Chapter 7

James

After an hour of skipping and punching next on my laptop I had almost missed the date in question and smirked as I watched the proof that I needed in front of me. Esther Hernandez was a filthy rich liar and the proof was all too clear to miss. I smiled at the discovery as I paused the footage. I hit myself in the head because I had skimmed through the report and it was too obvious. The clues were all there and I was ignoring them. 

She was jealous or embarrassed when Elijah broke things off with her. She was too proud to accept he had moved on. How do I always miss the answer when it’s always in front of me? James Miller Pega sometimes you can be so dull but right now you are one clever detective. The town will be talking about this for a few weeks. I laughed, shaking my head as I pressed the mouse to drag back on the footage and watched it again.

It was like watching a crime series but this time it featured three people, Elijah the victim. Esther, as the puppet and mommy dearest as the mastermind. I shook my head as I paused the footage at the two hooded criminals. The breakup recording was too perfect. She had practiced the whole thing word for word. She was a perfect actress. I should have seen how she was calm and never skipped a beat when I was interrogating her. 

Poor Elijah had the same confused look on his face on the video as when he was brought in cuffs. They had planned the whole thing like Elijah had said, not like what that choreographed statement they tried to make me believe. They made it look like Elijah was the jealous one and was out to get her because she broke things off and him moving on was an act to make her jealous. They were covering their tracks and almost succeeded. I bet on the R400 in my wallet that they even paid the store manager to destroy the footage of him working that night.

I pressed play and watched mother and daughter in action as Esther hit Elijah on the head enough with a crowbar to knock him and they dragged him in her car. Whoever decided to install these expensive cameras at Parker & Associates made a good choice. The footage is as clear as day and there is no denying their faces. This was better than the TV show I have watched. Too bad they chose crime because their polished statements and well-thought video would have made them go far in the film industry. I would have paid to watch this shit on the big screen and my laptop was not sufficient enough for the cause.

I had cracked the case wide open and the satisfaction I had of walking into Romans’ office bright and early was enough to stop me from calling him this late. I managed to call the station and made sure Elijah was moved from the cells to one of the offices with a mattress and blanket. I was glad to hear Sasha was on duty and she arranged a warm meal for him. 

He had been held up in the cells for four days. Tomorrow was Wednesday and I had a day and a half to spare. I was going to gloat about this case to Nigel when he gets back because we made a bet with him thinking I wouldn't solve this case in time. I smirked, feeling satisfied as I carefully took the flash drive off and decided to make a copy on my laptop before letting it load on my iCloud Drive. 

I yawned after the upload was done. I sure owed Miss Parker for her help and as soon as the arrests are made tomorrow, I’m going back. That Nick guy better stuff it where the sun doesn’t shine because I gave zero shits if he was the owner of the building as he had pompously stated while I was waiting for the drive to copy.

If I happen to see him tomorrow I will pat him on the shoulder of his expensive suit for installing that magnificent surveillance. His surveillance as he called it helped me solve my case after all. I can’t wait to see his blood boil again and Miss Parker insisting on giving me the flash was a bonus because it pissed him off. She caught me off guard this afternoon but tomorrow, I will be forming words and finally ask her for her name and hopefully get her number.

 Kioni

When I walked back Nick received a call and walked to the bar and disappeared through some door. I waited for him to get back so I could tell him that I was leaving. I had a migraine. I checked the phone pressing the home button for the second time hoping to see if there was a notification but there was nothing. I was really getting worried about them and maybe that’s why the headache was strong.

I rubbed my scar as I felt the pain come from my scar. The scar looked like a blob of paint was plastered on the right side of my forehead. I shakingly fixed my hair hiding away the scar under my curls as I felt like a pressure cooker was ready to explode from my skull. I should have concealed the damn thing, maybe that man wouldn’t have been so horrified. I closed my eyes taking deep breaths by massaging the sides of my skull. Nick was taking too long. I opened my eyes which felt heavy and something happened.

It was as if the restaurant had shifted into one empty hall and I was looking at the same image as the one I saw a few minutes ago. He was talking to me but in the body of someone smaller. His face was in the body of a smaller boy who was looking at me with the same scrutinizing face before words came out of his mouth.

