Natalie had been overwhelmed when the pain had lifted and all she wanted to do was thank the man in front of her. Now under his spellbinding voice she heard the word ‘alone’ and shivered uncontrollably. She didn’t want to be alone. He was offering her something more. Her mind was locked into the hypnotic state as soon as he said the words heed the Messenger.
“I must heed the Messenger. You are my saviour.”
“If you wish to join me, tell me.” He waited. Her eyes had shown her panic when he had said the word 'alone'. He was offering her a chance to be cared for and he knew she would seize at the idea. The whole purpose of the last two days had been to separate her from her family and friends. The constant conditioning had set in and she truly felt all alone in the world.
Natalie had been so isolated, she really wasn’t aware of how long she had been there, but she had felt so bereft. No one wanted her, no one until now. The Messenger wanted her. All she had to do was tell him. She needed him. She had to be with him. “Please let me join you. I wish to belong. I don’t want to be alone.” She was almost begging, quivering with fear that he would turn her away. “I will do anything you ask.”
Mitch opened his arms. “Come to me, my dear. Come join my flock.”
In her confused state, Natalie was desperate for comfort. She entered his arms and felt cared for. The Messenger had accepted her. She would do anything for him.
“To show your true commitment to me, you must give yourself fully to me. Do you understand Natalie? I will give you sons and daughters so that you’ll never be alone again. Do you heed the Messenger?”
Natalie nodded. “Whatever the Messenger commands I obey. What do you ask of me?”
He led her to the bed and she stood in front of him. “Disrobe, Natalie, and give me all of you.”
Natalie undid her dress and dropped it to the floor. “I heed the Messenger. I am yours.”
A short time later, Mitch departed the room and the conditioning tape resumed. Mitch rejoined Alison and they monitored Natalie as Alison fed commands through the speakers. Under the drugs, Natalie performed every task as if of her own free will, unaware she was no more than a puppet. When Mitch was satisfied that she was fully under control, he set the next stage of his plan in motion. Alison sent for Melanie. After an in-depth discussion, Melanie left to carry out her orders.
After the Messenger departed, Natalie lay on the bed. All she could think of was the Messenger. He had told her she pleased him and would be rewarded. He had taken her pain and given her hope. As she lay there, the tape began playing and her eyes glazed over as she fell under its spell. Under the control of the voice, Natalie arose and took a shower, dressed and made her bed. She repeated these actions three times, completely believing each time was the first time. The final instructions were given to her and Natalie was ready. Natalie was waiting as instructed by the Messenger. She had been told she was going to be in charge of taking care of something precious belonging to the Messenger and she wanted the Messenger to be proud of her. Natalie looked up as Melanie entered the room. She saw the beautiful baby boy and thought the baby was Melanie’s. “The Messenger told me to wait for you. I’m to care for something of his. Do you know what he commands of me?”
The baby held out his hands and Natalie instinctively offered to take the boy. Melanie allowed her to take the child, then sat her down. “You must heed the Messenger. You are to care for this child during the day. His mother has died, and the Messenger feels you can give him the love he needs. This is the first child the Messenger promised you.”
Natalie was overwhelmed. The Messenger must truly care for her, to allow her to take care of this little one. “What is his name?”
“His name is Liam.”
Mitch was satisfied as he watched the encounter take place. The drugs had completely taken her memory. Natalie had no idea she was holding her own son. He had her under his control and now it was time to start shoring up his flock. He had given instructions to several of his disciples. The Messenger needed funds and rich young women were the easiest targets. Once he had a few of them under his control, they would help him pull in the rich older men.
Over the next four days, Natalie was bombarded with subliminal commands designed to reinforce her complete surrender to The Messenger. During the daytime hours, she took care of Liam and slowly was introduced to her role as a member of the flock. She had no past that she remembered and she now lived in the present created by Mitch. The only thing driving her was her need to Heed the Messenger and give him whatever he asked of her. Two drugs were still being administered to keep her compliant, and the third drug for fertility was added after her visit with Kipling. At night, Liam was taken to a separate nursery and as she had been instructed, Natalie eagerly accepted the Messenger to her bed in the hope of giving him a child. While everyone in Llanview still believed Natalie was in London, it thrilled Mitch to know that Natalie and her son now belonged to him. Soon, she would be with child, and his revenge on Victoria Lord and John McBain would be complete.
