The Auction House Deal: Bought by A Billionaire

Late the next morning, I woke up, patting the bed next to me. In my sleepy haze, I expected to feel Hannah’s body there, to smell her soft hair. Then I remembered - she wasn’t there.

The weight settled back in my chest, and I groaned. I didn’t want to get up and face the day without her.

I turned over my phone on the bedside table, having kept it close to me in case there was any news of Hannah. There were a ton of messages, my office wanting to know where I was. I got dressed and called my cousin at the office.

"Rachel," I said to my cousin over the phone, "Hannah’s been kidnapped. I’ve been working with the police and the FBI all night. I won’t be in today. Can you handle that meeting with our new client? And cancel the rest."

"Are you okay? You sound - I don’t know - shaken," Rachel said.

"I’m fine. It’s Hannah I’m worried about."

"Just let me know if you need anything else. I’ll get to work then," Rachel said before hanging up.

I grabbed one of the protein shakes my cook made and stored in the refrigerator.

Lauren was just starting to wake up on the couch.

"Hey, sleepy head," I said.

"What time is it?" she asked, stretching out her arms.

"Don’t worry about it. We’re going to be focused on finding Hannah, so let’s get fueled. Do you want a protein shake? Or maybe a yogurt?"

"You don’t believe in a donut or breakfast pastry, do you?"

"Come on, you need to fuel your body, Lauren. I know you take care of yourself..."

"I know. I like junk food when I’m stressed," she stood up and came over to the kitchen.

"Here," I handed her a green juice. "Drink this."

We sipped our drinks standing at the counter. I had already changed into my workout gear - t-shirt and shorts. I planned to get in a gym session, hoping to clear my mind a little.

I walked back to my room and arrived back in the kitchen a minute or so later with some clothes I thought might fit Lauren.

"What’s this?" she looked at them confused.

"Join me in the gym. I have some ideas to toss around." I stepped away toward my home gym area in the back of the house.

Being so frustrated, I needed to pound something. It always helped my think when moving my body, getting physical. I started by throwing some punches to the body bag.

Lauren sauntered in a moment later. Even with the over-sized clothes, she looked fit.

She started to hold the bag as I punched away.

"So what’s the plan?" she asked.

"Find Hannah."

"Okay, but..."

"I don’t know," I threw a hard cross, followed by a left hook. After I had broken a sweat, I handed the gloves to Lauren. "Your turn."

Lauren threw some punches, swiveling her hips. She wasn’t as strong as me, but she could hold her own. "Did you girls figure out how someone could have followed you to the club?"

"No," Lauren said. "There were a few people that took interest in us at the club, but you know, four pretty girls, we were bound to get some wandering eyes."

"So people in the club were watching you?"

"Yeah, there was one guy, really interested in Hannah, but I shooed him away. I’m pretty sure he was harmless."

Lauren threw another series of punches - a jab, hook, cross combination. When she finished, I grabbed a jump rope and started hopping, throwing one to Lauren.

"We can’t leave any stone unturned," I said. "We have to check it out. Follow those leads."

I moved to my weight area and started completing a set of squats. Lauren followed, and together we pumped iron in silence.

My mind stewed. I’d have to get back to the club. It was most likely someone saw something, something the cops missed. There could even be regulars there who might be able to point me in the right direction.

Just thinking about the cops bumbling the investigation made me pick up more weight, forcing it over my head. I had to keep up my strength in order to find Hannah.

Mid-way through a set of bicep curls, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said.

"This is the police. The officer you spoke to last night at the cat café?"

"Yes," I said, eagerly hoping he had good news.

"We checked out everything we know about the Auction House and the associates there. Everyone’s accounted for - either dead or in prison. I think it’s a dead end."

I let the weight fall out of my hand and hit the floor with a thump. That was not the news I wanted to hear.

I hung up and started punching the body bag again, harder and harder.

"Those dicks. They were so sure it had to do with the Auction House." I threw a powerful left hook. "And now they call and say that’s not possible."

I hit the bag with my left and then my right. Punching with all my might, I felt an urge to hurt something.

"What did they say?" Lauren asked, staring at my rage.

"Just that they’re inept and can’t do their job right," I said through another series of punches.

Huffing a little I sat down on one of the weight benches. "And what really burns me up is that they claimed they had it handled." I shook my head.

"Call Ed and Marcus," Lauren suggested. "See what they’ve found."

I didn’t waste any time and dialed Ed’s number. "Ed," I said.

"Roman, what’s wrong? Sounds like you’re running from something."

"No, I was just working out, and I got a call from those worthless cops." "Oh yeah? What’s the word?"

"Dead end. They basically said there’s nothing to the Auction House lead. Where does that leave us?" I stood up and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

"Well, we don’t have anything new here..."

"D*mnit," I said. "You mean to tell me I have the cops and the FBI on this case, and you both have come up with nothing?" My voice started to echo in the gym, my adrenaline pumping from the exercise and the bad news.

"I’m sorry, it’s just - I don’t know..."

"Yeah. You don’t know. You know nothing," I yelled into the phone. The mirrors in the workout room rattled at the strength of my voice.

"You and Marcus, pass this message on to him too, by the way, you were supposed to be watching my bride. I helped you with the biggest sting of your career and this is the way I’m repaid? With you two hoping to get your dicks licked by my wife’s friends?" I was pacing around the room at that point, my anger pulsating through my body.

"Hey, Roman. Calm down. We just need to keep looking. Be patient," Ed tried to console me, but I wouldn’t let him.

"Patient?" I yelled. "My wife is God knows where with God knows who. I’m not waiting around. I’m going to find Hannah and bring her home. And when I do, you better hope I can’t find you too, because if I see you, I’m going to beat the crap out of both of you."

I slammed the phone down, dropping it on the foam mat.

"Ahhh...!!" I screamed, flexing my muscles, the veins in my neck visible.

"Roman," Lauren used her best calm voice. "I know you’re upset. We can do this. We can find her. Why don’t you take a shower, and we’ll regroup."

I knew she was trying to help, and she was right. A hot shower would feel good, calm me down while keeping me alert.

The water cascaded down my muscles, and I closed my eyes. Hannah was all I could see. While the shower soothed my body, my mind continued to race to come up with some kind of lead in finding Hannah.

After I was all clean and refreshed, I called Harry before returning to Lauren. "Harry, how’s it going? Any leads?"

"You mentioned the Auction House..." "Yeah," I said, eagerly into the phone.

"I don’t think that’s it. I’m going in another direction. Any other skeletons in your wife’s closet? Affairs? Jealous boyfriends?"

"No, No," I said. I was pretty sure Hannah hadn’t had any other lovers. She claimed her dad hadn’t allowed her to date, and the Auction House was selling her as a virgin.

"This just feels personal somehow. With all the girls at the club, they targeted Hannah. If it wasn’t because of the Auction House, it had to be someone else who knew her," Harry explained.

Someone who knew her, I thought. I couldn’t think of a single name, except her family.

But there was one person who knew Hannah better than me. Maybe she had an answer.