Chapter 16 The Grand Meridian
Ariel
I didn't check the message until I found a place to be alone for obvious reasons and that place just so happened to be an empty stall in the restroom, which I locked myself in before bringing out the burner.
I tapped on the message and read it immediately.
“Come to The Grand Meridian at 415 Westbrook Avenue by 9 pm today.”
"The Grand Meridian?" Where was that? A place? Of course it was a place but was it like a park, a building or... you know what...
I took out my phone to check for the place online and almost immediately, the search results popped up. It was a bunch of articles.
The Grand Meridian Project nears completion. Opening date yet to be announced.
Russo Holdings Announces $200M Luxury Hotel Project: The Grand Meridian.
Exclusive Developments and Quiet Investors: The Mystery Behind the Grand Meridian
Huh? I clicked on the first article.
The Grand Meridian project. Russo Holdings. What was all this?
I read through the first few paragraphs and paused. Okay so it's a big project by an apparently big company that rakes in millions of dollars, if not billions, but if according to the article, it has not been completed or even opened to the public, why have these guys asked me to meet them? And at night.
I felt myself start panicking again.
Would they require me to do something criminal... Apart from the already criminal act of killing a person?
Or oh my God, are they planning to kill me? Maybe they found out that I met with the cops and think I ratted them out.
The thought made me shut off my phone and pace around in the small space. Then I walked out of the stall and moved to the sink to splash some water on my face.
And it's not like I could decide just to not go or just disappear. I had a lot at stake and those guys didn't seem like the type to let rebellion go.
I do have quite some questions too, so I guess we're going to the Great Meridian.
Later that day, around 5pm, after Kevin and Mike, two of my security details, dropped me back home, I was carrying out one of the coping mechanisms I had come up with to live with myself, a scalding hot shower, when a thought suddenly popped into my head.
Or should I say a name? Vincent.
That's the name that Kael guy had called the guy with the grim look and knife and if I remember correctly, I think I'd also seen that name in the article.
Wait...
I physically stopped moving altogether.
Is he... Eh... There's no way.
The... I believe, chairman of the company that had commissioned the great Meridian project, according to the article. There's no way he's also the killer who had slashed somebody's throat before my eyes and was currently holding me hostage.
I didn't even bother drying myself once I left the bathroom. I just went straight to my laptop on my dresser, pulled up the search engine and typed in The Great Meridian again.
The article popped up and when I read it again, I saw the name… right there.
Speaking on the project, Russo Holdings chairman Vincent Russo described the Grand Meridian as “a statement of precision, discretion, and uncompromising standard".
Okay. Wait, let me search for the name Vincent Russo. That should confirm that they're not the same person, right?
Wrong, because once the search results popped up, staring back at me from the pictures was the face of the same guy who now haunts my dreams. The same guy who had killed people, encouraged me to kill someone and not to forget literally slashed a person’s throat without batting an eyelash.
The memory of that still made me shudder and you’re telling me that that same guy is also this rich business mogul who is apparently making headlines and meeting other important businessmen.
For obvious reasons, that made my skin crawl.
By 8:58 pm, I came down from the cab I had taken to the Great Meridian Hotel. I was still sceptical about the whole thing. In fact, I had weighed the cons of not going and just disappearing but decided that apparently nothing could be worse than what I’ve already done. Kill a person. So here I was in front of the hotel, in an all-black outfit, a face mask and a cap, trying not to gawk at its magnificent structure.
Jeez. I had seen pictures of the building from my search earlier, obviously but even that couldn’t have prepared me for what I was staring at right now. The bright and colourful lights, the height of the building and even the large signs that spelt the name of the hotel boldly across its structure.
I was awed but forgot about that almost immediately when the large gate surrounding the building opened up to reveal the one person I would rather have not seen. The kael guy. But I was here already so I might as well go through with it.
“Hi…” I muttered, unsure what else I was supposed to say. He didn't respond. Instead, he just signalled for me to take off the nose mask which I did, then he stepped aside for me to walk into the compound and oh my God, did I forget the danger I was in for another moment?
Damn, this was actually luxurious. The waterfall, the long driveway, the lights – once again, I think that was what made the whole thing even more beautiful.
“Follow me.” I flinched when the Kael guy suddenly appeared in front of me again and he led the way down the long driveway to the building itself, inside the lobby and into the elevators. I followed after him like a lamb being led to the slaughterhouse, quite thrown off by his grim expression.
“So…” I started after he pressed a button on the wall. “Uhm…” he wasn’t even looking in my direction. “Are you guys the owner of this place?”
He didn’t answer.
“I’m asking because I was searching about this place, you know, when you guys sent in the message to know the location and all and I saw this article, quite a lot of articles, actually, that said that your friend is the owner of this big company that constructed this hotel. It could be rumours, you know…” I added a fake laugh for good measure. “...or maybe he isn’t even the one. They could literally be twins. Does your friend have a twin?”
He didn’t answer and in about another minute, he led me into a place I quickly realised was the rooftop after taking a few steps in and oh my God, was my breath taken away?
Before I could take in the view properly, though, a voice suddenly spoke up from the corner of the space, which I quickly realised was the mini-bar area a few feet away from the restaurant-style setting that was arranged on the rooftop.
I took a step back when he stepped out of the shadows. Vincent Russo. In this setting, with the night lights and relaxed look he had on, he looked different but definitely still grim and scary to me.
I instantly felt the need to leave there.
“You’re here," he said as he stepped forward.
"Y-yes," I muttered.
“Congrats on passing your first test. I was curious to see how you'd fare in unexpected situations and you did pretty good.”
I let out an awkward smile. “What are you talking about?”
“Your interrogation with the detectives today. John told me you did a good job.”
“Wait…” I said, stunned and flabbergasted. The same detectives that had interrogated me this morning? “You knew about that?”
He nodded.
“What the f—” I turned to stare at the Kael guy to see if he had also been in on it but he wasn’t even looking at us. He was staring off into the horizon. And to think I had been scared, thinking that they wanted to kill me because of that.
"Well, now that you’ve passed the first round, shall we go to the next one?"
Uh… what? “There’s another round?”
“Of course. This next one is to see just how useful you can be to me or if you’re even useful at all.”
I furrowed my brows as he signalled something to the Kael guy and he stepped forward to hand me an envelope that happened to magically appear in his hand.
“What is this?” I asked as I collected it.
“Your first task. Open it.”
I opened the envelope with a wary look as he waited and I took out the picture of a woman.
Okay, what the fuck is going on here?