***
Vicki picked up a copy of The Sun. Todd’s relentless quest to oust the Mayor was gathering momentum. The front-page article was about a young co-ed from Llanview University who had disappeared seventy-two hours earlier. The young woman had gone on a date according to her sorority sisters but had failed to return. Vicki gasped when she read the name of the young woman. She was Charlie Briggs’ granddaughter. The police had questioned the young man who had taken her on the date. He informed the police that he had dropped her off in front of the sorority house right before midnight and hadn’t seen her since. No further inquiries had been made after that. It appeared the Mayor had ordered Bo and his men to let it go because it was probably just a young girl wanting some time alone. Todd had ripped into the Mayor, saying she didn’t want to waste the taxpayers' money because the young woman wasn’t a family member of one of her rich backers.
Vicki frowned, she would have to warn Todd to be careful. She knew he was upset because he had a warm spot for Briggs, but he had no proof of his accusations toward the Mayor. He was bordering on defamation of character and the Mayor might decide to sue. But that might be exactly what Todd was hoping for. Vicki was pretty sure Todd had something on the Mayor and he was just waiting for the right time to use it. Perhaps it was time to let him know her decision.
Clint walked into the kitchen and poured himself a coffee. “From your expression, I’m guessing Todd’s still after our good Mayor.”
“You know Todd, he’s got the bit in his teeth and he’s running with it, but this time I can’t blame him. The girl that’s missing is Charlie Briggs’ granddaughter.”
“That can‘t be good for Charlie, his health hasn’t been great for a number of years. When your brother hired him out from under The Banner, I admit to being mad; Charlie was the best editor we had. I have to say, he and Todd made a good team and taught me not to get too complacent.”
“Yes, well it worked out for all of us in the end. The competition was good for The Banner, and thanks to Todd’s offer, Charlie was able to put all of his girls through college. I can’t believe his granddaughter has disappeared. Charlie must be frantic. I know I would be if Bree ever dropped out of sight.”
“Speaking of dropping out of sight, have you heard any more from Natalie?”
“Nothing since the picture she sent me of Liam and her. I hate that we keep playing this phone tag. I’d love to hear her voice. They both looked happy and okay in the picture, but I wish they were home.”
Clint reached over and took her hand. “She’s only been gone a week, I’m sure she’ll be heading home soon. On another note, did you talk to Todd?”
“No, I was going to give him a call later. Right now, I guess I better get into The Banner and find out why my reporters got scooped again.”
***
Bo walked into his office and found the mayor waiting for him. She looked like she wanted to kill someone and if Bo had to take a guess, it was probably Todd Manning.
“That insufferable rapist publisher had the nerve to print that I don’t care about that missing girl. Where does he get off, coming across as the protector of people’s rights in this town? If I recall, he trampled all over people’s rights years ago,” she fumed.
“I believe he’s just concerned for the girl and her family. Briggs worked for Todd until he retired. Besides you did ask us to let the investigation go.” He didn’t like the mayor all that much and thought Todd had every right to show her shortcomings. “If you don’t like his spin on things, you know what you have to do.”
Mayor Finn had been walking a carefully designed path, she had secretly been skimming money from the city budget to help finance her campaign and it was all going to come to light if she couldn’t get Manning off her back. As she couldn’t return said money to the city, she would have to find a way to make it look like the budget still had plenty of money, but that she was just protecting the city by being frugal. “Very well, you can resume investigating the disappearance, but the city’s police department will no longer partake in the statewide search for the missing convicts. We’ve done our part letting the federal authorities know they were here, but they’ve left. It’s up to the state and federal people to take it from there. Do you understand Bo?”
He understood all too well. “Damn it, Kathleen, those prisoners could still be in the area.”
“Really Bo, there’s been no sign of any of them for months now. I’m not going to argue about this. No more manpower on the search for the escapees, but you can resume the search for the missing girl.” She walked out of his office before he could complain.
