Chapter 4: The Footage

Stacy followed Chad into the clubhouse. Upon stepping in the common area, Stacy immediately felt uncomfortable. Something about the atmosphere was off. All the men in the room stopped whatever they were doing and were staring at them. The once bustling common area immediately reduced to pin-drop silence.

Stacy tried to ignore the bothering stares but as she walked, she could feel their eyes following her. As they were ascending the stairs, she leaned in and whispered, “why are they all staring?” Chad gave her the side eye and continued walking, saying, “don’t bother them. They’re simply curious.”

Stacy cocked her head to the side, mumbling, “curious? Like, ‘hey, look, the new prisoner’ kind of curious?” Chad chuckled but ignored her antics. “You’re the first girl we bring to the clubhouse,” Zalen said. Stacy’s eyes lit up in curiosity. “Really? Why? Do you not have any other suspicious women you encountered on the street near a murder scene before?”

At that moment, Zalen’s phone rang and he walked away, leaving only Chad and Stacy in the hallway. “We usually bring them elsewhere. Here we go, you can rest here,” Chad said as they reached the door. He pushed it open to reveal a guest room.

Stacy eyed the room warily. A guest room? What exactly were they planning? To top it off, they told her she’s the first woman to ever step foot in the clubhouse. Why did she end up here with a room instead of the dungeon or wherever they usually lock a woman?

Seeing her remain silent, Chad was about to release them both from the handcuff when Stacy suddenly interrupted. “Wait, so, how are we going to do this?”

“Do what?” Chad asked, a little confused. ‘How you’re going to torture me and force me to tell you everything I know,’ she thought, ‘but I can’t just ask him that.’ She decided that she could play along and plan her escape. “Nothing. I guess I got tired,’ she replied instead.

“I shall leave you to rest,” Chad said as he pulled out the key and unlocked the cuff. “How do I address you?” He asked.

“Your,” came Stacy’s reply. “My?” Chad’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Are you asking me? Name’s Chad. How about you?”

Stacy chuckled. “What?” Chad went back to being confused. 'Cute. A jerk, but cute,’ Stacy mused. “You can call me ‘your’,” she replied casually while twisting her wrist he just freed from the restraint.

‘Call me yours? Are women nowadays this straightforward? Did she just ask me to claim her? With that straight face?’ Chad studied her in shock, ‘Maybe it’s a name? Yeoh?’

“Sister,” Stacy said while trying not to laugh at his expressions. “Sister?” Chad, still confused, was speechless for a while. Then, realization hit him. “My sister?” He laughed. Stacy rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the smile from forming on her face.

They both knew she was referring to his sarcastic comment about her being his sister when she denied being a Viper.

With that, she waved and retreated into the room. Just as she was about to close the door, Zalen reappeared. “We got the footage,” he said. Stacy halted in the middle of her action.

“Great. None of the witnesses there were our people. We can only trust the footage. Are you sure that this video isn’t tampered with?” Chad asked. Zalen nodded to confirm. “Alright, let’s go,” Chad turned to leave but paused, as if remembered something.

He turned around to find Stacy staring at him. “Why don't you come along? You were there so you might be able to help us at some point,” Chad looked at her with hope.

Stacy shrugged, “why not?” She stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her, following the two men towards the end of the hallway. They came to a room which much or less looked like an office.

Zalen pressed the play button and the screen showed the CCTV footage of Ivory club. They watched the footage together.

The club was as busy as ever. Zalen’s cousin was sitting at one of the tables at the back and Stacy was nowhere to be seen.

There was still some time before the shooting happened so Chad let his eyes wander to the other camera footage. “Where were you at this time?” He asked Stacy when he couldn’t find her in the footage.

“To the left,” she replied. “Doing what?” Chad asked again. “Nothing related to your case.” Stacy replied in a flat tone. Chad turned to face her, his expression says it all. He insisted that she answer that question. Stacy eyed him lazily before turning to Zalen. “Camera 3.” Zalen switched the camera footage.

“I was breaking someone’s penis,” she said nonchalantly. As if on cue, the footage showed her kneeing a guy with red spikey hair. As someone who recently experienced the pain firsthand, Chad winced involuntarily.

“Is that a hobby of yours?” Zalen sound amused. Stacy’s eyes darted to Chad while Chad glared at Zalen for teasing. He cleared his throat, saying, “switch back.” Zalen switched back to the footage they were originally watching.

A man was seen approaching Zalen’s cousin from behind him. The guy seemed to hesitate a lot in his steps. As he approached, out of the blues, he pulled out a gun and straight away fired two shots into his head and bolted through the back door.

“Ring a bell?” Chad was the first person to break the silence. “Seemed like the Henry guy,” Zalen replied. “The new Viper?” Chad finally removed his eyes from the screen and faced Zalen. “Looks like it,” Zalen said through gritted teeth. “He’s got guts. Get him and bring him back here. Anyone who dares mess with the Reapers should pay a price for their actions!” Chad roared.

Without wasting another second, Zalen left to track Henry. Chad was fuming. He balled his fists and his eyes were glued to the screen. The footage showed the chaos in the club after the shot. Chad’s eyes burned with determination. He would make them pay for it; an eye for an eye!

While he was deep in his thoughts, there was some commotion downstairs. Blinking out of his trance, Chad quickly bolted out of the room and down the stairs to where the commotion was.

Downstairs, Stacy was standing there, facing the exit with her arms crossed.

“I said no! Unless Chad said so,” Leo said, his voice stern. He was one of the men who formed an arc in front of Stacy, blocking her from walking out the door.

Stacy stepped forward slowly. “I can beat your ass, you know? Let me through while I’m still being polite. I don’t really like to hit the host in their own territory.”

“You’re such a troublemaker huh? I took my eye off you for a second and here you are causing trouble again,” Chad said as he took his last few steps of the stairs.

With her arms still crossed, Stacy turned around to face Chad. “Where are you going?” Chad asked.

Stacy took a deep breath and placed her hand on her hip. “Since you know now that I have nothing to do with the murder, I’m leaving.” Chad looked at her, thinking of the reasons to deny it. As if she had read his mind, Stacy raised a finger and pointed at Chad. “Don’t you dare,” she warned.

Chad sighed in defeat. “Alright. Thanks for being here and you’re not obligated to stay here since you aren’t connected to the case but it’s late now and it’s dark outside. We are in the middle of nowhere and it’d be dangerous for you to leave now. Why not stay the night and leave in the morning?”

Stacy studied him for a while. Then, she turned around to look at the men by the door. Doubts were written on their faces. “No, thanks,” she said and marched towards the door. Leo, who was very confident a moment ago, quickly made way for her as she was marching with great velocity and certainty. If he didn’t move to the side, she would’ve bumped into him just to get through. ‘What a scary woman,’ he thought.

“Hold on!” Chad called out while following after her.