Evidence

Ash felt like an empty shell as he lay on the hospital bed. He couldn't work or actively take part in the search for Skye, he felt utterly useless.

His parents tried to cheer him up on their visits but without any positive news on Skye's whereabouts, nothing could lift his mood.

"Mr. Ash." 

Ash was so lost in thoughts that he didn't notice two police officers walk into his hospital room. "Yes, that's me."

The policemen walked up to him and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. We can here to ask you questions concerning your recent accident."

Ash led them to the table so they could talk more comfortably. He was eager to know whether they had any breakthrough concerning the case.

"The police force did a thorough search on the property after the accident. Most of your men were injured with some dead but the crime scene was neat and minimal evidence was left behind. The men who did it were skilled and careful.

They used the rain and power outage as cover to sneak into the house unnoticed hence the difficulty in tracking them. However, we have forensics that are trying to retrieve the deleted CCTV footage from the night." One of the policemen said.

Ash clenched his fists out of frustration. They didn't give him the news he wanted to hear, instead, all he was told was the lack of any leads they had on the case.

"How about the Lanes, I asked for them to be looked into because of their recent altercation with Skye. Have you made any progress on that?" Ash asked.

"We tried looking into them but without solid evidence of their motive to harm her, there's not much we can do." The other officer said.

Ash stood up and went to his drawer. He pulled out the necklace Skye had on the night of the party, the necklace that recorded her argument with Theo. "I had my assistant retrieve this from my house... It has a recording of Theo Lane threatening Skye. This should be enough proof for a motive, right?" he passed the necklace to them.

The plan he had with Skye was not to release the recording so soon but with her life on the line and the police not having any substantial need he had no choice. Her life was more important than a plan for revenge.

They played the recording and listened to the confrontation Skye and Theo had.

"This is more than enough to add him to the suspect pool list and call him in for an investigation. It's not much but it's a great start. But there's something you should note, for the safety of Skye, we can't alert them by directly calling Theo to the police station, it could jeopardize everything so for now we're going to watch him closely to see if he gives away where they're holding her captive."

Although he wanted Theo to get arrested as soon as possible, Ash still wanted to make sure Skye's safety was the top priority even if it meant delaying the process a bit.

Ash couldn't wrap his head around how someone managed to get the best of him. The Walters were supposed to be one of the most influential families in the country and yet someone like Theo Lane was able to get into his home, attack him, and kidnap Skye.

It frustrated him to the core.

"And how about the CCTV footage, how long until it can be recovered?" Ash asked.

"Within the next forty-eight hours. We have experts working on it so it will be quick."

The men spoke some more on the plan to catch Theo off guard before arresting him officially and they left afterward.

Now that he was left alone, Ash went straight to work.

"Boss." Ash's assistant replied from the other end of the phone.

"Send me every detail of what I missed at work via e-mail. I'll be returning to the office tomorrow."

"But, sir, your father ordered me to make sure you stay away from all work-related matters until your recovery-"

"Who do you work for, me or my father?"

"You, sir. I'll send them right away."

"Good. Also, I'll need a suit first thing in the morning."

"Yes, sir."

Ash knew going against his father would have consequences but he just couldn't let himself sit back and let other people take the lead on finding Skye. He had to do something, no matter how small.

He got straight to work once his assistant sent him the e-mails. There was so much he missed in the last week and although his father was handling things in his stead, there was still so much he had to do.

Ash stayed up all night making calls, filling out forms, and doing the things he missed. He wanted everything to be perfect before his return the next day.

Before he knew it, the sun had risen and the nurse came into the room to administer his medicine.

By the time Ash was out of the shower, his assistant was there with a change of clothes for him.

"What's my schedule for the day?" Ash asked as he put on his suit.

"You have a meeting with the board of directors and a potential investor this noon," Dean replied.

"Is that all? My day is usually fully packed so what went wrong?"

"Well, it's your first day back, and considering your health, I figured it's best if you don't push yourself past your limits."

Ash kept quiet, he saw no point in arguing about how packed his day should have been. He was well aware of his poor health and didn't want to push his body too hard.