"What?" Overjoyed, Alex rushed over to Ken and held his arm. He asked, "Ken, have you got news about Debbie?"
"Well, yes." Ken nodded. He pressed a button on his cell phone and a photo appeared on the screen, which he showed to Alex. It was of a cell phone. Alex recognized it immediately as Debbie's phone. He was so excited that he could hardly speak. He grabbed the phone off Ken and stammered, "This cell phone. It's Debbie's."
"Well, our people found it in Washington D.C. We know from the fingerprints on the screen that it's definitely Debbie's. Now, you've also confirmed it," Ken said with a smile. He continued, "I now believe that there's a very good chance that Debbie is in Washington. I'm going to focus our search there. I'm convinced that soon we'll have very good news."
"Okay. Please get back to the search straight away. When you find her, you'll be very well rewarded," Alex said happily.
"There's no need for that, Mr. Ambrose. It's all part of our service to your family," Ken said. Then, with a little trepidation, he continued, "Now that we have some clues, we're sure to find her very quickly. There's no need now for you to go in person. Just leave everything to us."
Alex replied adamantly, "No, I've already decided. Before, I didn't know where to start to look, but now I know where to go. I gave up too quickly last time. I won't do that again."
After chatting with Ken for a while longer, Alex realized that it was already late evening, so he decided that he would wait and leave the following day.
He went back to his room and ordered a ticket on the internet for the train at eleven o'clock the next morning. He planned to go and get some dinner, then to get an early night. He wanted a good night's sleep to regain his energy. He was just leaving his room when his cell phone rang. He didn't recognize the number and when he answered the call, he found that it was Sharon Williams, a close friend of Kelly Phillips.
"Hello, Alex, I'm really sorry to disturb you," she said. The last time they had met at the Phillips family gathering, she had witnessed Alex intentionally destroying Brian Foster's Ferrari. She was understandably wary of him. She also knew that he was from such a rich and powerful family that the president of Ferrari had personally delivered his new car. She shivered when she remembered how she had treated him at the gathering before she knew who he was.
"What's the matter?" Alex asked impatiently.
Sharon quickly replied, "Well, I'm calling you because of Kelly. Since the last family gathering, she's become completely withdrawn. She never goes out anymore but stays at home by herself all the time. I visit her every day, and I can tell from her red eyes that she cries all the time. I'm really worried about her."
Hearing her mention Kelly, Alex's heart fluttered. He remembered her smiling face and optimistic attitude to life.
"I know that you care about her. Please, could you meet with her? She can't go on like this," Sharon said anxiously.
Alex was moved by what he heard and agreed to Sharon's request. He said, "Okay, tell her that I'll meet her at nine o'clock tomorrow morning at Ramsey Lake, on the university campus." Sharon thanked him and ended the call.
**
As Sharon was ending her call to Alex, Rose was speaking on the phone to her aunt, Sue Bradley, who told her that Alex was about to leave New York. She was surprised.
Since convincing herself that he was in love with her, Rose had been dreaming about becoming Alex's girlfriend. She had been looking forward to being with him again as soon as possible. She had decided to accept him as soon as he approached her and made his desires clear.
But for the past two days, she had not heard from him at all, and she was becoming a little anxious. However, when she remembered how affectionate he had been with her, she was relieved. She remained convinced that she was the girl that he was in love with.
When she heard that he was leaving New York for a period of time, Rose panicked a little. She thought, what if Alex meets some beautiful woman on his travels and forgets all about me?
As she thought more about it, she became increasingly anxious. I must take the initiative, she thought. Before Alex leaves, I will make sure that I become his girlfriend. If I can't do that, I must at least speak to him and sort out our relationship. Then, even if he's away from New York, I'll have an excuse to keep calling him, and maybe I'll even go with him.
Having made up her mind, she called him.
Alex was wary when he saw that Rose was calling, but he still answered her call.
She said to him shyly, "Alex, now it's the summer vacation and all my friends have gone home. I'm very bored at home on my own every day. Can you go out with me for the day tomorrow?"
"Sorry, I can't. I'm leaving New York tomorrow," Alex answered.
Rose thought for a moment. Thank goodness I made this call. Otherwise, I wouldn't know that he was leaving so soon.
She said, "Where are you going? I can go with you. I'm already bored with being at home." She tried to sound calm, but her anxiety was clear in her voice.
"No, I need to go alone," Alex answered. "I'm already booked onto tomorrow's eleven o'clock train. I'm going to Washington D.C. There's something I have to do there." He was going to find Debbie. There was no way he was going to take Rose with him.
But she insisted, "Eleven o'clock isn't that early. Can you meet me for a while? Just for a chat? Perhaps just a walk by Ramsey Lake. Please?"
Alex didn't know what to say.
"Do you still hate me because of the way I treated you?" Rose asked suddenly. She sobbed, "I know that I used to treat you badly. I used to insult you and laugh at you. I know that I hurt you, but I hoped that you meant it that day in the villa when you said you could forgive me."