“What happened?”

I remembered those words when we were playing cartwheel and I had put pressure on my arm before I fell screaming in pain. I had dislocated my arm and It hurt. I snapped my eyes open just as quickly as I stood up. I ignored the buzzing in my ear hearing the restaurant chatter come back.

“ADAM?” I spoke in panic.

I made myself run after him. I blinked away the tears as I pushed my way out of the restaurant in search of my brother. The more I ran the worse I felt because the buzzing in my head was worse and the eyes were hazy with tears that refused to cooperate as they streamed on my cheeks. 

I didn’t know which direction I was running. It felt like I was running in circles and hated the bright lights that were closing in on me.  My wobbly legs kept moving. I needed to see him again. I would never mistake that face. Adam was my brother. The question was why would he just disappear like that? He walked away and left me.

 Nick

“Father, I understand your concern, but I have the business under control. I might not be in the office all the time, but it doesn’t mean I’m not doing the work,” I spoke over the phone.

“You need to show your face and show leadership if you want the board to take you seriously Nicholas,” It was an order, not a statement.

“I will show face on Thursday at the function father,”

“You know what is expected of you and I expect nothing less. Is that clear?”

“I do have a date, father. I’m not a child,” I answered looking back at the table and noticed the table was empty.

“I will stop the moment you act like an adult who is in line to run a multi-billionaire company,” I rolled my eyes moving further and noticed Ki running out of the restaurant.

“I will call you back,” I dropped the call and pocketed it quickly pushing the door.

I will deal with my father shouting at me for being disrespectful later. Right now, my focus was on her, so I followed her out before shouting at one of the waiters to take her things to the office. I could see her figure as she ran without a care of where she was bumping or going. She was running like someone who has had too many drinks. I had no idea how she moved that fast considering the shoes that were on her feet. I ran with longer strides starting to see her clearly. She was shouting or sobbing. I couldn’t tell. It was muffled until I was closer to her.

“Come back, please,” she made a desperate cry.

Who was she talking to?

“Ki?” I shouted, “Please stop?”

“COME BACK,” her voice shouted louder, making people look at her.

“Ki?” I shouted louder. She was not hearing me, and she was running into traffic now.

“Someone please stop her,” I shouted with panic.

People had decided to give her space and were too far apart from her after her last shouts. She was looking like a delusional woman and people decided to let her be. I looked at the robot, it was amber almost going green and I could see and hear there was a car that was drawing closer. I have never experienced something like this in my life because adrenaline coursed in me and I ran like it was the last thing I would do.

She stopped and I should have been glad, but she was standing in the middle of the road at an intersection and I felt everything in me tighten. She was standing shouting the same words as if she was on a loop going around in circles. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was twisting her left wrist with her right arm shouting as if lost in her own head. I was calling her name, but she kept looping in circles. I heard the car screech in front of her ready for impact, but it stopped a few inches because I had managed to wave the car to stop before impact.

I moved to try and grab her away from the street, but she couldn’t hear me until I shook her a few times before she stopped looking at me like she was projecting a lot of things before she moved to look at me with tired eyes. I shook her once more trying to get the zombie mode face she had before she looked at me. Her eyes were wet with tears flowing to her cheeks.

“You came back for me,” she gave me a weak smile, “Daddy said he will make me a special bracelet if I stay strong. Will you hold my hand, so I don’t cry?” she whispered.

I watched her body lose its weight and I moved to catch her before she fell to the ground. Her body was heating up and I moved my hands to her face brushing the curls that covered her face making a clear way for me to see her face.

“SOMEONE CALL A FUCKING AMBULANCE,” I roared looking at her unresponsive body.

I didn’t care that we were holding traffic. Cars I didn’t notice earlier were starting to line up with some honking from a distance. I didn’t care as I sat in traffic looking at her running my hands on her. I noticed she was sweating so I moved her curls back further before I noticed the huge scar that was hiding underneath. I never noticed the scar before and when she wore her hair up, she always hid it well. I could hear the siren from a distance and was glad someone decided to call for help.

“Stay with me. Help is on the way,” I kissed her temple before rocking her body while holding her tighter with my trembling hands.