"I'm tracing you now," Tallguy/Mark replied without hesitation. "Just be patient. Do you know were you are?"
"No clue," I replied. "Some guy's house. He's been treating me like his pet doll."
"Holy shit," said JSL, interrupting my thoughts, "this is the best RP I've ever seen!"
"It's not RP, you bonehead," replied Talon. "Can't you tell? This is for real!"
"Shut up, you two," said Mark. "Can't you see we're busy here? Come on, Ashley, we have to go to a private room."
"Sorry, guys," I said as I followed Tallguy's avatar upstairs. Talon actually tagged along, somewhat hopefully I imagine, but he didn't try to sneak through the privacy door or anything like that.
Once the room was secure, Mark started talking more freely, but like a true professional, he stuck with my original alias, not my real name. "Okay, Ashley, I've got the trace," he said. "I know exactly where you are."
"Good," I replied. "Wait. Have you talked to the casino since I disappeared?"
"No," he answered. "Not once. I was afraid they'd think I did it, and come after me. You know I couldn't afford any kind of DNA tests or anything. It would identify me, and that might blow everything!"
"They weren't involved," I said. "It's an unconnected op."
"I know," said Mark. "I'll tell you why I know once you're back. Even so, the casino covered up your disappearance pretty carefully."
"I thought so," I replied. I wanted to explain how I knew that, and tell Mark a lot more as well, but I just couldn't type fast enough at my size.
"I've been watching, though. They have several private investigators trying to find out what happened to you. No one found anything. It was like you just got swallowed up into the city."
"Well," I replied, "don't get involved. I'm going back to the casino."
"You're kidding me!" he blurted.
"No, I have to go," I said plainly. "They need to know I'm okay. If my theory's correct, it'll make me even more likely to get taken for real."
"So what does that have to do with me?"
"They need to think I'm all alone now," I replied.
"I think I understand," he said after a moment. "We'll talk about this more later, but for now, I'm sending the police."
"Wait!" I typed quickly. "Not the police!"
"What? Who, then?"
"The casino. Call them anonymously, and tell them you know I'm here. If they have links with the cops, they'll send their own people, and we can start tracing them." Damn, it was tiring typing that much when you have to do it while only ten inches high!
"Gotcha. Okay, I'm leaving now, but stay put and pretend like you don't know anything. I'll see you soon, all right?"
"Yes," I replied. "As long as I'm anywhere but here."
Tallguy winked out of existence, and I was about to do the same, then remembered Talon. I left the private room and found him waiting just outside the door.
"Hey," he said to me. "Are you all right?"
"I will be," I replied. "Listen, thanks for helping call my friend. I'll be safe soon enough."
"Well, I didn't really do anything," he protested. "I just called the number he gave me. Look, are you a cop or something?"
"No," I replied honestly, glad he'd phrased his question so I didn't have to lie to him. "Just a casino girl who got kidnapped. I owe you one, Tal. See you later." Then I disengaged the connection.
I turned off the computer then and went back over to my desk. Rescue was certain now, but I still had some waiting to do. What do you do while you await your saviors? For me, I simply paced around, looking at the prison Irwin had worked so hard to create for me, and thinking about how glad I'd be to get away from it.
In due course, I heard sirens approaching in the distance. Were those idiots really going to show up with all that noise? I guess so, because after a moment they pulled up out front, their horns wailing obnoxiously until someone finally got a clue and shut them off.
I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and turned to see Irwin, dressed in a pair of pajamas and a bathrobe. He rushed over to me, eyes wide and pleading. It was obvious he knew why they were here. "Ashley!" he yelled. "Please don't let them take me away from you!"
God, he was pathetic, I thought. What had happened in this man's life that had turned him into such a person? "I'm sorry, Irwin," I told him. "I'm really sorry."
The funny thing was, it was true. Deep down inside, I really did feel sorry for Irwin Stephenson. Not because I'd called for help, though, but because of the person he was. All he really wanted was love--he just wanted the kind I couldn't give him.
"Please," he begged, actually getting down on his knees in front of the desk I was standing on. "Please, Ashley. I love you. I'll always love you. Just tell me you love me! Please!"
"I'm sorry," I replied, my eyes downcast. "I can't, Irwin. I just can't. Please understand that. I'll never be able to love you."
He didn't reply, but the look on his face was that of a man who's soul had been crushed. Eyes rimmed with tears, he turned and ran away, back up the stairs, emitting a pathetic wailing as he fled from my presence. Something inside me tugged at me to follow, but I couldn't. Not just because I was too small to get down on the floor quickly, either. I just didn't want to be near him right now.
Perhaps something inside me told me what was going to happen next. Certainly I suspected it, but even if it had been at the forefront of my mind, there wouldn't have been anything I could have done.
I heard Irwin's feet running down the hall upstairs, towards his room. Then there was a smashing sound as the front door burst open. Loud voices began to call out for me and for anyone inside to surrender. Tromping, booted feet raced around above, and then, I heard the thunder of a single gunshot.
Instinctively, I knew what had happened.
Irwin had killed himself!