CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
Gasher was beside the stable when the guard came and dragged him off his feet. Before the whole idea of the search, he was at the stable, Sabina had sent him to get the feeds as well as observe the horses.
Unknown to him, the item was found in his closet, the guard dragged him inside and brought him to his knees in front of the leader. Gasher was wondering what happened till he found himself on the air being dragged, he still did not understand till he saw the fury in Earl’s eyes. He knew he was in trouble but he knew he had not committed any crime to be brought forward except he was set up by someone.
Earl was torn apart by anger as he thought about the incident following Gasher’s rescue. Gasher was blocked by a wolf at the hill, some years back; he was almost torn apart since he couldn’t shift yet into his wolf self, Earl had helped him fight off the daring wolf after shifting to his wolf form. As he rescued him, he introduced him to the rest of the pack and was appointed as a guard in the mansion.
The only question on Earl’s mind: was how Gasher had managed to hide his affair all these years, it was impossible. Or maybe it is a recent affair, he thought.
As Gasher knelt on the ground with his head bowed, Earl didn’t know if to pounce on him with his hands or hear him out but he did the next first thing on his mind;
“Gasher!” Earl yelled loudly, his voice reverberated round the mansion, the birds that were chirping had stopped to stare, silence followed afterwards. When Earl yelled that way, it was one of two things: either a matter of urgency or he was about to give a decree. No one had said a word yet. “Tell me how you have this in your possession? For how long has this hideous crime of yours been going on, tell me, you ingrate?”
Gasher could not utter a word, he didn’t know the locket would put him into trouble, he had hoped to return it to Sam but it always slipped off his mind. He was dumbfounded, how would he explain to them that the items were not his. How was he also going to explain that it belonged to Sam? He was going to tell the exact truth whether they believed him or not, the problem was if Sam would agree to own the item, knowing the leader so well, he would not hesitate to kill his only son.
“Sire, the locket does not belong to me," Gasher said after a few moments of silence. If he spoke up, they’d assume he was telling a lie, so he was going to say it as it was.
“What do you mean it does not belong to you, it was found in your possession, your closet? Tell me did it develop wings and fly there? Did it attach itself to your closet? No, tell me, Gasher. Tell me what I need to hear. Tell me that you have been camping with our enemy all these years. Tell me you always sneaked out of the mansion at your own will.”
“Sir, I am telling the truth, the locket does not belong to me,” he said, almost in tears. “It belongs to Sam.”
“Impossible. Sam? What do you mean?” Earl queried. This had to be some sort of joke. Was Gasher playing with him? Why would he mention this in all of this?
“Some…Some days back, Sam returned home while he spoke about his late activities and his captivity, the locket fell from his pocket. I picked it with the plan to return it back to him but he was not stable in the mansion.” Gasher completed his speech ready for anything Earl was about to say.
“Impossible. that is impossible. Lies! Lies!” Earl screamed, unable to comprehend what Gasher had just uttered from his bloody mouth. There was no way Sam was having an affair with the enemy pack.
“I swear, sir. It’s the truth, it dropped from him,” Gasher added looking up at Early so he could find the truth in his eyes but Earl could see nothing. Instead he saw manipulation, lies, deceit, in the person trying to frame up his son. Why had he chosen to frame up his son? He was going to suffer for it, Earl assured Gasher with his eyes.
“Gasher, I am trying hard to really understand what you just told me? In conclusion, the locket belongs to my son.”
“Ye...Yes sir,” Gasher stammered because the Sam he knew so well would totally deny seeing such or having anything to do with a locket.
None of this made sense to Earl anymore: The rumors, the guard, now his son.
“Gasher, you’ve been in this mansion long enough to know the consequences of false accusation. You know what it means to lie against a member of the pack let alone my son?” I am giving you one last chance to tell the truth about the discovery of the locket in your possession.
“I am telling the truth, I swear with everything I have.”
“You have nothing, Gasher. So what are you swearing with?” Earl imputed it by trying to discard his lame speech of innocence.
Gasher could say nothing, it was his fate. Something had told him not to pick the locket but he totally ignored the thought saying he would give it back to Sam. Sam was nowhere to say anything but he knew Earl would call for him soon.
Earl wanted clarity and simple proof that Sam wasn’t the one Gasher spoke about so he asked for Sam.
“Go get Sam down here,” he commanded the guards without looking at any one in particular.
They all left in search of Sam. Some minutes later they came back with the report that Sam wasn’t home. Earl would have none of that, Sabina had a frown written all over her face then with a total kind of disgust to Gasher. She must have heard about the accusation and immediate need of Sam’s presence.
“Call him, tell him to get down here as soon as possible,” he said
Someone must have taken the job of calling Sam because in some minutes, a car made a noisy crack at the engine, it was Sam.
As Sam walked into the room, he met stares from the guards, he knew something was not right. The guards that guarded the room were larger than usual. The one who called him, motioned for him to enter the room.
