Accident Prone

Liz was not willing to sit and do nothing while waiting for the rescue to arrive. She tried to twist her body and get her arms to be in front, but her wrists were tightly bound at her back, and she failed.

She wiggled toward the bench because it was the closest piece of furniture with the idea that if she could sit on it, her position will be better to see what else is there. Maybe she could find something sharp on the table, to cut her binds and get out of here.

Liz reached the bench and tried to lean on it sideways in an attempt to push herself up. To Liz's horror, the bench flipped and fell on the floor with a bang, scraping her back in the process. Liz winced in pain and she would cry as well, but her mouth was blocked and only a muffled exhale was heard.

Liz blinked rapidly when the door opened, and the brightness assaulted her eyes as someone flicked the light switch.

"Well, well… the sleeping beauty is awake. If you slept for another half an hour, I would pour a bucket of icy water on you. I don't have the whole night to wait. I am a busy woman…"

A mocking female voice was heard, and Liz's heart dropped. She would never forget that voice… Irene. What the hell?

At that moment Liz realized that she was in trouble. Her future would be brighter if a serial killer got his hands on her compared to Irene. Irene was after Max and his company, and Liz insulted her more than once and Irene was caught stealing the company's secrets and she was forced to flee in order to avoid jail time and Max's wrath and… Irene attempted to hire assassins to kill Liz.

Liz clearly saw the pattern of Irene's offenses escalating and she knew that Irene does not plan to leave her from here alive. Liz was aware that any attempt to ask for compassion will only add to Irene's pleasure without changing the end result. But Liz would not give Irene the satisfaction of seeing defeated Liz.

Liz steeled her resolve, narrowed her eyes, and watched Irene as she walked toward her with slow deliberate steps.

"I was waiting for this for a very… very… very… long time…", Irene drawled.

She stopped one step away from Liz and observed her.

"Brent!", Irene called.

"Yes, boss?", a deep male voice responded, and Liz saw a muscular man appear at the door.

"Remove her gag. I want to hear her scream…", Irene said with a wicked smile on her face.

Brent obeyed. He came to Liz and untied the knot that was at the back of her head.

Feeling the freedom, Liz licked her dry lips and a second later a heavy slap landed on her cheek.

Liz glared at Irene. If Irene wanted to hear Liz scream and beg for mercy, she was in for a surprise. Liz already knew that Irene is crazy and that this can't end well. The only thing Liz had was her dignity and there was no way she will give up on it and allow Irene to gloat.

"Bitch!", Liz said through her teeth.

Irene's eyes flashed. "Good, good… let's see how long you can continue with that attitude." Irene lifted her hand and slapped Liz again. And again… and again…

~ Las Vegas, the Bellagio hotel ~

1:03 AM

Max, Hunter, Mia, Quentin, and Brianna were in Liz's penthouse suite. They had several laptops open; their phones were at the ready and they sat in silence.

Max's and Mia's men were spread through Las Vegas, looking for clues, and the chief of police was trying to find identities of people who were in the restroom, but so far, nothing yielded results.

They identified two local girls who were in the restroom of the mall at the same time Liz was inside, and Daniel and his men went to talk to them, but the girls didn't see anything unusual.

"Can we look at the surveillance cameras from the mall?", Mia asked. "Not the ones showing the restroom, but the other ones."

"What do you hope to find?", Quentin asked.

Mia shrugged. "I don't know but I can't just sit and wait. It's driving me crazy."

They all agreed with her. Liz was missing for about twelve hours like the Earth itself swallowed her, and the lack of information was suffocating.

Hunter made a call and within a minute Ian gave them access to the surveillance videos from the mall.

Mia sipped water from the bottle and stared at the screen of the laptop while scrutinizing the video which showed Liz walking through the mall.

"Bri… come here…", Mia called. "Which one of these people is Liz?"

Brianna sat next to Mia, glanced at the video, and then turned to Mia. "Green shirt and black skirt…"

"No.", Mia cut of Brianna. "Forget the clothes. Focus on people. If you don't know that you should be looking for a green shirt and a black skirt, which one is Liz?"

Brianna frowned for a second, not sure what Mia is getting at but she turned her attention to the screen. A few seconds later, Bri's eyes widened.

"That's not Liz!", Brianna shrieked, making Max, Hunter, and Quentin jump.

"What?", Hunter was the first one to ask.

Brianna looked at Mia and gave her a thumbs-up before explaining. "This is not Liz. Liz does not walk like that… this woman is swaying her hips more than Liz and has bigger breasts. And why would Liz wear sunglasses indoors? She does not wear them even when it's sunny because she loves sunshine. How come I didn't see it before?"

"Are you sure?", Max asked.

Mia nodded. "Positive. I was almost positive, that is why I called Bri to confirm. This woman on the video is not Liz. Instead of investigating how Liz left the restroom, we should try to find who exited the restroom without getting in."

Hunter understood where Mia is going with this. "You are saying that someone disguised herself to look like Liz, and in the restroom, she removed the disguise."

"Mhm…", Mia hummed in confirmation. "This is a mall. Everyone is carrying shopping bags and I'm sure that the person we are looking for came out with a bag which had Liz's clothes and probably a wig inside. We already know that this was planned. She only needed to keep a set of clothes hidden in the restroom in advance, because this Liz had only one purse with her."

They all paused and exchanged glances in silence. If Liz was not the woman from the mall, but there was an impostor, that would explain why they were hitting dead ends so far. Daniel confirmed that the windows in the restroom are high and too narrow for a person to squeeze through, and he even checked ventilation shafts and they were unable to figure out how Liz disappeared from that restroom because Liz was not there at all!

"Alright! We are onto something!", Quentin exclaimed while rubbing his hands.

"Where are you going!?" Hunter shouted after Max who was going toward the main door in large strides.

Max paused his steps. "If the person in the mall was an impostor, that means Liz disappeared in the restaurant. I am going to skin Christian Snow alive!"

Hunter quickly stood up and dashed after Max. "Calm down. We need him to answer questions first…"

Quentin also rushed after Hunter and Max. If they need to catch and beat someone, he is in! They were cooped in that suite for hours and he could use some exercise.

Mia and Brianna exchanged glances.

"Do you really think that Dr. Snow is behind this?", Brianna asked Mia.

Mia shrugged. "You know that he was… IS in love with Liz, and she got engaged. Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Brianna was not sure what to think of that. "But he was her coworker and when he thought that she was angry, he sent her flowers. When he realized that he messed up, he left. That does not sound like a kidnapper. His approach was unorthodox, but whenever he saw that Liz does not approve of his actions, he would take a step back. Liz getting engaged might make him dejected and depressed but not a criminal."

"I think the same…", Mia said. "But the current situation points to the possibility that he was involved. Instead of guessing what happened, let's focus on these videos and the mystery woman while our guys are getting their hands on Dr. Snow."

Mia saw that Brianna nodded, and she continued explaining the task at hand: "Let's look at the video showing the hallway where the restroom is. We can start by taking notes of the people who got out after Liz entered, and compare that with people who got in…"

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