Chapter 134 Destroy her.
CHAPTER 134
Destroy her.
ROMAN – POINT OF VIEW
Immediately Scarlett walks out, I grab my phone, laptop and step out on the balcony.
I call Bastian and connect Luca to the call.
“Good evening, Mr Sterling.” He says, polite as ever.
“Tell me what I need to know, Bastian. A friend is on the call with us. Luca Valentino.” I get straight to business, not bothering with preamble.
Bastian pauses for a moment, stunned. Of course, he knows who Luca is. He wouldn’t be in the intelligence community if he did not.
“I … I … the …” he stammers.
“Speak, Sebastian. I do not have much time. I am hiding from my wife.” Luca snaps, an edge to his words.
I’m on the balcony, hiding from mine, too.
“There are a lot of inconsistencies with Percy Carmichael, which include being a tenured professor despite having completed his PHD less than two years ago, as well as staying in the most expensive hotel in New York on a professor's salary. I looked into him further and found no other business venture or means to be able to afford the lifestyle. He drives an Aston Martin and flew in first class.” Bastian recounts.
I switch to conference call immediately. Luca and Bastian’s faces fill my screen.
“Flew in from where?” I demand, heat rising in me.
“I don’t know,” Bastian admits.
“You don’t know?” Luca repeats in disbelief.
“I have been unable to lock down his location before he landed in New York.” He confesses shamefully.
“I don’t understand. Wasn’t he in England?” I lean forward.
“He wasn’t.”
“What have you found? There has to be something.” Luca insists, a vein popping.
“He had a lot of connecting flights. I picked up one from Spain to London. From London to Venice, and from Venice to Guatemala. The trail went cold from there and resurfaces from San Diego to New York. All in the span of seven weeks.” He explains, walking us through the loopy journey.
I am flabbergasted.
“Was there any job … or something that tied him to these places? What was he doing there? Why Guatemala?” I massage my forehead, mulling over it.
Luca speaks, “Guatemala and San Diego are not too far from Mexico. Why don’t you check if the professor has been in Mexico lately?”
I blink. Our only connection to Mexico is through the Cartels, to Emiliano. Why would Percy be connected to Emiliano? A bit of a stretch.
Bastian works on his gadgets, focused, then shakes his head, “He has never been to Mexico.”
“Never?” Luca leans forward, eyes flashing.
“Never.” Bastian nods.
Luca looks at me for a second and leans back, not defeated. “Carry on, Bastian,” he nods.
“I looked further into him, tracing it back to his years in Oxford,” he continues, and I stiffen.
Scarlett went to Oxford, too. I’m way past guilt. All I need are answers.
“He comes from a broken home. His father was a deadbeat, and died a couple of years ago, about four years ago to be precise. His mother is in a nursing home, and he has no siblings. His relationships are insignificant, just flings and one-night stands, no woman is recurrent except … except … Ms Brooks.” He clears his throat, going red in the face.
He believes he is crossing a line, and he’s trying to be respectful, but I’m way past respect.
“Speak,” Luca snaps.
“I was unable to find her.”
Goosebumps break over my skin. “You can’t find her? What does that mean?”
“She’s not in the school directory, not in the departmental lists, the archives, or the history. She was never there.”
“But she was. Percy is evidence of her presence in Oxford. She said it herself that she attended Oxford. She dated him from nineteen to twenty-three. She was there for at least five years, and yet, you can’t find her?” I step back, rage spreading through me. “I couldn’t find her, and that’s because we didn’t have all the information, but we have it now. You will find her, Bastian. I don’t care if you have to check every student background in the past ten years, find Scarlett.” I grit out, pressure building in me.
“Calm down, Roman. It’s past nine. Control yourself. Scarlett cannot find out, not now, not when we have nothing yet.” Luca snaps at me.
I nod, digging my fingers into my palm as my pulse throbs loudly.
“Here’s what you are going to do, Bastian,” he instructs.
“Scarlett was in Oxford, but perhaps for some reason, she went there using a different name. If you can create a connection, identify her other identity, it’ll break everything open, and reveal a truth – she is not Scarlett Brooks. Scarlett Brooks is an identity she slipped into to get what she wants. Then, it’ll raise the question – how many identities has she slipped into? How many face masks has she worn? What version of her did Percy know? Where is the real her? Why has she created this new identity? All we need is a name.” He directs calmly.
“You don’t even need to dig too deep, just continue your research on Percy,” I add. “He is real. He’ll lead you to her. She’ll turn up very soon. There must be a photograph, a selfie, a co-written thesis, something done together.”
“You are right, sir. What else? I’ll need to start immediately.” Bastian asks.
I hesitate for a second, and order, “Look into Mexico. Try to see if there’s any connection between him and Emiliano. Scarlett has been Scarlett Brooks for the past two years. Where has Percy been? Why is he looking for her now? I’ll let you know if we need anything else.”
“Alright, sir.” He ends the call, and Luca’s face is all I am staring at.
“Try not to lose your mind, Roman. I have a feeling this will all be over soon.” He gives me a small smile, and then he’s gone.
I linger on the balcony for a moment. Then, my phone beeps. I am still connected to Scarlett’s phone. This is a text from Percy.
I don’t bother reading through. I walk back into the room, keep my gadgets and pretend to sleep.
I wait for her to return. I hear her slip back into the bed. Warmth spread through me as she leaned into me. I wrap my arm around her and press my lips to her forehead.
I am actively trying to destroy her, yet she’s the most important woman in my life. What does that make me?
AUTHOR’S NOTE.
I apologise for my inconsistency. All my excuses do not matter. Thank you for your continuous support. We are almost at the peak, so continue reading, stick close to the ending. If you like YA, check out my other book – The Quarterback and the Nanny. Thank you.