"Don't worry about it. I did mean what I said. I do forgive you. Don't cry." When he heard her voice trembling, his heart softened. "Okay, I'll meet you at Ramsey Lake tomorrow, but remember I can't stay long. I'll only have time to walk once around the lake."
"Thank you. Even if you can only stay with me for five minutes, I'll be happy," Rose said, sounding chirpier. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at nine o'clock at Ramsey Lake."
Alex suddenly remembered that he had arranged to meet with Kelly at nine o'clock. He certainly couldn't overlap that appointment with meeting Rose. Flustered, he said, "Actually, no. I don't think I can get up in time to meet at nine." He thought, I need to give myself at least an hour to talk with Kelly. After that, I can walk around the lake with Rose, and then I'll need to get quickly to the railway station and catch the train to Washington.
"Okay, that's fine. Then can meet at ten o'clock," Rose said and ended the call.
After hanging up, Rose felt very happy with how it had gone. She thought, if Alex is catching a train at eleven o'clock but still wants to find time to meet me at ten, that's definitely proof that he likes me. Tomorrow, I'll make sure that I seize the opportunity and use the time available to make Alex my boyfriend.
**
The next day, Rose went to Ramsey Lake at eight o'clock. She saw a tall man standing by the lake.
After their conversation the night before, she had spent a lot of time thinking about her best approach when she saw Alex. She had not spent much time with him and didn't know him well, but she thought he was a quiet person and may be too shy to tell her straight out how he felt about her. She had to handle the situation carefully.
She had racked her brains trying to decide how she could make Alex confess to her that he liked her.
Finally, she had come up with a plan.
When she and Alex were walking by the lake, she would arrange for some friends to attack them, pretending to be gangsters. Then Alex would come to the rescue and save her.
If this happened, she was sure that Alex would then realize how he truly felt about her. Even if he found it hard to confess his true feelings, it was perfectly normal for the hero and the beautiful girl that he saved to end up together.
Convinced that he was truly in love with her, she decided that as soon as she told him how she felt, he would accept her immediately.
Rose approached the tall man and asked him, "Have you brought everything you need?"
"Don't worry, I'm ready," the man replied. "You see, I have a black stocking to cover my head, and this is a model knife. The blade can be retracted. This is the fake blood that we usually use for filming." He showed her the props that he had prepared to use.
"He mustn't see them. And you can't let him catch you straight away. You understand?" Rose told him.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Remember, I'm a professional. It's my job to stage these sorts of stunts for films," he answered proudly.
"Okay, but before he comes, let's practice so we know exactly what we're doing. It can't go wrong," she said and turned to face the lake.
"I'm ready," the man said as he put the silk stocking on his head, held the model knife in his hand, and crept up to Rose. He circled his arms around her neck and pointed the knife at her throat.
"What are you doing? Let me go, Alex, help me," she cried out in panic.
Suddenly, they both heard a quivering voice shouting at the man. "Hey. You. What are you doing? Let her go. I'll call the police," the voice said.
Rose turned her head and squinted in the direction of the voice. She saw two beautiful girls standing about twenty yards away.
It was Kelly and Sharon. When they arrived at the lake and saw a gangster with his knife against a girl's throat, they were shocked. Although they were afraid, Kelly thought he might cut her throat any second, so she didn't hesitate and screamed at him to stop.
With shaking hands, Sharon pulled out her phone to call the police.
"Hi girls, stop. Don't call the police," Rose quickly called, and then said to the man who still had his arm around her neck, "Let go. Are you stupid?"
When the man let go of her, Rose ran to Kelly and Sharon and said with a smile, "It's okay, you've made a mistake. He's not a gangster. We're just messing around."
Rose had assumed that because it was vacation time, there would be very few people on campus, so she didn't think there would be anyone else at the lake. She certainly hadn't expected anyone else to arrive at that moment and see what they were doing.
"Messing around?" Kelly and Sharon were a little confused. They thought the explanation was a bit strange. However, they didn't know this girl and felt that it was none of their business. Kelly smiled gently and said, "Well, it was clearly a misunderstanding. We're glad you're okay. We'll leave you to it." Then, Kelly and Sharon went and sat down by the edge of the lake.
Rose went back and rehearsed with the tall man several times. Then she noticed that it was almost nine o'clock and the two girls were still sitting by the lake. They didn't seem to be leaving. She was worried because she wouldn't be able to carry out her plan with Alex later if they were still there.
She walked over to them and said, "Hey guys. You've been sitting here for a long time. Don't you want to go somewhere else for a walk?"
"We're waiting for someone here," Kelly explained and smiled happily.
Rose swore to herself and thought, it looks like these two girls are planning to stay here for a long time. Alex will be here soon, and I need my plan to work. What can I do?
"Guys. My friend and I are going to keep practicing our scene later today. If anyone else comes along, please don't tell them that it's not real," she said to them.
"What do you mean? What are you going to do?" Kelly asked. She didn't understand what Rose was doing.
Rose breathed out helplessly. She could think of no alternative but to explain everything to them. Exasperated, she started to explain, "Well—"