Chapter 19 Impossible quest
ADRIANA
As I watched them take Harry's body away, his last words hit me.
Was this really an impossible quest? The way the cult moved was ridiculously unpredictable.
What baffled me was how they discovered that I had gone to meet Harry.
I knew they had eyes and ears everywhere, but I made sure to hide myself when I went to meet Harry. The only ones who knew about our meeting were Salvador and the cop.
Salvador was on the front line of putting an end to them and would definitely not betray me, but the cop…
“You need to eat something," his voice came up behind me, and I turned.
“I'm fine!" I snapped and began to walk away from the scene.
“I was lying!" He called, and my feet stopped moving against my will.
His footsteps approached me, and he gripped my shoulder.
“I never called your brothers," he muttered.
I turned around to face him, knocking his hand away from my shoulder.
“What?" I asked.
He sighed and brushed his hair back, squaring his shoulders.
“Well, I was just pulling your legs. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you about your relationship with them," he muttered.
I felt a heavy burden being lifted off my chest, and relief washed across my body.
“Should we go grab lunch?" He asked.
I felt amused when he kept acting like someone didn't die in the dress shop a distance from where we stood.
“Don't you have work to do at the station?" I asked, and he chuckled.
I was sure I saw pain flash across his eyes.
“Well, because of you and that vampire, I got suspended from my duty,” he muttered, and my heart clenched.
I jerked my head up, my eyes dimming.
"Wait… what?" I gasped.
“Someone reported me to the chief of police for receiving bribes from prisoners. Whoever did it was smart enough to take pictures of me collecting that address from Salvador and handing it over to you," he said, and I gulped hard.
“But you wanted to arrest Harry," I mumbled.
“That was a trick to get him away from you. I'm not a cop at the moment," he chuckled. Behind that chuckle, one could feel the pain laced in it.
“So, you should be arrested for using a gun that belongs to the police," I muttered.
“No, that's my personal gun and it's licensed," he chuckled.
I sighed loudly and dropped my head.
“I'm sorry," I mumbled.
“For what?"
“I was the reason you were suspended from your job. I'm pretty sure you're proud of it," I muttered, and he huffed.
“Well, it was my dream, now it's gone," he muttered, and my throat knotted, the guilt flooding in again.
“At least I got to see my dreams come true. Some people didn't even live to see theirs come to pass," he muttered, and my lips twitched up.
“Like your grandfather?" I asked.
“Yes, like my grandfather," he replied, and we shared a laugh.
It didn't even click with me that we were already walking down the sidewalk together.
We crossed the crosswalk and walked into the alley and out into a lane where I had parked my bike.
The sight of my bike brought back the blood-chilling event that had taken place an hour ago.
The dead, cold eyes of the biker and the smirk that bore a warning that he would be back.
“Did Salvador give you that?" He asked, pointing at the sleek, black bike.
“Yes," I muttered as I took out the helmet.
“Come on, didn't you say you wanted to grab lunch?" I asked, and he nodded.
"Bills on me!” He said as he shuffled closer.
"I never said I had any cash on me anyway.”
We got on the bike and I pulled the helmet on, then drove off.
All through the ride to the restaurant, the eyes of the biker haunted me. Those eyes looked too familiar to ignore, too deadly to brush off.
What if it wasn't a dog? What if it was one of them? What if…
“Adriana?" I turned my head when the cop called.
“We passed the restaurant," he muttered, flicking his hand towards a restaurant behind us.
“Oh, sorry," I mumbled and turned around.
I parked the bike in the garage and we walked in, then took an empty table.
“I wonder how he escaped?" I muttered when we settled in.
“Is that what you've been thinking about?" He asked, and I frowned.
“I know you won't care because your life is not at risk here…”
"Says who? I'm pretty sure whoever those people are knows about me already, and they might come for me too,” he muttered, and my belly knotted.
He looked up from the table menu in his hand and smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm not scared, I've never been in my life. I will help as much as I can, so don't worry about me,” he said and passed the table menu to me.
“Order what you want."
I took the digital table menu and looked through the dishes listed before tapping on the steak.
“You don't really have to try so hard, you've helped already, you should step away," I muttered.
“Why? You're scared that I'll end up like Harry?" He chuckled, and my throat knotted.
I took a deep breath and looked up.
“It's not funny, you might end up dead."
The smile on his face faded, and his brows raised.
“And when did Adriana Nox become so weak?"
“I'm not weak!" I snapped.
“You're acting like that. You'd better stop it and act your usual self," he muttered, and my throat knotted.
I dropped my order, and so did he.
"There was a secret exit at the back of the dress shop, that's where the killer must have escaped from,” he said.
"He made his own death easy,” I muttered, and he nodded.
"Ah, I have something to show you,” he said and took out his phone.
He pushed it towards me, and I looked down at the screen.
"That's what is after you, isn't it?” He asked as I stared down at the mark on Harry's wall.
"It's a good thing you understand,” I muttered and pushed the phone back to him.
"But why does Salvador have the mark on his neck?” He asked.
I gripped my cold hand and shrugged as the explanation my brothers had given me years ago echoed in my head.
“It doesn't make sense, but my brothers were the ones who drew the mark as a tattoo on him," I replied, and his brows raised.
“Your brothers are involved?"
“Somehow. The cult had stolen the tattoo and used it as their logo to confuse people. They were cosplaying as Salvador at the beginning, that was what I was told," I muttered.
“It doesn't make sense," he muttered, and I shrugged.
“Yeah, Salvador knows them, though, and he gave me their identities. Turns out my ex-boyfriend is part of the big three," I blurted out before I could stop myself.
A long silence hung over our heads as we stared at each other.
Amusement was scribbled over his face while I drowned in embarrassment and horror.
“So, your ex wants you dead," he spoke after a long stretch of silence.
I couldn't respond. I had no answer to that.
Even though I hated Miles, I doubted whether he would want me dead.
“Well, my life is kind of complicated,” I muttered, and he nodded.
"I know, it's obvious,” he muttered, and I narrowed my eyes.
“Anderson."
“What?" I muttered as I looked at him.
“My name is Anderson."
“Okay," I muttered and forced a smile on my face.
As the waiter approached with the tray of food, I looked up and my eyes locked with a pair of familiar eyes.
I felt my heart sink when the realization of who it was hit me. The biker!
“Shit!" I cursed and sprang up.
I collided with the waiter, and the tray dropped from her hand. The food was poured on the ground, and the plates shattered, gathering attention towards us.
“So…sorry,” I muttered and spun around, but he was gone.
I cursed again and raced out while the cop called after me.
Before I could get out of the building, he was already gone from sight.
“What's going on?" Anderson asked as he stepped out of the building, panting.
“The killer, I saw him, he was right in there and…” The rest of my words got stuck in my throat when something hit me.
“And?"
I rubbed my hand over my back, and dismay gripped me.
"The…the bag," I whispered in horror, and the color on Anderson's face drained.