Taking a turn to the right, Alexander carefully parked in front of Elli's motel. He took a deep breathe and picked up his phone to call Holla. She picked up on the first ring.
"I have arrived." He said.
"Yes, we know. We are tracking your every move,"
"Just act like nothing's going on. We're right behind you." She continued boldly.
He was scared not for himself, but for Violet. He didn't know what Eva could be up to and didn't want to get his daughter dragged into the fight more than she already is. He came down from the car and approached the motel while being on high alert of his surrounding.
He then entered into the reception and saw a lady. She was sleeping and now he understood why Eva had the guts to bring Violet here. They wouldn't sense a thing since the girl couldn't talk, because they were incompetent. He scowled, displeased at their incompetence - he hated such a character in an employee.
"Hello." He spoke to the sleeping lady.
She kept snoring softly and he rolled his eyes. Since he couldn't call Eva, he would have to just handle this by himself.
"Hello!" He exclaimed loudly and the lady woke up surprised. It took a second before she realized someone was standing in front of her.
"Oh, I am so sorry. We do not receive a lot of customers here." She apologized while trying to fix her messy blonde hair. When she was done, she roamed her eyes down his body in an appreciative manner.
Alexander sighed in frustration. He didn't have time for this.
"I was invited to the motel by Eva Roth. Please could you tell her, her guest is here?" He said with a hint of annoyance.
She gave him a flirty smile, "What's your name, handsome?"
"He is my husband, go get your own." Eva's voice interrupted them and there she was, standing at the entrance to the motel's corridor with her hands on her waist, giving the receptionist an angry glare.
The receptionist was startled and turned to look at her. After a second, she rolled her eyes, sat nonchalantly and went back to sleeping.
Alexander wasn't in the mood for all that drama. He approached Eva who had already gone from annoyed to being the annoying one with the smirk on her face.
"Same goes for that bitch I saw holding my daughter's hand." She whispered when he got close and moved to give him a kiss on the mouth but he quickly pulled away before she could.
She scoffed and turned to walk forward, while he followed.
***
She took him to room 321 and they entered but before they did, he texted the room number to Holla. Immediately he entered, he saw Violet on the bed and she ran to hug him.
"Dad, I missed you so much." She stepped back and signed with tears brimming in her eyes.
Alexander pulled her back into his embrace and held her tightly. He got up to look around and scrunched his face in disgust at what he saw. The room was painted a sick yellowish colour and the walls were decorated with cracks. There were cobwebs in some corners he could see, the abestos ceiling had started to peel off gradually, the carpet looked worn out and generally, the place wasn't up to standard and looked very unkempt.
"You knew I would find the garage..." He started accusingly.
She smirked, "Of course. I knew you would go to the police and they would at last, end up finding the garage but then I wanted you to make the choice to come alone without them and amazingly, you did. I think there is still hope for us, don't you think, Alexander?"
"Are you stupid?" He asked her while holding Violet who stood beside him in fear.
Eva chuckled and sat down on the medium sized bed. "Stupid, you say?" She asked with a forlorn look in her eyes.
"I am only trying to get back my husband and child. How is that stupid?"
"This is not the way. Kidnapping our child? Did you think doing this will make me surrender to you?" He asked her with disgust in his voice.
She smiled and tilted her head as if accusing him of something, "But I asked nicely. You refused and had some bitch want to take my place."
Alexander couldn't believe the nonsense coming out of her mouth. Was she suddenly having memory loss? "Did you forget you ran away all by yourself? And now, you come out of the blue and without any work, expect me to take you back just like that?"
"I ran away to be better for you and our kid!" She shouted and gripped her hair in her hands like a mad woman. Alexander held Violet tighter to him at her sudden change in attitude.
"You two don't understand..." She pointed to them in panic, "I ran away to be better."
She held her legs to her chest and sobbed, "I was trying to talk to Violet but she kept on ignoring me. She looked scared of me, Alexander."
Alexander gulped nervously; Eva didn't know Violet couldn't hear nor speak and he didn't feel it necessary to point that out. He didn't want her to do anything rash so he signed to Violet to stay put, a bit away from the door and approached her slowly.
"Don't you think kidnapping her was too much?" He asked softly.
She looked at him with tears in her eyes, "I...I knew you wouldn't let me see her just like that. It was the only thing my mind thought of so I tracked her to school and took her so you could hear me out."
Alexander sat beside her. He just hoped the police were not too close yet because yes, he knew Eva could be too determined, he had known she took their daughter so he would give her his attention but seeing her now, he really wanted to understand why she had left in the first place.
"Why did you run away from me? From your daughter?" He implored, trying to keep his tone calm and collected.
"My mind was going crazy. It started a year after I gave birth to Violet; I couldn't focus, I had voices in my head telling me to do bad things and I didn't want to harm the people I loved. You were taking care of that theft in your company and focusing all your time trying to get back the money that almost rendered you bankrupt so, you weren't always available and I didn't want to disturb you,"
"I started leaving the house, smoking so I could be away from Violet and you. I knew I had to go away for sometime to heal properly. I went to rehab and see, I am okay now...right, Alex?" She continued and looked at him with a wide smile and too much hope in her eyes.
Alexander could feel himself get emotional when he realized Eva was mentally ill. He felt really terrible; maybe if he had paid more attention to her, she wouldn't have had to leave. He bowed his head and thought of what to say but was saved that stress when the door broke open.
"NYPD!"
One of the police held Violet to themselves while Holla and the other one approached Eva as she gave Alexander a look of betrayal. They held her down as she fought against them. She suddenly looked behind him and as if she had seen something evil, started thrashing violently.
"You bitch! I will kill you!" She screamed in anger as Holla and the other police struggled to keep her down.
Alexander turned back to see Nicole entering the room. He approached her, his heart pained and distraught. Not minding the police's presence, he hugged her tightly.
She was shocked but didn't ask any questions and hugged him back.
They were going to be okay, he would make sure of that.