The blame game

Emma screamed in her sleep and fell from the bed. Sophia rushed to Emma's room hearing her screams. Sophia barged inside the room without knowing and forgetting the formal protocol. She shockingly saw Emma on the floor wincing in pain while she holds her back. Sophia ran to her and helped her to get up by holding her via wrist but she again flinched, "Aaahhh"

"I am so sorry, dear," Sophia said. Sophia helped Emma sit on her bed and asked,

"What happens? How did you feel?" Sophia asked.

"Ricker," Emma said.

"What?" Sophia asked.

"I saw Ricker," Emma said.

"Where?" Sophia asked.

"I dreamt about him. No, it was a nightmare. I got scared. He was… Sophia, I have a feeling that I am going to face him soon and things will be very ugly" Emma shared her concern.

"I fear the same. Do you want some medicine or anything else?" Sophia asked.

"No, I don't," Emma said.

"I can get you something to eat," Sophia said.

"No need," Emma said.

"So, at least lie down for a bit" Sophia suggested.

"No, I don't feel good. I want to see dad. I will just need to get to the hospital" Emma said.

"So, I can pack some food for you," Sophia said.

"I don't think so," Emma said.

"You can eat in the hospital and share with your father," Sophia said.

"Okay. At least you will not pester me again and again for eating" Emma said.

Sophia went to the hospital and entered Greg's empty room. She looked around and find no one.

"Dad" Emma called out for Greg but found no response. She looked inside the bathroom but he was not there.

Emma panicked and went outside. She asked a nurse she found in the hallway.

"Where is my father?" Emma asked.

"I am sorry. I don't know" the nurse answered in confusion.

"He is not in his room. He had an attack. Where is he?" Emma asked the nurse.

"He might be taken for some test. Why don't you ask at the desk? They must know" the nurse said.

"Okay," Emma said. Emma went to the desk and ask the receptionist, "my father is not in his room. Is he taken for some test or something?"

"Ms. White, he must be in his room. Did you check the bathroom?" the receptionist said.

Emma lost all her patience. "Have you lost your mind? I said he is not there. Of course, I checked the bathroom. He is nowhere in that room. Where is he?" Emma yelled.

"Emma?" Theo said from behind. Emma turned to find Theo with a coffee paper cup in his hand.

"Theo. Good, you are here. Where is dad?" Emma asked.

"In his room," Theo said.

"NO… No no no no. He is not there" Emma said.

"Calm down. Okay. We will find him. Just calm down first" Theo said.

"I am calm. I am calm, just find my dad. Right now" Emma said.

"Yeah. How about you take a seat and relax and I will just look into the matter" Theo said grabbing Emma's wrist. Emma winced in pain but pulled away her hand.

Theo left and returned after a few minutes.

"Where is he? Did you find him? Where was he?" Emma asked Theo but Theo just stared at her without speaking a word.

"Answer me, damn it" Emma shouted.

"He is not here" Theo finally answered.

"Where is he then?" Emma asked.

"Maybe he left," Theo said.

"Left? Where? He had an attack. How can he leave like that?" Emma said worryingly.

"I am sorry but he is not here. And he is not answering his cell phone" Theo said.

"Oh, dear god" Emma said while she looks around when she notices the cameras all around the hospital. "Cameras. I want to see the footage. It must have captured something"

"Yeah, you are right," Theo said.

Emma and Theo went to the security room and checked all the footage near Greg's room but they were left stunned when they discover that five minutes of footage was missing from the recordings of all the cameras.

"That is weird," Theo said in realization.

"Who did this?" Emma asked.

"It can be a malfunction," the security guard said.

"Really. All the cameras decided to malfunction together at the same time and far at the same time. Isn't it a little too convenient?" Emma mocked the security guard.

"Show me the last thing that useless box recorded," Emma said.

"That man looks weird. Isn't he? He seems to be hiding his face" Theo said.

Emma looks at the man Theo pointed to. He indeed seems secretive. Moreover, Emma felt something off looking at the man. His build was similar to Ricker and he was wearing a jacket similar to Ricker's.

"Ricker?" Emma whispered to herself but Theo heard her.

"That bastard was here. Did he take Mr. White?" Theo wondered.

"What?" Emma said in shock.

"That is a possibility. I think we should involve the police. Ricker has kidnapped Mr. White" Theo said.

Police arrived at the hospital after Theo called them. Emma sat on the chair and watched the footage, again and again, only to see the things she had seen multiple times. But somehow, she just could not digest it.

A female officer came close to Emma and sat beside her.

"Is it okay if I ask a few questions?" the officer asked.

"Yeah, sure," Emma said.

"You must be in stress," the officer said.

