109

109
ALEXANDER

I have not had time to spend with Raina in a while and it was hurting me down to the bones. I have been in and out of the house late when she had gone to bed and I was usually up and out of the house earlier than when she woke up. 

The house was quiet that night when I stepped into the house again. The rooms were dimly lit, the refrigerator was humming softly and the faint scent of Raina’s perfume was lingering in the hallway as I made my way to our room. I dropped my keys on the dining table, careful enough not to make a sound. I took off my shoes slowly while listening but still, I heard nothing. 

Just like every other night that I had come home, she was already well asleep. 

I walked through the house like a ghost, careful not to wake anyone up. My movement against the floor were silent and even though I so badly wanted to hear her voice, feel her arms wrap around me and even to look into those beautiful eyes of hers and for her to reassure me that she wasn’t mad at me anymore and that we weren’t drifting further apart with every minute we spent with each other but I knew that for that moment, it was wishful thinking. 

I wanted to carry her along and tell her of all the plans Dominic and I had and were working on but I knew that it was dangerous and I didn’t want to risk pulling her deeper into all of it, not when things were so close to exploding and being all in the open. 

As I walked into the room, it was dark but it wasn’t difficult for me to see her curled up on her side of the bed with her arms wrapped against the pillows I usually rested my head on. My heart clenched painfully. 

And guilt washed over me. 

I walked over to her, leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, then I gently brushed away some stray strands of hair out of her face. She stirred a little but she didn’t wake up. I watched her sleep for longer than what was considered normal, watching the way her eyelashes fluttered softly against her skin and the steady rise and fall of her chest. 

With a sigh, I went to quickly freshen up before I got into bed beside her, making sure not to disturb her. 

The next morning, before the break of dawn, I was up but Raina was still asleep. I smiled to myself, remembering that I was doing all of this for her and our children. 

I got out of bed, got dressed and walked over to her side of the bed. I watched her sleep for a couple of minutes, praying that she would open her eyes and see me but she didn’t and I didn’t want to wake her up. 

“I’ll be back very soon,” I said, my voice barely audible as I pressed a small kiss to her forehead. “Just a little longer and all of this would be over. 

I have been working with Carter for the past few days and it has been a blur. The hours of working were long, the time of phone calls were at ungodly hours and then there was the constant and worrying paranoia that we were being watched. 

And to top it all off, I was also spending time with Dominic so I had the gut feeling that the girls knew something was going on. 

During this time, I had gotten to know a little bit more about Carter. He was surprisingly not as bad as I thought he was, yes he was arrogant and had a smug answer for every question thrown at him but there was a genuine person behind the facade he had been putting on. 

He was calculating, precise and annoyingly honest about all the risks that were involved in the mission. We had been spending most part of the week going through leads, trying to follow every trail we got but it was hard because Cale made sure to cover each and every step he took very well and it left us doubting if we were really doing anything right. 

“Do you know that Dominic was one of the biggest bullies back in high school?” Carter had said while we went through some documents. 

“Really?”

“Yes, everyone feared him,” he had replied with a laugh. “It’s just so funny to see him fight against injustice now when he was the one who used to be on the other side.”

Carter had let out a laugh while Dom squeezed his face while scowling at Carter. 

“He’s lying,” Dom had said through gritted teeth. “Do I look like I would bully someone? Don’t believe any words that come out of his mouth.”

“Of course you deny it,” Carter had said as he threw his head back while laughing. 

“Whatever,” Dom said under his breath and I chuckled. 

We had gotten right back to back to work but Dominic had excused himself because he had to get to work. 

Later that evening, Dominic had brought in multiple files he managed to get from Cale’s office. 

I was still going through the leads with Carter when Dom dropped all of it on the table with sweat clinging to his head, his shoulders tense and the adrenaline of almost being caught clearly written on his face. I could tell that he had been nervous from the way his hands were shaking and the clenching of his jaw. 

Of course him being him, he wasn’t going to admit it. He would rather chew stone than admit that he was scared or anxious. 

We quickly got into the documents, going through each and every page, outlining every suspicious information we found. But even though it was clear that shady things were going on, bringing screamed illegality and they were not enough to take down Cale. Nothing in it tied him directly to the kidnapping of the family members of the board members.

“Nothing in any of these documents are enough,” Carter said with disappointment, airing our thoughts as he tossed the document he was holding aside. “It’s all circumstantial and a good lawyer would have this tossed away before it even gets to court. And that’s if the police agree to do anything.”

I could see Dom ball his hands into fist as he gritted his teeth in anger, he had gone through all that for nothing and I would feel worse if I were him. “There had to be something. Anything.”

