Chapter 76: On Purpose

“Why did you suddenly ask about her?” Marcus asked with a note of bafflement.

“What was her name again?” she questioned. “I keep thinking that this Sarah Mitch looks a little familiar but I can’t pinpoint. Now that I think about it, she does look a bit like Casandra.”

Now that Mendez thought about it, he also found Sarah familiar. He suddenly remembered the look of recognition and mild horror in her eyes when she first saw him. He was so preoccupied with talking to William and the next time to George, he hadn’t taken a better look at her.

He looked at the file on his computer and went through the photos he had. “Cera…” Mendez said in a whisper. “Casandra followed the Cavanaugh tradition and named her with a C. But her name was so common that everyone in the neighborhood called her Sarah.”

Vera sensed the strangeness in Mendez’s tone, but because he was mumbling, she couldn’t make out what he was saying. “Cera, you said?” she asked, just to be sure.

“Mrs. Stone, I need to go back and take a look at something,” he said urgently. Before Vera could respond, he had already hung up the phone.

Vera looked at the phone and furrowed her brow. “Did he hang up on you?” Barn asked. “You talked an awful lot to him about what you want, though,” he huffed.

“He is already working on doing a background check. Did you want me to ask why he hadn’t gone to sleep yet?” Vera snapped back. “He acted really weird just now.”

Barn raised a brow. “Wasn’t Mendez new in the business when you commissioned him to take care of the Cavanaugh woman?” Barn asked.

Vera hummed. “She was a really smart one. I went to her and told her that I was in a relationship with her husband and she didn’t believe me. She said she trusted in him explicitly.” She sighed. “But she couldn’t deny the truth when Phillip brought me to his home and told her that I was pregnant.”

Barn scoffed. “And what a drama it was. She really left, huh?”

Vera turned her head in his direction. “I worked really hard to make that happen. It wasn’t easy to scare Casandra. That too when she was so pregnant. I really didn’t think she would give birth safely because of all the stress I gave her.”

“You are an evil woman,” Barn grumbled.

“How else would I have gotten where I am?” she sneered.

- - - - -

William was a little unstable as they entered his house. Sarah switched on all the lights and held his forearm until they reached the bedroom.

She seated him on the bed before going to the bathroom and changing out of her clothes. The red dress had the scent of smoke and alcohol on it and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. She washed up and scurried back into the bedroom to find William laying on the bed with one hand over his eye. He was trying hard to block the light out.

Even though she did a lot of work, it was nothing compared to the responsibility and load William had on his shoulder. Moreover, he was going around to the politicians he knew and was connected with to ask for their recommendations. It was not easy. Barn was a force every politician was scared of, so finding someone successfully to undercut him and present William’s plan was close to impossible.

But William had succeeded in persuading someone who wouldn’t stab him in the back.

Sarah gently placed a hand on his shoulder to see if he was awake. He removed his hand and squinted at her.

“I should change out of my clothes,” he grumbled. “Or you won’t get any sleep tonight,” he added when he saw her open her mouth to protest.

Indeed, she hated the scent of alcohol on clothes, but if it was William and his comfort, she could put up with it for a night. But once he insisted, she couldn’t say anything.

He groaned as he pushed off the bed and walked over to the closet for a change of clothes. His cellphone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. Every motion he made had an added irritation to it. It made Sarah chuckle but she pressed her lips together when he looked over his shoulder with a playful glare.

“Mm…” William said into the phone, devoid of the energy to even greet Luca, who was on the other side.

“Mr. President, I found some information on Phillip Stone’s daughter.”

“Send it to me over the mail. Also, send the monthly report; I will go through it when I have some time.”

He hung up quickly and entered the shower. He had just turned on the shower when his phone rang again. Usually, he would get out and answer it himself, but that day, he felt lethargic.

“Sarah!” he called out.

“Yeah?” she shouted back and walked over to the door, thinking he had forgotten his towel or something.

“Can you get the phone for me? The door is open.”

Sarah didn’t think much of it and went inside and picked up the call.

“Mr. President, I have sent the report. Can you respond with a confirmation? HR specifically asked everyone to do it.” Even Luca sounded fed up with the micromanaging.

“It’s me. He is showering,” Sarah explained.

Luca became silent. “Oh.” He gulped. “I will hang up, then.”

Sarah said goodbye before cutting the call. She set the phone down on the sink when she realized how it sounded to the other person. The person was showering but she picked up the phone instead. Didn’t it paint a picture of two people showering together and someone mistakenly picking up the call?

She huffed and knocked on the shower wall. “You did that on purpose.”

“Mm. Seeing you while I am in the shower wakes me up,” William joked. “Would you mind responding to his email? The report should help you with your planning, so go through it while I am in here.”

Sarah gave him a brilliant smile and skipped to the office. She logged into his laptop and opened his email. She had downloaded the report when she noticed another unread message with a name she knew.

Cera Stone.

The happiness she felt evaporated. She clicked on the email and read through the familiar information. She had never thought someone would look for her. And she didn’t think it would be William. She gulped as she went over every sentence.

She was so engrossed that she didn’t hear the approaching footsteps.

“Are you done?” William asked.

Sarah hastily closed the laptop and sat straight. William had already peeked at the screen and knew what she had read.

“Do you have something to ask me?”

Her voice trembled. “Why are you looking for Cera Stone?”