Caught In Deception

The Price family multi-billion dollar company was under threat! The board of directors, CEO Gary Price scrambled to keep the stocks from falling like raindrops out of the sky! Price Incorporated gave it their all to stop the media from airing the murder of one of their well-known Price Inc. Employees!  But, to no avail, the story about the Billionaire entity was too big, and no amount of money they could offer the media was enough to keep the tragic news off the air!  The Price Family sat in front of the television, with their money rendering them helpless in this situation as they painfully watched the news like the rest of Californians around 6 pm as the news flashed. Special Report scrolled across millions of television screens. The media picked a primetime slot when families gather together for their evening meal hurriedly to sit in front of their televisions, turning up the volume.  Passengers in the city at the busiest Airports, train stations, crowds stop to listen. Everything seemed to have come to a screeching halt! When all the regular scheduled television programs on all the stations are interrupted. As the words slowly crawled across the screen!   News Flash – Special Report!   News Flash - Special Report!   News Flash - Special Report!   Breaking news about the well-known employee Alwin Holland Hunter of the Billionaire company, Price Inc., Who died in a mysterious car explosion. His assailant has been arrested on the charges of abduction and first-degree murder!   He's also been charged with holding hostage the Billionaire's wife of Price Inc.  Several people are being questioned about these allegedly gruesome crimes at the company, but no one has been charged. The police found the Billionaire's beautiful wife, who was being held hostage, out in the countryside for several months. She had been allegedly drugged and assaulted for an undisclosed amount of time by her abductor.  She was very disoriented and had difficulty answering any of the police questions at this time. She was rushed to the hospital for treatment.  That's all the information we have at this time.  We will have further updates on this tragic story as it continues to develop!  Now we'll return to the regularly scheduled program!   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several Months Earlier: Shayla woke up startled. She tried to move but couldn't. So she laid there rigidly, sweating, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling as the patterns of shadow dance back and forth from the wind blowing the trees.  Her heart pounded.  For a few moments more, she laid there, the terror holding onto her. It was the same as the night before. No violence. No blood. Just another enactment of the actual moment of death, her death. It was creepy and horrifying to see herself that way.  She laid there trembling, forcing herself to breathe deeply.  "It's just a dream."  Tears and severe pain ensnared her body, thinking about all she's been through and what has happened in her life.  "I won't die that way."  Shayla eventually untwisted her body from the coverlet. She turned on her side and checked her phone. There were only twenty minutes to get dressed and head to work.  She went downstairs, tip-toeing across the cold kitchen floor to pour herself a glass of water. Then, still half asleep, she reached inside the already opened cabinet, taking out a drinking glass before she paused and thought, 'Did I leave the cabinet open last night?'  Shaking the sleep away, she answered aloud, "I had to. I'm the only one living here." There were still rooms filled with boxes that needed to be unpacked. Shayla's goal was to organize a room in the evenings when she got home from work.  "What am I doing?" she asked, swallowing the last of her water before she hurriedly got dressed for work. When she got in her car, she hesitated to start it up. The dreams she had were starting to encroach on her will and desire to drive. "Maybe I'll catch the bus to work."  But then she looked at the time. She would be extremely late if she tried to catch the bus today. And she can't afford a penny docked from her salary. Shayla squeezed her eyes shut, "It was just a stupid dream. You'll be alright."  She started the engine.  Shayla told herself that she had been driving since she was sixteen, and not once has she had an accident.  'I can't let dreams stop me from driving. I got to be strong.' So Shayla thought, then she drove away.   ~~~~~~   Late that evening, as the sun was about to set, Shayla lay on the sofa exhausted after being on her feet at work all day. She was drifting off to sleep when a noise awakened her. Shayla sat up. Her nerves were tense as she strained to listen. A few moments passed, and she heard no new sounds.  Probably the refrigerator, she decided. It could be noisy, especially when the house was quiet. Now that she was wide awake, she went to double-check the doors and windows. She moved cautiously through the house, checking each door and window. Everything was secure.  Rubbing her arms, she turned up the heat. The fall season was on its way out, and winter was fast approaching.  Shayla looked outside her window down at the beach for a minute, mesmerized by the water's activity.  The boom of the waves rising and washing up against the shore was loud in the stillness of the evening. The crashing waves echoed, then fell back to silence.  Above, the clouds were thin and sparse. Their constant moving only allowed glimpses of the moon to appear. Other people, different people, might take pleasure in night sky gazing.  'Look, the moon. It's beautiful,' they'd say. But not Shayla, not anymore. It reminded her of being in the dark alone.  She scanned over the beach once more before the night took it away. No one for weeks had been out walking along the sand since it's gotten colder outside. But in her scanning, her eyes landed on a set of fresh footsteps along the beach. Her eyes follow the footsteps that were leading to her home. She quickly closed the blinds as her heart skipped a beat. She braced herself against the wall. Her nerves rattled as she tried to catch her breath. Strange things have been happening that month, two things, in particular, stood out the most.  One morning she opened the door on her way to work, and before she could cross the door seal, she found a beautifully wrapped box on her doorstep. Inside the box were six long stem yellow roses. There was no card attached to it, but it shook her to the core. She instantly felt weak and began to shiver while haunted memories came tumbling through her mind.  "Why is this at my door?" Shayla asked. She was new to the area, so who would send her roses that are her favorite color, rose.  After recalling those recent incidents, she thought if she received a good night's rest, she'd feel calmer in the morning. So she went upstairs to her bedroom, locked the door, and climbed into bed.  When morning appeared, she did feel a lot better until she went to work that day.  While on her lunch break, a delivery came to her boss's office.  Shayla is asked to come to the office. When she arrived, she complimented her boss on the beautiful arrangement of the Bird Of Paradise flowers.  Her boss replied to her, "I'm glad you like them because they're not for me, but you."  Shayla was shocked as her heart began to beat rapidly, "For me? Why?" "I think your husband or boyfriend is romantic. Here, take your beautiful flowers and bring them to your station. You're such a fortunate girl. It's been ages since a man did something so romantic for me," Ms. Patsy said, smiling and handing the flowers to Shayla as her hands trembled.  "Don't drop them. You really are surprised," Ms. Patsy remarks. "Oh, Thank you. I have a hold on the vase," Shayla said, barely holding onto the vase as she walked out of her boss's office with the arrangement. She made it a few steps before she saw a note attached. The minute she got to her station she opened the envelope and read the card.  "You're MY wife."   Shayla knew at that moment, without a doubt, someone was watching her every move. But Why? Could it be her husband? Or was it someone else trying to drive her insane?