Girls Best Friend: Part 4

Millie sat at her kitchen table, with a steaming hot cup of tea and a slice of her favourite lemon and poppy seed cake, Elvis looked up at her in the hopes that she might share it but Millie never shared cake. She looked down at Elvis and said 'Elvis, darling boy, we are going on an adventure on Saturday, a race against time too, it will be just like that film....the amazing race..and if we win Elvis, if we win...we can move somewhere with a garden for you and a bay window for me...and we can...we can...' Millie trailed off. Elvis changed position and laid across Millie's feet as she fell asleep at the table.


Millie had the weirdest of dreams, a dream that ended with her free-falling out of an upside down umbrella into chocolate pudding and marshmallows, even though the landing was soft, she still woke with a start. As she sat up she felt a sharp pain in her neck and began to slowly massage it. Her bum was numb, her mouth was dry, and she seemed to have accumulated a lot of sleep in her eyes. It was one of those things that Millie considered almost daily; What is that substance called sleep that gathers in the inner corner of your eye? If it comes from your eye then why not all the time? Why some days and not others? What job does it do? As she sat there rubbing her neck and pondering the life cycle of eye residue, she glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall, Millie had half expected it to say she was running late but she had woken up quite early. She dragged herself up out of the chair and as the blood returned to her bum and nether regions she wiggled her way to take a shower.

Millie always had music blasting through the flat when she took a shower, she couldn’t really hear it but that never stopped her from trying to, she spent a long time in there going through what had happened the night before and wondering what it would be like at work, maybe it had all been a dream. She was checking her face out in the mirror, it was still there and not too wrinkly, when she heard a crash coming from the kitchen. She shouted out ‘Elvis! Elvis! What are you doing? Ok, I’m coming’. Elvis tended to get impatient of waiting for Millie to make his breakfast and had a habit of going through the rubbish which more often than not led to things crashing down on top of him. When she entered the kitchen she half expected to see him with a banana peel slung over his head but instead he was lying asleep in his bed. Its alright for some, Millie thought, I wish I could have a lie in.

***

Millie was surprised when she arrived at work and found the car park virtually empty, as she pulled into her favourite space, she knew she would have to act as if she didn’t know anything had happened. Realistically, she doubted anyone would even ask and as she entered the foyer, Denise from Marketing came walking straight towards her. Millie had no escape as she had been spotted instantly and stopped and she waited for Denise to reach her. It wasn't until Denise was face to face with Millie that Millie noticed that her eyes were red and she looked as if she had been crying. She was about to ask Denise if she was ok when Denise began to speak, and in a hurried yet fragile tone she said,
‘Its Mr Rob, he was kidnapped last night. Apparently, he was working late when some men turned up and attacked Eddie the security guard – he’s in hospital but they said he would be ok – and everyone is really worried about him. The police haven’t heard anything yet but they think that someone else was here because there was an anonymous phone call made. They said the person most likely saved Eddie’s life. Its been decided that the office will be closed for the day whilst the forensic evidence is collected from upstairs.’
Millie just stared straight at and through Denise, she kept focussed, she did not want to give away any hint that she might have already known about it or that she was the anonymous caller. She was glad that the security guard was going to be ok. Millie spoke, ‘So, shall I just go home then?’. Denise looked at her incredulously, ‘Of course Millie, for gods sake go home! Its not like you knew the man, you're only a temp, and you wouldn't be able to help. You would be in the way, so…yes…just go’
‘OK, if you’re sure?’
‘Of course I’m sure…it would be different if you had been here and seen anything, Mr Roberts is going on the local news later to offer a reward to anyone with information.’
‘Maybe there wasn't anyone here?’
‘The police said that they believed that there was someone and that the person might be in some danger, you should just be glad it wasn't you Millie. How helpless would you be? hahaha’ Denise carried on giggling to herself as she wandered off leaving Millie standing alone in the foyer.
Millie turned abruptly and headed back out to her car. She sat in the drivers seat thinking about whether or not she should carry on with this ‘adventure’ after all, but she remembered how alive she had felt last night, and she wanted to feel that way again. So she set her mind to it and went into town to pick up some last minute things for her holiday.

***

Millie had gotten a little carried away with the last minute shopping, she had bought enough things for a six week holiday not ten days, and she nearly broke her wrist trying to hold all the bags as she struggled to open the front door. As she pushed the door open, she gasped and dropped her bags, someone had been in her flat and it had been completely ransacked.
Millie took a quick look around to see if anything had been taken. All of her electrical goods (including her new iPad) were still there, her emergency cash was also still there, and she checked the jewellery in her bedroom and that was still there. Why would someone break in and not steal anything? Unless…they were looking for something. That's when it dawned on her and she remembered what Denise from marketing had said about the police thinking the witness to the kidnapping could be in danger. Millie had left after the kidnappers, so how would they know who she was or where she lived or that she was even there. She hadn’t paid that much attention to the traffic or to see if she had been followed and maybe she had.
Millie went into the hall and it was then that she noticed the broken vase that had been kicked into the corner and remembered the crash she had heard that morning. Fear gripped her and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, maybe she should go to the police and tell them everything that she knew, but she was leaving the country soon and the kidnappers wouldn’t know that, so she would be safe. She closed the front door and took her coat off, pushed up her sleeves and started to tidy up the flat. It didn't take her as long as she thought it would, she stood rather proudly in the living room, hands on hips, surveying her work. It was at that moment that she glanced at the cabinet and noticed that the silver christening birth certificate holder, where she had stashed the map & instructions, was gone. Bugger! she thought, and started rummaging around undoing her tidying up, in search of it. It meant that the kidnappers had her map and instructions. She tried to remember what they were and jotted them down again…what was the name of that company where the key was hidden? Maybe she would remember later.
‘Damn it Elvis, I have really got myself in a mess this time’ Millie said. ‘Why couldn’t I just mind my own business?’ She went into the kitchen, flicked on the switch to the kettle, sliced herself a large piece of vanilla cheesecake and plonked herself down at the table whilst she waited for the kettle to boil.
‘And another thing Elvis…’ she said…’Another thing is, i was actually looking forward to just getting away for a bit, weren't you?’ she asked the dog. ‘Elvis…’ she looked under the table and Elvis wasn’t there. ‘Elvis..’ she called out…’E-L-VIS!… Elvis!…elvis…elvis..ELVIS!’ she kept calling him but he wasn’t there…where the hell was he…’ELVIS!’ Millie was panicking as tears filled her eyes and cheesecake filled her mouth, ‘what am i gonna do without Elvis’ she sobbed. The kettle clicked and she got up to make the tea, she opened the tea caddy and inside was a note…’Millie, please help me! I have your dog. I will keep him safe but do as they say’. It was signed Mr.Rob.