Chapter 21 Wild goose chase
He rechecked the map. Still moving, but he was no longer on the old textile road. Immediately,
Dan’s voice crackled in his earpiece.
“Update boss, the guy took a detour. He is along the industrial lane now, heading toward the Seabridge outskirts. I think he might be heading towards the beach.”
“Alright, keep tracking him. I’m staying on this,” Alex responded.
As he zipped forward again, a thought struck him. What if he knew he was being followed? His gut twisted. But he waved it off and swerved through a narrow bypass. Getting closer to the beach, the GPS pinged again, the guy had stopped yet again. But just for a few seconds. Then it started moving again and now, he was getting closer to the beach. He slowed just a bit, as if suddenly cautious.
Somehow to Alex, he felt something was off with the guy stopping briefly. It felt deliberate to him like bait.
“Dan,” Alex asked quickly. “Could this be a wild goose chase?”
“Possibly. Want me to pull out”
Alex considered it. “No. Not yet. Let’s see where he is headed exactly.”
“After a few minutes, the guy slowed down near a bend that curved toward the coastline. The distant echo of music, laughter, and crashing waves floated into the air.
“Dan, is anything happening at the beach today?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot all about it. The mayor is reopening the beach today. Everyone was invited, so it's going to be full of people. It could be where he was heading. There will be a lot of youths there. And surely with lots of drinks, dance, and beachside chaos.
Alex tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Damn, I need to get to him before he blends in,” he muttered, eyes locked on the
road.
“Boss there is a lot of traffic down there. So we will meet up with him.” Dan’s voice came in Alex’s earpiece.
Yeah, I'm already in traffic; there were many bikers, but I saw a helmet that resembled his exactly, where the GPS is blinking. I believe I've found him.” Alex said as a smile tugged at his lips. “He is heading to the beach indeed. Thanks a lot, Dan. I will watch him from here, but stick around.” Alex said
“Alright boss, I'm with you. Go on and get your brown hair.” Dan responded and cut the connection before muttering to himself, “I don't know what's with him and brown-haired people. Could it be that he was obsessed with brown?” Then he turned on the connection again.
As Alex struggled and overtook some people to get closer to the guy, one biker shouted, “Come on guy, stay in your lane, can't you see we are on cue?”
Alex didn't utter a word. His focus just rested on the guy. Then, in that instant, Alex's target pulled his helmet off, revealing his curly brown hair. He gave the helmet to the girl behind him, who took and held it in her hand.
Alex chuckled, “That's my mystery guy, but…” he paused a bit. “Why does it seem like his hair is longer?” He shook his head and waved it off.
They were out of the road now, and the brown-haired man was walking his bike toward the sandy stretch. The girl ditched her own helmet and hung it on the bike. She said something to the brown-haired guy, waved at him before running towards the beach.
The guy was now packing his bike as Alex struggled to get off the road. The instant he succeeded, he almost ran towards the parking space. He wanted to shout for the guy to wait but it would be a waste of energy because the noise and the music would not allow him to hear a thing.
He watched as the guy ran a hand through his tousled hair and slipped into the crowd, like he belonged there.
“Dan, I’m going in, stay alert,” Alex said, already pulling his bike into a discreet spot behind a row of palm trees.
“Are you sure it's wise to follow him directly?” Dan's voice crackled through the earpiece.
“Of course, my reason for coming here is to talk to him so I need to get closer. If I don't get the answers from him, I won't be able to concentrate.
Alex grabbed a cap, slipped on his aviator shades despite the blazing sun, and followed the trail on foot. The crowd was thick, buzzing with energy. Everyone was dancing and chattering happily.
If this were night, there would have been a bonfire. Couples would be stealing kisses under moonlight, and teens would be tossing drinks back by their cars and bikes. He smirked and muttered, “It would have been romantic.” He chuckled again as he kept searching for him.
Then, he spotted him again. The brown-haired guy had pulled off his jacket and was laughing with a group near the speakers, drink in hand, moving in rhythm to the beat.
Alex's heart pounded happily. “He’s here… and this time, I won’t lose him,” he whispered as he made his way towards him.
Meanwhile, as Alex continued his silent pursuit, something unexpected unraveled elsewhere. The night before, after Mirabel had left Lucas and Alex in Room 443, out of disappointment, she had taken a cab to a bar far enough from the club lodge. She just needed to cool off and wash away the tension in her chest with shots of tequila.
Several glasses in, her speech was slurred, her eyes hazy. She was swaying on the barstool, giggling to herself, when Gabe, who had been drinking at the bar, suddenly spotted her. At first, he thought it was someone else, but on second glance, he became surprised.
“How did she…what the heck..” In his confused state, he stormed towards her, his face tight with irritation. On getting to the table, it was actually her. Yet he needed to confirm something.
“Mirabel! What the hell are you doing here?” he barked. “You were paid for an all-night service. Why did you leave Lucas alone?”
She blinked at him, then chuckled lazily. “Ooh… so his name is Lucas? Cute.”
Gabe clenched his fists. “Don’t play dumb. What happened? Why aren’t you with him? Did something go wrong?”
Mirabel tilted her head back with a tipsy grin. “I couldn’t do the job. Actually, he told me to say I did. So technically,” she giggled again, “the job is done.”
Gabe’s face twisted in shock. “Wait… you’re saying you didn’t sleep with him?”
“Bingo,” she shouted, raising her empty glass in mock triumph.
“What?!” Gabe hissed, smacking his palm on the table, drawing glances from nearby drinkers. Rage boiled in his eyes. “Are you out of your mind? Do you know what that means? You just dropped me in a deep shit. How could you fuck this up? I came around to check and you said everything was going well.
“Well, didn't you feel that it was going well?” she burst with laughter.
“Shut the fuck up, this is not funny,” Gabe screamed at her.
“Uuh, someone seems mad,” she chortled.