"Yes, I am but please feel free to ask anything. I want to find my father" Emma said.

"And we will. The moment we get our hands on Ricker Davidson" the officer said.

"You are targeting Ricker and not my father?" Emma asked.

"Yes, Mr. Theo was very specific in blaming Mr. Davidson for Mr. White's disappearance. Don't you follow the same faith as your husband?" the officer asked.

Emma looked at the officer and then at Theo, who was speaking with another officer at some distance. Theo and Emma's eyes met and Theo nodded to Emma.

"It can be one of the possibilities," Emma said.

"You don't sound so sure," the officer said.

"I just don't see Ricker acting in such a way," Emma said.

"What way?" the officer asked.

"Ricker is upfront. He is not sneaky. Barging in the hospital and taking my father away like that is a sneaky business and not Ricker's style at all" Emma said.

"How do you think he must have done it?" the officer asked.

"If he wanted to abduct my father then he would have openly broken into his room and taken him in front of everyone and left the cameras as it is for the world to see: Emma said.

"That is one brave man. How are you so sure he is not behind your father being missing?" the officer asked.

"I know Ricker. Something tells me, it's not him" Emma said.

"Then do you have any other suspects," the officer asked?

"My father has many enemies. I can't name anyone. I have to make a list" Emma said.

"And who earns the top name on the list," the officer asked.

"Ricker," Emma said.

"Ricker? The same brave Ricker" the officer said.

"Look. I don't know and maybe Theo is right. Please listen to him. I am not in the right state of mind" Emma said.

"But you said you know him," Officer said.

"I do," Emma said.

"So, tell me, is he dangerous?" Officer asked.

"Everyone knows that. Ricker Davidson is a very dangerous man" Emma said.

"But how dangerous? Can he hurt someone?" the officer asked.

"Yes," Emma answered.

"Is he capable of kidnapping?" the officer asked.

"He is capable of many things, much more than that" Emma said.

"Just to get an idea, do you think he can kill someone?" the officer asked.

Emma stared at the lady officer. She was asking too many uncomfortable questions and all about Ricker. Can he kill? Is he capable of killing? What kind of question was that? This was not any murder investigation, at least not yet.

"You did not answer me. Well, leave it. Maybe you will be willing to answer that question another day. Please keep my card. My name is Rita" the Lady officer said.

"Thank you, Officer Rita. I hope you will find my father very soon" Emma said.

"Sure. We will get in touch with you very soon" Officer Rita said.

Rita left but Rita's question haunted Emma. Can Ricker kill? She remembered when she wondered about it for the first time.

***** Flashback begins *****

***** One year earlier *****

"Hello, babe. Where are you? I have not been able to reach you" Lavinia said.

"Yeah, I have been busy. Sorry, I was not able to give you any time" Emma said.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I thought that your father captured you in his long castle and you might be waiting for your prince charming to come and save you" Lavinia said.

"You always portray my father as a villain," Emma said.

"Believe me, sometimes I think he might actually force you to marry Theo," Lavinia said.

"Your castle theory is far better. Another one is quite appalling" Emma said.

"Of course. It is original" Lavinia said slyly.

"I am sure, it is," Emma said.

"So, who are you waiting for?" Lavinia asked.

"No one," Emma said.

"Oh, Emma. Let your imagination run wild. Imagine you are a princess and you are captured by an evil king, your father in a long castle that has brick walls" Lavinia said.

"All the castle does," Emma said.

"Don't interrupt me" Lavinia snapped at Emma.

"Okay," Emma said.

"You are crying and sitting near the window," Lavinia said.

"Am I going to jump?" Emma asked.

"This is a love story, not a tragic one," Lavinia said.

"I think it will come as a great surprise if I jump

"No babe. You don't jump. You cry and call out for help and then your prince charming comes" Lavinia said.

"On a white horse?" Emma asked.

"Why would he come on a white horse? That is so tacky" Lavinia said.

"And my crying is not," Emma said.

"That is natural," Lavinia said.

"So, I am in a story and still, none of my fantasies will come true," Emma said.

"Your fantasy is to jump off the building?" Lavinia said.

"No, but from the castle!!!" Emma said.

"2008 Maybach Exelero. That's your prince charming's ride" Lavinia said.

"I know whose ride it is," Emma said.

"You do? How?" Lavinia asked.

Emma gave Lavinia a broad smile and Lavinia jumped to realization.

"You guys met!!! When? Where? What happen?" Lavinia asked in excitement like a three-year-old baby with her hands swinging in the air with excitement.

"We were in his car. He gave me a lift" Emma informed Lavinia.

"Really and?" Lavinia said.

"And what? I know his car because he gave me a lift" Emma said.