“There might be,” I finally said, my voice quiet as a plan was already forming in my head. “But it’s not something that requires us to find documents. It deals with Cale directly.”

They both turned to look at me. 

“What’s it?” Dominic asked as he arched an eyebrow. 

“Yeah what?” Carter asked, nodding his head and eyeing me suspiciously.

“How about we follow him?” I said, darting my eyes between them. 

“That sounds like a good idea but who would? I have work so that’s between the both of you,” Carter replied, agreeing to the crazy idea. 

“I’ll do it,” Dominic volunteered as he sagged his shoulders. 

“No!” Carter and I yelled at the same time. 

Dom widened his eyes and looked at us like we had sprouted another head. “Why not?”

“He would recognize you in an instant, Dom,” I explained and he opened in an ‘oh’ form as realization set in him. 

“Exactly,” Carter agreed. “And we can’t risk it.”

“That’s why I’ll be following him instead.”

Dom let out a short but humorless laugh. “You? Don’t you have a company to run? And what if he recognizes you too?”

“My company will be fine and I’ll also be careful,” I replied, trying to assure him. “I’ll rent a car and if I notice him being wary, I’ll rent another one or even use taxis. I’ll make sure to keep my distance.”

Carter raised an eyebrow at me, hiding a smile. “Stalker much?”

I rolled my eyes but I didn’t say anything to him. 

“I’ll find out where he goes when he thinks no one is watching him.”

“Are you sure about this?” Dominic asked and I nodded in response. 

“Let’s go on with it then,” Carter added. 

The next day, I rented a car and paid in cash in case Cale figured out a car was trailing him and wanted to get the details of the rental and who had rented it. I got a hat, sunglasses and plain clothes that wouldn’t attract attention. 

When I was fully changed, I got to work. At first I would follow him and other times I would just let him drive freely. I was trying to make it inconsistent so he wouldn’t notice anything. 

A week passed and I hadn’t still gotten anything—no lead, no evidence, no nothing. 

Everyday, Cale followed the same routes. From his home to the office then to get lunch, to the gym, back to the office. It was boring and predictable and I started to feel like I was an idiot. 

Maybe he knew I was following him. Maybe he was playing me and waiting for me to fall into his trap. 

There were times I sat behind the driver’s seat, my hands white from how hard I was gripping the steering wheel and I couldn’t help but feel frustrated. My phone was buzzing with missed calls from Raina and messages I hadn’t opened because I didn’t know how to explain any of what was happening to her. 

I was chasing after shadows but I still couldn’t stop, not when all of these were at stake. 

But shockingly, one day everything changed. 

Cale’s black car turned right instead of left which was his usual turn. 

I leaned forward against the driver’s seat, my heart pounding as I tried to figure out what was happening. 

The road was narrow and it was empty and I realized it was one of the older parts of the city because they had not really finished the construction and the streetlights were flickering like they were haunted by ghosts. 

I kept space between us, not wanting to get noticed. When I saw him slow down, I quickly swerved to the side and parked down the car. 

He drove the car into an underground parking lot but it wasn’t one that I recognized. There were no signs or markings. It was just a rusted metal gate with a keycard scanner. 

I parked the car and got down, making sure it was locked before I started walking towards where he went into. I kept my head down and held onto my phone tightly. 

I took a picture of the entrance and sent it to Dom alongside my location.  

Then I waited by a corner. I wanted to go inside, every part of me was screaming at me to go in but I didn’t. I couldn’t. I wondered if that was the place where he was keeping the board member’s family, if it was then one wrong move could blow it all and make things even worse. 

I walked away after a while when I couldn’t see any movement but I made sure to be careful. 

And for the first time in what felt like forever, I was glad that we had made progress. 

I got home early that night and the air was filled with the smell of the stew Raina made whenever she was in a good mood. 

The smell of the food and my mouth water and my heart clenched when I realized how much I had missed her. 

I walked quietly into the house, not wanting to make any noise. I could finally talk to her and have a proper conversation about what has been happening.

About our relationship. 

“Ra—“

I started but I was cut off when the front door opened with a slam behind me. I turned to see who it was and I saw Dom rush in, his breathing was unsteady, he was sweating and his phone was tightly held in his hand. 

Seeing his disoriented state, my stomach twisted into knots.

“What happened? Why are you panicking?”

He looked at me, his eyes wide and filled with fear. “I just got off the phone with Carter.”

“And?”

“Nathan had escaped.”

The words didn’t register at first and I just stared at him as I blinked. Once. Twice. 

“Escaped?”