The Billionaire's Secret Love Child(217)

She opened the door to leave and almost fell over a bouquet of flowers that had been left on the doorstep. She read the card. So sorry. please forgive me Dima. She picked them up and took them with her. As usual, she nodded at the man from two floors up. He was on his way to work as well. She didn't know him, but they nodded at each other every morning. Wouldn't it be funny if we nodded at each other for the next forty years until we retired, she thought. So much happening in our respective lives yet never exchanging a single word about any of it. She followed him downstairs and out onto the street. There was the usual hustle and bustle as began to walk to the bus stop. She dumped the flowers in the first trash can she came across.

When the man bumped into her, she thought for a split second that she'd been in the wrong. She was looking in the florist’s window and not really concentrating on where she was going. When he grabbed her and bundled her into the gray van, she tried to scream, but his hand was over her mouth. Nobody heard or saw anything. It all happened so fast. He slammed the door shut from the inside and put his weight on top of her while he reached for some tape.

''What the hell are you....'' she managed to say before he put his hand back over her mouth.

''Shut up and do as I tell you. If you do, you won't be harmed. If you insist on making a noise, I'll have to hurt you.''

Thinking of her baby, she decided to be quiet and do as he asked. The duct tape he placed over her mouth clung savagely to her delicate skin, and when she tried to speak through it, it stuck to her lips making it impossible for her to move her mouth. He put her hands behind her back and taped her wrists together. He did the same to her ankles.

When he drove off, Tyra had no way of holding on, and she slid across the floor bumping into the side wall. When he turned a corner, she slid to the other side. Use your legs as buffers, she thought. At all costs protect your belly.

She concentrated on the man. Try and remember him, she told herself. He was short and bald, and she noticed the tattoo on his neck. He was wearing a navy T-shirt and a pair of old jeans. A gold chain and a Rolex, she repeated a couple of timer to herself.

When they stopped, Tyra let out a sigh of relief. She had been thrown from side to side, and it had been a great effort to stay on her back and keep maneuvering her feet in front of herself all the time. The van door opened, and she blinked against the sunlight. The man cut the tape at her ankles and pulled her out of the van.

She was in a yard behind what appeared to be a mansion. It was, in any case, a large single property, but she was unable to determine whether it was a dwelling or for office use. A tree hung over the yard, and a gray squirrel ran in front of her and darted up it. He pushed her to a door, and they entered the building. They were on the ground floor at the rear, in the old servants quarters. He opened another door and turned on a light. She saw a flight of steps.

''Go down there,'' he said. She put her foot on the first step and slowly began to descend. Her arms were still tied behind her back making it difficult for her to balance. She was petrified she would fall and lose her child. Eventually, she made it to the bottom. She was in a damp cellar. There was just one solitary wooden chair in the middle of the room and nothing else.

''How long you stay down here depends solely on you. If you tell me what I want to know, you can go soon. If you refuse to answer my questions, this may very well be the last place you ever see.'' He's Russian; he sounds exactly like Dima she told herself. He wants to know about the Hope Diamond.

Without saying anymore, she sat her on the chair. He left her arms tied and the tape over her mouth. When Sergey climbed the stairs, he chuckled to himself. She won't ever leave this cellar even if she tells me what I want to know.



*****



At nine am, Dima rang the bell at the jewelry store. Leon answered. ''Hi I need to speak to Tyra,'' he said stepping inside.

Leon picked him up by the collar and took him outside. ''You've got a nerve showing up here. She doesn't want to speak to you, ever again and officially I should be handing you into the cops. She asked me not to when she told me what you'd requested from her.'' Leon's hand twisted the jacket collar further into his giant palm. ''Leave and don't show your face here again. You Russians are all the same. You may have bucket loads of money, but there is one thing money can’t' buy. Class.'' Leon shoved him away and went back inside.

''I deserved that,'' Dima thought. No point in trying again, he's far too big.

At ten, Radley came into the store from his office. ''Where's Tyra?'' he asked Leon.

''I don't know, Mr. Samuels. I haven't seen her today yet.

''But it's ten, she's always here early.'' He looked at his watch again. ''I'm worried about her.''

''There was a Russian here an hour ago looking for her.''

''Indeed. What did you tell him?''

''Er......'' Leon was lost for words. Tyra had told him in confidence about Dima's desire to pinch the Hope Diamond, and he didn't want Radley to think he'd scared client away. ''I told him, she hadn't arrived yet.''



*****



When the light went on, Tyra closed her eyes against the light. When she opened them, she saw the same man standing in front of her. He had a knife in his hand. Tyra screamed and stamped her feet as he ripped the duct tape from her face.