"Darling, if you wish to lie then stop ginning so hard. Your teeth will fall" Lavinia said.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Emma said and tried to put a straight face.

"Come on Emma. I am your best friend" Lavinia said.

"Look I don't kiss and tell," Emma said grabbing her hot cup of coffee from the table. Steam was coming out of the cup.

"You what? You kissed him" Lavinia squealed in excitement.

"No… he did," Emma said quickly and then realized that she might not have revealed everything to Lavinia. She won't let it go easily.

"You bitch. Why didn't you tell me?" Lavinia said.

"I am telling you now," Emma said.

"Why didn't you tell me at that moment?" Lavinia asked.

"Do you know how weird that would be?" Emma asked.

"It is called caring enough for your best friend," Lavinia said proudly.

"I am going to ignore and pretend I can't hear you," Emma said in disbelief. Emma grabbed placed her coffee cup on the table and picked up the newspaper to pretend to read in front of Lavinia but the news caught her attention. Lavinia saw Emma's worried expression and asked,

"What is wrong?"

"There was a murder near the place I met Ricker" Emma said.

"That is awful" Lavinia responded.

"No, listen. The man was murdered the same day only after an hour, I left that area" Emma said.

"Oh my god, good thing Ricker gave you a lift. Who was the man who died?" Lavinia asked.

"A homeless person is mentioned in this article. Here is his photograph" Emma pointed at the picture.

"Show me," Lavinia asked.

"I know him," Emma said looking at the picture carefully.

"What?" Lavinia said shockingly.

"He is the creepy homeless man who was following me that day. I can swear, he did not have good intentions at all" Emma said on remembering that night.

"And he got murdered? I think that's karma" Lavinia said. "How exactly did he die?" Lavinia asked.

"His throat was cut using a sharp object like a paper cutter," Emma said looking at the article.

"That is awful," Lavinia said. "Yeah. You know what, I think you should say thank you to Ricker"

"I will surely. He really saved me. But who might have killed him?" Emma wondered.

"Maybe it was Ricker," Lavinia said.

"Ricker! Why would you say that?' Emma asked.

"I don't know. He might have punished the man that tried to harm you" Lavinia said.

"You know if that man had not died, that would have been funny," Emma said.

"Whatever" Lavinia shrugged the matter away.

***** Flashback ends *****

"Darling, if you wish to lie then stop ginning so hard. Your teeth will fell" Lavinia said.

"I have no idea what you are talking about" Emma said and tried to put a straight face.

"Come on Emma. I am your best friend" Lavinia said.

"Look I don't kiss and tell" Emma said grabbing her hot cup of coffee from the table. Steam was coming out of the cup.

"You what? You kissed him" Lavinia squealed in excitement.

"No… he did" Emma said quickly and then realised that she might not have revealed everything to Lavinia. She won't let it go easily.

"You bitch. Why didn't you tell me?" Lavinia said.

"I am telling you now" Emma said.

"Why didn't you tell me at that moment?" Lavinia asked.

"Do you know how weird that would be?" Emma asked.

"It is called caring enough for your best friend" Lavinia said proudly.

"I am going to ignore and pretend I can't hear you" Emma said in disbelief. Emma grabbed placed her coffee cup on the table and picked up the newspaper to pretend reading in front of Lavinia but a news caught her attention. Lavinia saw Emma's worried expressions and asked,

"What is wrong?"

"There was a murder near the place I met Ricker" Emma said.

"That is awful" Lavinia responded.

"No, listen. The man was murdered the same day only after an hour, I left that area" Emma said.

"Oh my god, good thing Ricker gave you a lift. Who was the man who died?" Lavinia asked.

"A homeless person is mentioned in this article. Here is his photograph" Emma pointed at the picture.

"Show me" Lavinia asked.

"I know him" Emma said looking at the picture carefully.

"What?" Lavinia said shockingly.

"He is the creepy homeless man who was following me that day. I can swear, he did not have good intentions at all" Emma said on remembering that night.

"And he got murdered? I think that's karma" Lavinia said. "How exactly did he die?" Lavinia asked.

"His throat was cut using a sharp object like paper cutter" Emma said looking at the article.

"That is awful" Lavinia said. "Yeah. You know what, I think you should say thank you to Ricker"

"I will surely. He really saved me. But who might have killed him?" Emma wondered.

"Maybe it was Ricker" Lavinia said.

"Ricker! Why would you say that?' Emma asked.

"I don't know. He might have punished the man that tried to harm you" Lavinia said.

"You know if that man had not died, that would have been funny" Emma said.

"Whatever" Lavinia shrugged the matter away.

***** Flashback ends *****