Chapter 20

Fred had listened to the entire story patiently. He had agreed with my deductions and completely believed my gut instincts. 

Even without me asking, he had said that he would come to Emberhill immediately and take over the situation. He was glad that I had finally found the courage to confront the culprits and have them arrested. 

He was going to take the earliest flight to Emberhill and bring his team along with him as well. I predicted that even with his privilege of flying for emergency work, he still would not reach Emberhill until this evening. 

Fred had told me that since B had seen me at Kol's house yesterday, as was evident by the drawn curtain, he was going to be more vigilant and active now. B was sure that I had put aside my differences with Kol and could now be easily lured into his trap through Kol. This was why Fred was treating this as an emergency. Anything could happen at anytime. 

Until he arrived, he had given me a task to complete. The result of this particular task would establish the path that we would have to take to ensure Kol's safety and get B arrested simultaneously. 

The task was simple and yet difficult at the same time. I was supposed to find out if B was alone or he had an accomplice or even multiple accomplices working with him. Only Kol could give me this answer. He was there with B. He had to have an idea at least.

I was somewhat sure, and I knew that Fred was too, that B was acting alone. He was not known to act without his dead accomplice, who I had decided to call A. And since he was avenging the death of A, it made no sense that he would easily replace A with someone else. B was a rigid person.

I paced around the whole house, racking my mind for a plan to accomplish the task. 

Was I even capable of doing it?

How? How should I find out?

Give me an idea, Kol. I don't want to fail you. Give me a hint. Just one. 

I came to a sudden halt, the lightbulb going off in my brain. 

Wait. Hold on.

The book. 

My hand flew up to my mouth to conceal the excited scream that hit the back of my throat. 

The book that Kol had gifted me. The signed copy one. The one that he had said was his favourite too. That book…it was the story of a captive. The protagonist of the story was also held captive in her own house. 

This could work. It was absolutely stupid and risky, but it could work. Sometimes foolish things worked better than well thought out plans.

Yes. I could try it. 

In one particular scene of the book, the protagonist was being held on gunpoint as she spoke to her fiancé' on the phone. The fiancé', who knew she was in danger, was working with the police to rescue the protagonist. He asked her a double meaning question which was subtle enough to escape the captor's scrutiny and yet gave the fiancé' the answer he was seeking. 

In an unbelievably ironic way, the fiancé' had asked that question to know how many people were there with the protagonist. It was the same thing that I wanted to know now.

If I was somehow able to speak to Kol, then I could literally just ask the same question and have that same scene play out. Kol would immediately understand what I was doing and what my intentions were. And I would have all my answers.

I can do this. 

I placed a hand on my chest to calm my racing heart. Beads of sweat trickled down my forehead and I took a seat on the nearest couch to steady myself. 

The thrill of having found a way and the fear of actually putting the idea into action made my hands tremble. 

What if it all went wrong? What if it did not work? What if Kol did not understand my reference in his current fearful state? What if B got onto my plan? What if I could not speak to Kol at all? 

I shook my head furiously to drive away those intrusive thoughts. 

Calm down, Zuri, calm down. 

This is going to work, okay? No matter what, this has to work. There's no other way. 

My eyes fell on the wall clock. Seconds were ticking by. Time was running out. We had to make a move before B did. We had to act before he got a chance to. 

I took in a deep breath and unlocked my phone. 

Kol, help me, okay? 

My fingers hovered over Kol's name. 

Just do it, Zuri. 

I clicked on call. 

As the dialer rings fell into my ear, I swallowed the lump in my throat. 

Although I knew that he was not going to answer the call, my heart was in my mouth. There was a very slight chance that he might just pick up.

The call ended with no response. 

My heartbeat showed no signs of slowing down. I leaned back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. Now I could text him.

After a few seconds of breathing in and out deeply, I picked up the phone again and opened my messages. The last time that I had texted Kol was more than a week back. 

I licked my lips and began to type out the messages.

Hi, How are you? 

You did not answer my call. I know you're still angry with me. But come on, Kol, let's move on now. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. 

Please just talk to me. I feel so bad. You haven't even been coming to the cafe. Ignoring me to the best of your abilities, huh? 

I miss you. Just text me, at least. 

I'll be waiting. 

I read the message again and then clicked on send.