Chapter 71 The Number She Stole
Mark's Pov
I walked into the station with a tension I could feel coiling in my chest, the kind that always came when I had to face people I wished didn’t exist.
Carmen. The name alone made my blood thrum with frustration.
I had received the call earlier, Carmen was being held at the station.
My hand itched to throttle her before I even got here, but I couldn’t. Becca was safe, and that meant my temper had to be contained… for now.
I reached the officer at the desk and showed my badge. They knew me; they stepped aside with a tight smile that didn’t fool me.
“Carmen Simmons,” the desk officer said, gesturing toward the holding area.
The second the door slid open, my eyes locked onto her.
She looked bruised, tired…and yet, that fire in her eyes refused to die.
She saw me and, without thinking, swung her hand across my cheek.
Instinctively, I leaned back just enough for her to sting air, “Mark Simmons,” she spat, chest heaving. “I should…”
Before she could land the second, I caught her hand mid-air, gripping it firmly but not cruelly. “Careful,” I warned, my voice tight. “You’re in the wrong place for your attitude.”
Her eyes flared, not with fear but fury. “You… you had the mind to look me up just because of your girlfriend?”
I didn’t move, didn’t flinch, and my jaw tightened.
“I choose to protect you from any danger and you're here because of your actions, Carmen. Not because of me,”
Her lips twisted. “So, you enjoy seeing your precious sister suffering because of Becca?” she half-yelled, half-laughed, her voice bitter.
I shook my head slowly, voice level but cold. “No. I hate that you’ve hurt her. And yes, I hate you for it, but I don’t enjoy her suffering. Do you understand the difference?”
Carmen stared at me, chest heaving, lips trembling. “You don’t love her. It was a bet. Admit it!”
A muscle in my jaw twitched. Every nerve in my body screamed at her audacity. “Then it was, now I'm madly in love with her,”
Her eyes widened.
“You think saying that erases everything?” she sneered.
I didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, I scanned the room. One of the officers argued with another, something trivial about a form or a misplaced pen.
My eyes flicked back to her, and that’s when I noticed it, she had my phone in her hand. Just for a second, but it was enough.
Typical Carmen, always looking for dubious ways to get out of any uncomfortable situation she finds herself.
“Apologize and get yourself out of this mess,” I offered.
“I would never do such a thing!”
“Careful,” I said, stepping closer. “You’re on thin ice.”
She tilted her head, lips quivering. “I always knew how to swim in thin ice.”
I didn’t like the game she was playing. Not one bit. I took a careful step forward, hand subtly moving toward her wrist.
But then, the officer’s bickering drew my attention, and Carmen seized the opening.
Her fingers danced across my phone’s screen, memorizing something, recording… I didn’t know yet, but instinct screamed danger.
I left her there with the officers, and her eyes never left mine.
I held out her hand m, staring directly into her eyes… “You're my sister and I don't ever want to hurt you, apologize for your actions and let's get this over with,” slowly, I slid the recorder into the thin fabric of the inmate coat she wore.
“No,” she snapped back.
“Alright then,” I waved my hands in the air, “not like I didn't offer you a chance,”
I wasn't exactly sure of what she took out of my phone but it was just a matter of time to realize what she had under her sleeves.
I didn't even get to enter my car when I turned my phone to the recorder.
Meanwhile, Carmen leaned against the wall of her cell once the officers returned her. Panting, exhausted, she whispered under her breath. “Daniel… this has to be you.”
I froze in that brief moment. Something in the tone made my stomach knot.
Daniel?
She had stolen his number from my phone and probably memorized it.
She caught the attention of a constable as he passed. “Hey,” she hissed, pulling a few bills from her pocket. “I need to make a quick call.”
He paused, eyebrows raised, but the cash changed everything. “Fast,” he muttered, and she nodded.
He handed over a button phone to her. Quickly, she inserted the number.
The moment the line was dialed, her voice lowered to a whisper.
“Hello, half-brother,” she muttered, almost like a spell, a knife twisting in some unseen darkness.
The response was chilling, icy enough to make my blood run cold even from across the room.
“I was always waiting for your call,” Daniel said.
Carmen’s lips quivered into a small, sinister smile. “Good. Because I need you now.”
I clenched my fists, the anger, the betrayal, and the pulse of impending chaos hammering through me.
She was more dangerous than I’d anticipated, smarter, faster, and with allies
So this is the real Carmen. I wasn't going to take any measures at least not now.
I would just sit and watch the game they would play together.
But one question stuck to my mind.
So Carmen knew about Daniel? She knew she had a step brother…. What else did she know and wasn't saying?