Chapter 36 Adeline
Adeline's POV
Eight Weeks Later
The elevator dings on the 40th floor. I step out, and the rhythmic tap of my cane announces my arrival. It’s a sleek, black cane with a silver handle, a gift from Percy, naturally. He refused to let me use the standard medical-issue metal one.
“If you have to limp,” he had said, “you’re going to do it with style.”
The floor goes quiet for a fraction of a second as I walk in. I know what they see. I'm the junior associate that vanished for two months. The woman that was rumored to be in a horrific accident, not to mention the woman who is rumored to be sleeping with the boss, yet I keep my chin high.
"Good morning, Jessica." I say, passing one of my colleagues' desks. I have no friend in my short month of working here, and I don't know what that says about me. No one cared enough to reach out to me, not that they had any means of contacting me.
"Good morning, Miss Volkov!" She beams. "It’s so good to see you back. We missed you."
I'm sure you did. "Good to be back." I walk, or limp, to my office. My new office. It’s not the small cubicle I started in. It’s a real office with a window just down the hall from the senior partners.
I sit down at my desk, resting the cane against the wall. I take a deep breath and breathe in the smell of the familiar scent of old paper and coffee.
I wish I could say things are different now, but they aren't. My leg aches when it rains, and I have a long nasty scar running down my shin, but I’m here, different or not. I turn my computer on and get to work.
My computer pings immediately. It's an email from P. Akilov.
Subject: Surveillance
Body: You’re wearing the navy dress. I like the navy dress. Try not to overdo it today. If you need a break, my couch is better than yours.
I smile as I type back quickly.
Me: Stop watching me on the security cameras and do your job. Akilov.
It’s good to be back. This normalcy is exactly what I've been craving after over one month of being holed up in Percy’s penthouse, but the normalcy is still fragile. Mason is still out there.
For two months, he’s been a ghost, eluding and evading every personal investigator, both the police and Percy, who has sent his way. The police found the car abandoned in a ditch ten miles from the crash site, wiped clean of prints. He hasn't used his credit cards or contacted his family.
Because he's still at large, I still jump at any slight thing. A phone could ring suddenly, and I would jump. It was that bad. Being stalked and run off the road by him had really done a number on me.
"Knock knock." I look up to find Percy leaning against my doorway. He looks immaculate as ever in a charcoal suit, but I can see the tension around his eyes that never fully leaves.
"First day back," he says, walking in and closing the door. "How’s the leg?"
"Stiff," I admit. "But fine."
He walks around the desk and kisses me. I'm not so worried about any rumors starting in the office. I have greater problems than what my colleagues in the office will say. It’s a quick kiss, but it grounds me.
"Tiny is coming up," Percy says, his voice dropping an octave.
I pull back. "Why? Did something happen?"
"He says he has a lead."
My stomach tightens. "A lead on Mason?"
"A credible sighting." Percy sits on the edge of my desk and takes my hand in his. Since my own office is not so glassy, we can do anything we want in here. "He was seen in a pawn shop in Jersey City, at least, it's a man that looks like him trying to sell a Rolex with a serial number registered to Mason Bernard."
"Did they catch him?"
"The shop owner got suspicious and stalled him. Mason bolted, but they got him on video." Percy’s grip tightens. "He looks rough, Adeline. He’s running out of money. He’s getting sloppy."
"So he’s still in the area," I whisper. "I thought he would have fled the country."
"He can't. His passport is flagged, and he's trapped in the tri-state area with no money and a murder warrant on his head." Percy looks at me, his eyes cold and promising. "It’s only a matter of time now."
Percy’s POV
Three hours later, I am in the middle of a meeting with the senior partners when my phone vibrates with a text from Tiny.
"We got him." His text was short and sweet.
I stand up abruptly in the middle of the meeting.
"Gentlemen," I say, standing up and buttoning my jacket. "You will have to excuse me. Something urgent has come up."
"Percy?" Richard asks from the head of the table. "Is everything alright?"
"It’s about to be," I say.
I walk out of the conference room and head straight for Adeline’s office. I don't knock, so she looks up from a file, startled.
"Percy?"
"Get your purse," I say. "They found him."
She stands up and grabs her cane. "Where?"
"A motel off I-95. He was trying to hotwire a car in the parking lot. The police have him surrounded already. Tiny is on the scene."
"Is he... is he in custody?"
"Not yet. He’s barricaded himself in a room, but there’s nowhere to go." I hold out my hand. "I’m going down to the precinct to wait for them to bring him in. You don't have to come."
"I’m coming," she says instantly. "I need to see it. I need to know he’s actually caught."
"Okay, let's get a move on then."
We drive to the precinct in silence. Adeline clutches her cane like a weapon, and I keep one hand on the wheel with the other covering hers.
The station is buzzing when we arrive. Captain Miller, an old friend of Richard, meets us at the front desk.
"Mr. Akilov," Miller nods. "Miss Volkov, you got here fast."
"Do you have him?" I demand.
"They just pulled up to the sally port," Miller says. "We’re processing him now. He gave us a bit of a struggle, so my boys roughed him up a bit, so he's not looking so pretty."
"I want to see him," Adeline says. Her voice is surer than I’ve heard it in weeks, so that's a bit of good news.
Miller hesitates. "He’s being charged with attempted murder, Miss Volkov. It’s an active investigation. But considering the situation, I can let you observe the booking from the other side of the glass."
"Fine."
Miller nods. "Follow me."
We walk through the secure doors, down a hallway that smells of bleach and some odors I can't place. Miller leads us into a small observation room. Through the one-way mirror, we can see the booking area. Two officers drag a man in.
At first, I don't recognize the man before me.
Mason Bernard was always so polished and put together with his expensive suits and arrogant smile. I can barely recognize this rough-looking thug in front of me.