“Your presence is needed by your father”
Sam didn’t bother to reply, he walked into the room and his eyes met the guard kneeling on the ground, he was shocked to see the fury in his father’s eyes, something dangerous was happening and it concerned him because why was his presence needed urgently. He was about to go see Alisha before the call stopped him, he had to send a text to her after the meeting so they could meet up later in the day or the next day. He didn’t know how approach the situation at hand, no one was saying anything. The room was still and sad, it irked him the more when his father sent a glaring stare at him. He was getting scared but he wanted to know what was truly happening before he could speak up, his father’s large voice filled the air;
“It’s a good thing you are here early because I would have turned this mansion upside down if you hadn't arrived in 30 minutes. I am not sure you have heard about the recent rumors going on in the pack, because you have been all and about-always missing in action and exempting yourself from your duties. Today, a search was conducted to get the culprit and we found a valuable item attached to an affair, it was found in one of the guards closet, while he was summoned for questioning, he explained that the the item belonged to you. So I ask, does this item or rather locket belong to you?” Earl said while fishing out the locket from his inner robe and hanging it in the air so Sam could see it properly.
His eyes widened at the sight of it, he quickly gathered himself together before his features would be seen. While his father spoke, fear gripped him. His father’s tone to him was in the same way he spoke when a decree was to be passed by him. Without sympathy, without solemnity just total comportment. His eyes had turned dark as he spoke to him, at the mention of “Item” he knew he was in deep shit. After, he lied to his parents some days back that was when he discovered that the locket was missing. He knew the danger in speaking the truth and the danger in saying it belonged to him. There was no way in hell he would say it was his, his father would be totally disappointed, he would be locked up too so he was going to prevent anyone from learning the truth.
“Belongs to me?” he said, laughing, confused, and looking at Gasher. “I have never seen this item in my entire life, besides how can you prove it belonged to me, tell me?”
“”It dropped from you some days back, I hoped to send them back to you but it skipped my thoughts and you’ve been away for sometime,” Gasher responded after keeping mute for some time, he knew Sam would lie and do anything to save him name. After he was bundled up, he knew how the whole event would play out-Sam would deny and he would be locked and that was exactly how it was going to be, it happened in movies.
“I do not own this locket, I do not know what you are saying trying to put false accusations on me, to what end? What would it profit you, tell me? You kneel there and lie with my name?” Sam had flared up in defiance, he knew it was the only way to gently wash his hands off the situation, he was going to let the guard suffer for his claim, he thought.
“Father, I do not know anything about the locket."
“Fine, you know nothing about the locket, apparently this is a false accusation, Gasher. You lied to me.”
“Sir, I am not lying, I am not lying, I am saying the truth, it’s Sam's,” he pleaded, but Earl would have none of it, he had given him time to tell the truth.
“Guards, seize him and lock him up,” Earl commanded the rest of the guards on duty. “You may all leave at once," he said, wanting to stay back and rethink the event properly. Once again, the room was quiet, he had just given a decree and it must be obeyed but something just wasn’t right. As he brought out the locket from his robe, he saw the familiarity on Sam’s face almost like he could identify his belongings.
He started pacing round the room looking for something that could be linked with Sam and the locket. There was something about the way Sam denied the accusation immediately. The fact still remains that Gasher will be locked up over the past few days. Sam’s recent absence for the past few days have been suspicious, he left the house early, came back late, and lied necessary.
He was seriously sure that there was something attached, maybe Sam was actually having an affair.
He was going to get to the root of things. While he paced round the room looking for possible solutions the pang on his chest began. There was never a single bit of misinformation from Gester, he told the truth when necessary and didn’t consider trouble as a means to get what he wanted. There was no way he believed Sam’s words. It was obvious his son was hiding something.
He knew what to do but he wanted the rest of the household to be fast asleep, he would perpetuate his plan at night. All of these were to keep his pack safe. As night drew near, he left his chamber and slowly walked towards the guard room, calling on his closest guard who was almost dozing off. He was Derek, Derek was one of the closest guards to him, and he needed him to execute the plan singlehandedly tonight.
“Derek, Derek, I need you to get me Gester. Get him out of the room, I have something to discuss with him,” he said to Derek. Derek passed through the dark hallway down to the cell room where he was still mopping. He felt truly sorry for him but things had to be done that way. He opened the cell door slowly and got him out, preventing him from asking questions till they got to Earl’s inner chamber.
“Gester, I just finished thinking about all you said earlier, you seemed true, you didn’t flinch. Even when you were dragged, you didn’t stop saying the truth about your innocence. Since you said the locket belongs to Sam, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to keep an eye on Sam, I want you to watch his every move, his steps, who he meets up with, who he hangs out with, and I want every single detail of San from now on. You’d report to me each time you find something I need to know” Earl concluded while Gester listened attentively.
“Yes, sir,” Gester replied
“For now, you will be undercover,” Earl said and that was all it took for Gester to do his demands.