Chapter 25: Find the fraud

“Who could have sent this?” Lana managed to say that after she had sent Alvin a text message, she would meet them at Ivy’s office.

“I have no fucking idea who sent this,” Ivy let out angrily.

She took a peek at the chopped fingers with clotted dark blood in the box.

Ivy’s face was squeezed, disgusted by the view.

“Who do you think it is—like the victim? It has to be someone we know,” Lama pointed out as Ivy’s eyes lifted to meet hers.

“I have a hunch,”

The door creaked open, diverting their attention.

Alvin hastily walked in wearing a light blue shirt halfway buttoned and black pants.

“Hey ladies,” Alvin said, rolling up his sleeves like a detective on the search.

He leaned and kissed Ivy on the cheek and shortly waved at Lana, who forced a smile and rubbed her neck lightly.

She's always had a thing for Alvin ever since Ivy introduced them, but he's never looked her way or seen her more than Ivy’s friend, or rather his friend.

“Tell me, are you okay?” he asked Ivy while Lana shoved her secret thoughts away.

“I'm not okay, Vin! Someone sent a very interesting package. It's over there,” she pointed at the box.

Alvin reluctantly stared at the package, guessing the content. The small note caught his attention, instantly he knew that things were about to take a different turn. He composed himself not to scare the women.

“I have some interesting news too,” he looked away from the box and turned to them, pocketing his hands casually.

“How are you not spooked by that THING?!” Lana snapped, rolling her eyes.

“Well, who do you think might have sent that?” Ivy chimed in.

“On my way here, I was informed that Zoe Tallen has been murdered by unknown men,” he finally announced as Ivy’s face dropped with slight guilt.

“I knew that things would change the moment she said that she wouldn't give the name,” Ivy lashed out.

“You have got to chill out,”

“Chilll out?” she reiterated and scoffed. “Vin, could this get a little less bloody? I'm so done hearing a string of deaths,” Ivy said.

“I know that this is odd but we can't stop looking, Ivy. It's either we keep on looking through each address or find another route,” Lana opted crossing get arms.

“A lot better than putting their lives in harm's way,” Ivy added.

“Meanwhile, they have to be forgiven for fucking your husband?” Alvin pointed out, masking his disappointment.

“Or he was fucking them at every given moment,” Ivy fired bsvl and there was a bit of silence for some seconds before she continued. “I have a meeting now and by 11 AM,” she said, walking to her desk to grab her file,

“I'll wait for you until you are done with the meeting here,” Alvin suggested as he sat on the couch, crossing his legs with an undiluted mannerism that conveyed ego and authority.

“I don't need you chaperoning me, Alvin. We spoke about that,” Ivy clarified as she walked to the door.

“With that note from... Probably the bad guys? It's best if Alvin went with you to the company later,” Lana added as Alvin shrugged with a prideful smirk.

Ivy gave it an instant thought, “Okay, you win this time!” Ivy said with a small smile. “I’ll see you soon. And thanks Lana, see you at dinner,” added Ivy as she finally headed out of the office

When the door closed, Alvin and Lana turned to each other.

“How did you get to forgive you?” he spat out.

“Oh, you thought that I wouldn't...” she snapped contemptuously.

“You were better off at length, ‘cause why the fuck have you come? To cause more problems? You had one single task to perform and all you did was screw up…” Alvin scolded.

“Alvin, for the 1000th time, I didn't know he was going to the airport on that day. I could've instead,” she defensively said.

Alvin scoffed, “Yeah, a simple mission has screwed everything. Look, do all you can to support Ivy until these motherkers are wiped out. Can you do that?” he asked with a sharp gaze.

“Yes, Vin, I will. Happy?” she snapped. “You talk as if you were entirely innocent, let’s not forget that I know your shitty games. If Ivy finds out that—”

“Ivy will find out nothing, you hear me?” he narrowed his gaze in a sinister manner. “Everything I did and I'm doing is for her safety and sanity. If you want to play smarter, you're welcome to try. I’ll be happy to chop off those tits,” he snapped and looked away.

“Whatever,” Lana snapped grabbing her bag. “I'm off to meet someone,” she added.

“Who?” he asked, piquing his interest.

“Someone you don't have to know about,” Lana snapped and headed out of the office.

Alvin grabbed his phone and dialed his personal assistant.

“Hey, Gary? Follow Lana and report back to me who she is with and where she is going,” he said and hung up.

Alvin and Lana had always shared a common goal ever since they learned about Nate and his dirty business, until Lana made one mistake that contributed to a whole lot of havoc.

…

Sometime later, Alvin and Ivy arrived at Nitro Groups to meet with Raul. Although Raul didn't like the fact that Alvin was present, he had to find a way to speak with Ivy privately.

“I'm going down to get some snacks, want some baby?” Alvin asked Ivy when he sensed that Raul didn't want to talk while he was there.

“Erm, sure yeah!” Ivy nodded thankfully.

“I’ll be back soon,” he placed a kiss on her head and headed out. As soon as the door jammed, Raul began.

“I don't trust that guy one bit—Nate never did,”

“And I don't trust you either,” Ivy teased with a faint smile. “By the way, why are we here?” she asked.

“I dug some diggings and discovered where the company’s money was sent. I found an account,” he said, shoving the monitor in her face.

“Oh, wow! You did?!” she asked focusing on the screen as she scrolled from top to bottom. There was a list of accounts, but one was frequent.

“Interesting,” she let out, narrowing gee gaze. “Who is this… Keanu Spencer? It's a frequent account on the statement…” she pointed out, lifting her gaze to meet Raul’s unfazed gaze.

“Yeah, I got through to the account who strangely retired after Nate’s death. I thought that Nate’s death was ordinary but it's very… dark,” he admitted and Ivt understood what he meant.

She sighed, drumming her manicured fingers on the desk.

“I know right? It's been like that for me for months,” she confessed. “By the way, who's Keanu Spencer?” she asked.

“From the accountant’s explanation, she has no idea that Nate didn't make huge sums of transfers in person at the bank. Someone went for him,” Raul said, loosening his necktie.

“Went for him? Nate has no work assistant or friends I didn't know about. I know just you and Alvin to be frequent in his life,” Ivy pointed out and scoffed.

“It's not someone we know either, it is Keanu’s messenger. Someone we have to find out,” Raul firmly stated as she nodded lightly, thrown into an abyss of confusion.

The door freaked open. It was Alvin, he walked in with a frown as he put the snacks on the table adjacent to the desk.

“Everything okay?” Ivy asked him with concern.

“Who invited the cop here? Detective Calvin and why?” he let out splitting his gaze between Raul and Ivy. But most importantly, Ivy.