Bo stared after her as she left. The mayor must have a death wish. He was sure of it. Manning had already called her on the carpet for not searching hard enough for the escapees and now she was calling off the search altogether. Manning would surely go for the throat now. Bo shook his head and took the walk to John’s office.
“I’ve got bad news, John. I’ve been ordered to call off the search for the missing escapees.”
John had been looking out the window thinking about Natalie and turned at Bo’s words. “Are you kidding me?”
“I wish I were. The Mayor just left my office. Those are her orders. She got a bee in her bonnet because of Manning’s articles.”
“Well if the articles are bothering her, you would think she’d be going overboard to make sure both things were covered. I don’t get it. Since when has the budget gotten so tight? Maybe Manning’s onto something. You know he’s gonna blow a gasket when he finds out.”
“You could be right, but for now we do as she tells us. I want you to start looking into the missing girl. Hopefully, Manning won’t find out about the other.”
“Bo, you know as well as I, that Todd is close to the edge about those escapees and you know why. This could push him over.”
“I’m going to keep my fingers crossed, that Blair or Vicki can keep him from doing anything stupid. You might want to alert them, so they’ll be prepared for the fallout. By the way, have you heard anything from Natalie?”
“Just text messages and a picture. Have you by any chance talked to Rex?”
“No, I thought for sure Rex would call me by now. I’m just wondering about Roxy.”
“I can’t get a date from Natalie telling me when she’s headed home. I don’t suppose you could give me Rex’s number?”
“Better yet, I’ll give him a call right now. Hold on.” Bo made the call as John looked on. “Hey Rex, how are things going in London?”
“Bo, nice to hear from you. Things here are terrific, Shane’s really thriving here.”
“That’s great. Listen I called to ask about Roxy. I heard she wasn’t doing so well.”
“I don’t know where you got that, Roxy’s fine. Who did you hear that from?”
“Natalie told me when she called to ask for a leave to go see you? Put her on and we can get this straightened out.”
“Bo, Natalie isn’t here. I don’t understand what’s going on, but Roxy is fine, and I haven’t seen Natalie since I left Llanview.”
Bo looked at John. “Rex, I’m going to put the phone on speaker....You’re telling me you haven’t seen your sister at all in the last week.”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. What do you mean the last week? Are you saying Natalie is supposed to have been here for a whole week? Bo, I don’t like this. The last time I talked to Natalie, she was living at Vicki’s because Mitch Laurence was still alive. I thought she was home safe and sound. Bo, where’s Natalie?”
“I wish I knew Rex. We were all under the impression that Natalie was in London with you. Look, I’m going to find out what’s going on. I’ll keep in touch.” Bo hung up. “You heard. Natalie isn’t in London with Rex. I don’t like this. John, you say all you’ve had were text messages. Do you still have them?”
John handed Bo his phone. His thoughts were all over the place. He had known something was off. It wasn't like Natalie not to talk to him.
“Where the hell is Natalie?” Todd said, having stopped in to see if there was any more news on Mitch and Kipling. He couldn’t believe what he had just overheard. Bo just said Natalie wasn’t in London.
Bo and John were startled to see Todd standing in the doorway. Bo replied, “That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
“Vicki said she was in London for some conference. Why don’t you just contact the conference?” asked Todd, getting a little uneasy. God, if something happened to Natalie. He saw a look pass between John and Bo. “There is no conference is there?” In his gut, he knew who had Natalie. Why hadn’t he guessed it when the girl turned up missing?
“Todd, we’re not sure. Natalie told us she was going to see Rex. You say, she told Vicki about a conference. We need to find out why the stories differ,” replied Bo, trying to keep a lid on his emotions. He was worried sick and he knew John must be, too.
“I can tell you why they differ. They differ because he wants you to think she‘s in London, I’m betting you’re going to find her car at the airport and that she and Liam boarded a plane. Don’t you see? He’s got her. I’ll bet ten to one he’s also responsible for Briggs’ granddaughter’s disappearance.”
Just then Fish stuck his head in the door. “Commissioner, we’ve got another one.”
Bo looked over at his officer.”What do you mean, Fish?”
“We’ve got another missing girl.”
.
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