*Yanni POV
I am transfixed by her image, utterly beguiled by her innocence. She has absolutely no clue what is about to befall her in the next few minutes as she enters the stairwell. It is both devastating and fascinating to witness her movements of less than one hour ago, and hopefully it will be informative too. I'm finding it impossible to accept that she has
just vanished.
Hope clings to me like a koala in a gum tree, hope that she has just gotten lost in the hotel, or had a bathroom emergency and is, as we speak, washing her hands before continuing on her way to meet Noah, hope that she is safe and will be back in my arms soon.
At that very moment a security officer appears in the doorway to report that the hotel has been placed on lockdown, security staff have begun a sweep of the building and have started room searches, all entrances and exits have been locked and are being monitored and the guests are being asked to return to their rooms.
There is no sign of Syd yet!
Amelia thanks her officer and dismisses him with a small inclination of her head then returns her attention to the footage on screen.
There are two cameras on each stairwell, one at the top of the flight looking down, and the other at the bottom looking up. The screen is split in half with one cameras footage on the left, the others on the right. It is strange to see both the front and back of her at the same time, to see her heading away from one camera at the same time as approaching another, entering one frame and exiting the other, the two halves of the screen displaying her movements in synchronisation.
She is looking at her phone as she continues down the highly polished white statuario marble staircase, pausing for a few seconds once or twice to look at her phone screen, a small shake of the head and then a frown appearing on her face.
Our eyes follow Syd down a few more floors with no suspicious activity, continuing to look at the screen on her phone.
Is that significant?
Maybe she is getting messages from someone else and she's gone to meet them instead of Noah?
I could live with that. Finding out that she had a secret lover she's gone to meet, or some other similar reason would crush me, but at least I'd know that she is safe. That is one of the hardest parts of this..... the not knowing.
The ACTUAL hardest part is having a very good idea of what has happened, who has her, and what she is likely suffering...... but having no idea WHERE she is.
Not knowing if I will find her in time to save her from unimaginable abuse.
Not knowing if she is calling for me.
Not knowing if I will ever see her again.
That is true terror!
Amelia cues up the final stairwell camera, from floor one down to the ground floor.
This must be where it happens, whatever 'it' may be!
As Sydney places her foot onto the first step down my stomach contracts, bile rises in my throat and my salivary glands cease to function. My tongue is so dry it clings like a limpet to my hard palate, my bowel grumbling like a husband on a shopping trip!
She descends a few steps further down, placing her phone in her back pocket whilst raising her head, her glorious hair cascading loosely down her back. As the top of her head disappears and the view from the first floor down the stairway becomes devoid of movement, her innocently beautiful face finally follows her lithe but femininely curvaceous figure onto the screen on the right. An ethereal smile on her lips that freezes there, her eyes visibly widening as they settle on something, or someone, just off to the right of the foot of the stairs.
Amelia talks into her radio, advising her deputy to head with caution and support to the emergency exit at the door of stairwell B, telling him that 'Miss Benfield could still be in the vicinity and will likely not be alone, or willing'.
I truly cannot identify the most prominent feeling running through me. I'm terrified to see what she is looking at but also intrigued, nauseous in the extreme but excited that we may get a clue that will help us find her. My thighs are trembling so much that I have to hold my weight on the desktop in front of us, sweat beading on my upper lip as on screen we see recognition on Syds face. She knows them!!
Her gaze has fallen on a person she recognises, and is utterly shocked to see! She momentarily freezes on the spot before seemingly losing all control of her body and falling back heavily onto the step, her left hand grabbing the rail and her mouth forming a silent, singular, but easily identifiable word.
HARRY!!
The back of a male head enters the frame from the left, extending his right arm and taking Syds left hand, pulling her to her feet, her eyes fixed on his face, abject fear clear to see on hers!
A tornado of emotions whirr within me and the most clear to me right now is anger. Pure, white hot, blood boiling, teeth clenching, unadulterated rage fills me. The kind of mind blowingly painful anger that would make Satan himself appear like Gandhi in comparison.
I have instantly concocted 27 ways I will hurt this fucker when we find them, everyone of them will be a long and drawn out torment, each a little more traumatic for him, but therapeutically beneficial to my mental health... working out my frustrations, fears and anger on the body of the cause of so much distress, pain and anguish can only be good for me, right!?
I explode! A roar escapes my lips, the four other people in the room visibly startled, Jimmie actually yelping out loud. Adrenaline rushes through me, a fog surrounds me and my eyes refuse to focus as my upper limbs swing violently before me, almost as if disconnected from my body, making contact with a number of expensive looking pieces of equipment with enough force to send them clattering to the floor.
I tug at my hair and scream again, incoherent ravings follow. The words may not be clear but my intentions are.....
I am going to kill Harry Hartwell!
"WHERETHEFUCKISSHE??!!
IM'MA FUCKING END YOU HARRY. YOU'LL WISH YOUD NEVER BEEN BORN! YOU WILL BEG ME TO KILL YOU, YOU ABSOLUTE PIECE OF FUC......"
J throws himself into my chest and wraps his arms tightly around me, my arms trapped within his embrace. The air is knocked from my lungs as he does this so my words are cut off, dying on my tongue. I could easily break free from his grip but in all honesty I don't want to. I need this embrace. I need to know I have someone who will be there for me, always.... Jimmie is that for me.
"We'll find her bro, chill out..... relax..... we'll get her back. Please.... try and calm yourself. We all know that an angry Yanni is not a capable or productive Yanni, and that situations like this would be better managed with a calm and rational mind. It's ok to be angry, afraid, and to feel abandoned and alone but torturing yourself with those kind of thoughts will only hinder us. We need to focus." he chides
He's right of course. Little bastard usually is!!
I take a steadying few breaths as Amelia loads up the view of the car park closest to that exit and we watch as Harry guides Sydney towards a red Ferrari, opening the door and placing her inside without incident, her spirit apparently having deserted her.
Why isn't she fighting him?
Why is she meekly sitting beside this monster, no attempt to run from him, no struggle, no evidence of the wilful and strong woman I know and love.
Amelia manages to get a fairly clear image of the number plate...
'H4 RRY'
Vain twat!! Should be fairly easy to spot though.