Chapter 71 Going Prepared...

Chapter 71 Going Prepared...
Adrian's POV

I was still shaken by the symbol on the woman's wrist. It was still fresh, which meant someone had carved it there recently.

I tried not to think about it as I helped Styles back to his hospital room.

Once he was seated on the bed, I relaxed into the chair beside him. He turned to me.

“Adrian, tell me what's going on.”

“Which part?” I muttered, honestly not knowing where to start.

Styles paused for a moment as he assessed me before speaking.

“Tell me everything.”

And I did just that.

I told him about Aster, the test subjects, the experiments, and Dael—every damn thing he wanted to know.

When I was done, Styles had a bewildered look on his face, like he had just seen a ghost.

“When I said everything, I sure as hell wasn't expecting all that,” he admitted.

I nodded, agreeing with him.

“So, you have a twin, huh?”

“Seems like it,” I replied, not bothering to sugarcoat it. “How on earth did I not even remember him?”

I felt so angry at my parents that if I had been given a gun right then, I might have done something I would regret.

Styles placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“So, have you met him? Talked to him?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“I only know him from my memories and the files I found. I've never met him personally, and I don't even know if I ever will.”

Styles nodded quietly, looking straight ahead. I knew he wanted to ask something I might not like.

“After... everything you've found out about your possible twin, do you want to meet him?”

I didn't have an answer to that question.

I wanted to know who he was, what he knew, and what had happened to him. But did I actually want to know him?

I wasn't entirely sure.

“Even if I did, I have no idea where to start,” I told Styles truthfully.

He nodded in agreement.

“I think that's why that Evelyn woman was killed.”

That got my attention.

“What?”

I raised my head to stare at him.

“Think about it. We find Evelyn in the same hospital as you, dead, with a symbol on her wrist and the name R-03 written underneath it. Then she tells you to run because they're coming. Doesn't that tell you something?”

I shook my head, not entirely sure where he was going with this.

Styles sighed.

“I think Evelyn was tracking you and R-03 down. But it seems like someone didn't want her to find you. The same person she was running from.”

He paused.

“Maybe, by some stroke of luck, she found you, but they made sure to kill her before she could find Dael.”

I furrowed my brows, confused.

“But why? Why wouldn't they want her to find us? Isn't that their life's goal?”

Styles shrugged.

“There could be so many reasons. Maybe they didn't want her to reveal some important information. Or maybe the people who killed her weren't even from Aster.”

Styles' reasoning made sense to an extent.

But how could they have gotten in there to kill Evelyn?

Unless the person was in the hospital... with her at that time.

My eyes widened at the realization.

“I need to see the CCTV footage.”

I was about to run out of the room when Styles stopped me.

“I'm coming with you.”

“No, Styles. You're badly injured.”

“I'm fine, Adrian. Besides, I'm tired of sitting in this hellhole of a room. Let me come with you.”

Knowing Styles, he wouldn't listen to me once he had set his mind on something.

So, I let him come.

I rushed to the reception desk, pushing Styles in a wheelchair.

“Sorry to disturb you, but can I see your camera footage again? It's extremely important.”

Styles showed her his badge.

She gave me a skeptical look, probably because of my erratic behavior earlier, before sighing and signaling a guard to take us there.

When we got there, the FBI officers were just leaving.

I cursed internally.

“Hey, gentlemen,” one of them greeted.

Styles smiled calmly at them.

“What brings you both here?”

“Oh, some files from Adrian's car went missing, and they were extremely important, so we're here to see if we can find the person who took them,” Styles explained.

I nodded in agreement.

He was always a much better liar than me.

The officers didn't seem convinced. They looked from me to Styles before giving us forced smiles.

“Do you need any help?” the other officer asked.

Styles waved a hand dismissively.

“I'm sure the hospital staff will be more than enough. Thank you, though.”

“Of course. Anytime.”

They slowly cleared out of our way before strolling out.

We could both tell they were suspicious, but they couldn't act on it because they had nothing to go on.

We entered the control room and informed the technician what we wanted to watch. He obliged, taking us back to the footage from when Evelyn first arrived at the hospital.

“You know, the cops asked to watch the same thing,” he told us.

I suspected that anyway.

We watched as Evelyn entered the hospital, followed by someone else.

She wore a cap that hid most of her face, while the other person wore a hoodie that completely concealed their features.

For some reason, Evelyn wrote her real name on the register before being allowed into the hospital, followed by the other person.

The footage showed her entering the examination room.

She turned to her partner, who handed her something.

“Pause,” I demanded.

The security technician immediately stopped the footage.

“Zoom into that.”

He did as I said, and there, in Evelyn's hand, was a ring.

The same ring Raven's mother had been wearing in the photograph we found.

Styles and I exchanged a look.

“Keep playing.”

The footage continued.

We watched as Evelyn pressed the ring against something before looking around.

She didn't look like she was there for any medical examination.

She looked around for a while before raising her head toward the camera in the room.

Then the footage cut off.

When it finally came back on, Evelyn was lying on the bed in a hospital gown.

Her clothes were gone.

So was her companion.

“What happened to the damaged footage?” I asked the technician.

He shrugged.

“This was all we got. My guess is somebody must have hacked the cameras and turned them off when the crime was taking place. Or maybe they just wiped the whole thing out.”

I nodded.

“Oh, and we also found this in the room.”

He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Styles.

“I forgot to give it to the officers earlier, so I figured since you're also a cop, you should have it.”

“Thank you.”

Styles signaled for us to leave the room.

Once we were outside, he removed the object from the evidence bag.

It was a GPS tracker.

“A GPS tracker?” Styles said, examining the object.

I took it from him and studied it carefully.

“Do you think she was tracking you?” Styles asked.

I shook my head.

“I've studied a lot about GPS tracking since my military training, and this tracker is pointing somewhere else.”

“There is a location installed on it, and it isn't ours,” I informed him.

“Then where?”

“I have no idea, but I intend to find out.”

I immediately wheeled Styles back to his room before shoving the GPS tracker into my pocket.

“I've got to go,” I told him.

“Then take me with you,” he offered.

“No.”

I refused immediately.

“I can't. You're injured, Styles. If where I'm going turns out to be dangerous, you'll only become a liability.”

He wanted to argue. I could tell.

But he knew I was right.

“Fine. But don't get yourself killed,” he said harshly. “Raven would never forgive me.”

At the mention of her name, a certain sting hit me.

All I could do was swallow it as I forced out a grin before rushing out of the room.

I had a strong feeling that I was getting closer to solving this mystery and finding Raven.

All I needed to do was believe.

As I entered my car, I paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

I couldn't remember the last time I had gotten a good night's sleep, but I didn't care.

I could sleep once Raven was safe.

I pulled out a gun from the compartment in my car and checked that it was loaded before shoving it into my waistband.

I had no idea where I was going or what I was walking into.

But I sure as hell was going to be prepared.