Chapter 17

I nodded at him and stood up. “Follow me,” I said, heading out and into my car.

Nathaniel fastened his seatbelt, sitting next to me in the passenger seat.

“Where are we going, ma’am?”

I narrowed my gaze at him as I kicked the engine to life. “You’ll know when we get there.”

I drove down the road until we reached a narrow local street. Checking the address on my phone, I turned to the small shop beside my car.

I pushed my door open and stepped out. Nathaniel followed suit.

“Nat,” I called.

His eyes locked on me instantly.

“I’ll call you Nat, for short.”

He nodded. He looked timid, almost fragile, with those eye lenses. Honestly, I doubted if he could even hold a gun.

“Do you know how to use a gun?” I asked bluntly.

He shook his head.

I said nothing further. Instead, I opened the car bonnet and pulled out a shocker device.

“You need to have something to protect yourself,” I said, handing it to him before walking into the old bar.

The place smelled of stale alcohol. The walls were cracked, the tables creaked with every touch, and only a few customers in the shop.

I scanned the room before fixing my eyes on the bartender. Approaching him, I flashed my badge.

“Detective Ariel.”

His eyes darted nervously, unease radiating from him.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I just need to ask you a few questions. It won’t take long.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m closing now. Why don’t you come tomorrow?” he said hurriedly.

I glanced at Nat.

“It’s just a few questions, sir. All we need is your cooperation,” Nat added gently.

The man looked around. By now, the last customer had left. Finally, he gave us a stiff nod.

“Do you know this person?” I asked, showing him a photo on my phone. The face was blurred, but for someone who rarely had customers, it should’ve been recognizable.

He looked at it briefly, then shook his head.

“This man was captured leaving your bar just a few days ago. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten him.”

He swallowed hard. “You both better leave. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered, quickly gathering his belongings.

Keeping my composure, I followed him to the door. Just as he reached for it, I grabbed him from behind and slammed him against a table. His face pressed into the wood.

“I don’t know who that person is!” he shouted.

I grinned coldly. “You can’t fool me. Your expression already gave you away.” I leaned in closer. “Now tell me, where is he?”

He groaned, struggling beneath my grip, but I held both his arms firmly behind his back. There was no escape.

“Alright! He came here. Just a customer. But I swear I don’t know where he is now,” he admitted with a groan.

“Then why lie from the start? If you weren’t hiding anything, you would’ve told me he came here.”

He clenched his teeth, silent.

“I’ll let you go when you’re ready to cooperate. Are you?”

Still no response.

“Move your head if you are.”

He shook his head quickly.

I shoved him to the floor and pulled out a chair, sitting across from him. “Now start talking.”

His face tightened as he looked up at me, then at Nat.

“He came to my bar a week ago,” the man began. “Said he needed a place to stay. I offered him a small room here, and in return, he worked for me. He said he had no money.”

I folded my arms across my chest, listening carefully, while Nat recorded everything.

“Five days ago, he caused trouble, fought with a customer over a woman. Nearly killed the man. That’s when I told him to leave.” His voice began to tremble.

I urged him silently to continue.

“I have a daughter,” he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. “He took her with him. Said he liked her.” His voice cracked, and he broke down. “I also found a body… one of the women who came to my bar. She was dead in his room. I threatened to expose him, but he said he’d kill my daughter if I did.” His words dissolved into sobs.

He crawled closer to me, desperate. “I haven’t seen my daughter in two days, ma’am. I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”

I closed my eyes tightly, exhaling sharply, then opened them again.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out. “I didn’t want to say anything. I was scared… I didn’t want him to hurt her.”

“Don’t worry. If your daughter is alive, we’ll get her back,” Nat suddenly said.

I blinked in surprise. The strength in his tone startled me, it wasn’t the voice of the timid young man I thought he was. But the moment passed quickly, and the timid vibe returned.

The bartender nodded through his tears.

“If I hadn’t given him a place to stay, none of this would’ve happened. I only helped him because I once knew him.”

That caught my attention.

“Where? And do you have a picture of him?” I pressed.

He nodded. “I think I have an old one.”

He went to a drawer, shuffled through some papers, then returned with a worn photograph.

“That’s him. On the left.”

The photo showed five children with a young man, this bartender, I assumed.

“I once worked at an orphanage in my town. He was one of the children there. But he ran away.”

I lifted my eyes to him. “What was he like back then?”

The man swallowed hard. “He barely spoke. Always kept to himself. But… there was an incident. One of the teachers had trouble with her husband. The next day, she was found dead. And he… he was there, covered in blood. But nobody believed a child could kill some

one. They blamed the husband instead.”

My stomach tightened. “How old was he?”

“He was thirteen,” the man said.