, his problem was of more importance.

“Yes. But if you wouldn’t be too busy, I could see you tomorrow at my office”

Theodore had to bite down on his tongue to prevent him from calling the man names. “Tomorrow it is. Prepare to receive me”

Theodore ended the call and let out a frustrated groan.

“The nerve of this old man! Let him just watch, I’ll make sure that he pays for this I swear!”

He thought of Hannah. Could she have really run off to be with another man? After all he had done for her? He would make her pay too.

Chief Nicholas, startled by the abrupt call, initially dismissed it as a late-night whim of a wealthy eccentric. This was not the first time that he had dealt with his kind.

However, something felt different. Perhaps it was the steel in Theodore Hills' voice, or the chilling command or the way he demanded they met but something sent a shiver down his spine.

He knew better than to ignore a man like Theodore Hills but he also couldn’t break a promise to his wife and grandchildren. He was going to meet with Theodore and hope that he didn’t go out of his way to make him pay for refusing his request.

Joanne, his wife, who lay next to him on their king sized bed looked up from her book, concern etched on her face. "Nicholas, who was that?” She asked.

“Mr, Hills. He wanted to meet with me andhe seemed… agitated."

Joanne rolled her eyes at the mention of Theodore. He was one of her least favorite people.

“I wish you had hung up on him”

“Now, now, dear you should not speak like that. He sounded troubled”

“When has he never been troubled? I wonder how that wife of his copes with his terrible attitude”

"I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow ," Nicholas replied, trying to sound nonchalant. "Something about an urgent matter. I have to meet him at the office tomorrow. At first he insisted that i come to the office right away”

Joanne frowned. "At this hour? Such a bray"

"Yes, of course, dear," Nicholas assured agreed and chuckled. "I told him that I had more important things to attend to.Like you"

Joanne giggled and blushed. She knew that her husband despite being a few ranks below Theodore in the hierarchy of the elites still chose his family over any elite.

They shared a kiss and the old man proceeded to lay his head on her lap while she played with his greying hair.