Chapter 73 Something is Fishy!
“Oh my God!” I shouted and fell to the ground.
“Please, I’m harmless,” the man said, slowing down and looking around.
Dave turned to me and hurriedly helped me to my feet.
“It’s fine,” he muttered gently.
“Please, help me. I’m being chased. I don’t know who they are… please,” the man said, breathing heavily and almost crying as he rubbed his palms together.
“Just stay here… I will be right back,” Dave whispered to me and turned to the man.
“Calm down,” he said, gesturing at him to breathe in and out as he moved slowly towards him.
“Who are they and why are you being chased?” he asked.
“I don’t know… I really don’t,” the man retorted, still breathing heavily.
“Okay… just calm down. You will be safe,” Dave assured.
He took out his phone and dialed a number.
“Hello commissioner, please I need you to send some of your officers to the location I want to send to you now.”
“Please make it snappy. We are in danger here,” he added.
I watched him in awe even though it was understandable that he would know someone as influential as the police commissioner.
The man slumped down on the ground and buried his head in his palm while Dave walked over to me.
“We will soon leave,” he said as he bent down in front of me and patted my back.
Soon, the police arrived.
They led the man to their car, one of them followed us in Dave’s and we all drove to the police station.
When we got there, the man explained everything that had happened to him and he was asked to write a statement.
My heart was still beating very fast even though I knew we were safe at the police station. I had had enough and couldn’t wait to go back home.
Dave noticed how restless I was and excused himself.
“Hey, I’m so sorry I had to make you go through that,” he bent down in front of me and reached for my hands.
“No… You don’t have to be. You didn’t plan for that to happen,” I replied, forcing a small smile.
“They said the man will stay under protective custody at the station overnight… so we can go now,” he muttered.
“Alright.”
He led me to the car and drove me straight to my house.
“Let’s pretend tonight was a bad dream,” he glanced towards me, his expression softening.
“Unless you want to talk about it over dinner tomorrow,” he added with a soft smirk.
“Dinner sounds great… but only if there are no running men,” I laughed despite myself.
“Deal,” he smiled, reaching over to squeeze my hand again.
This time, he didn’t let go until we pulled into my street.
He stepped out of the car, opened the door, and helped me to step out.
“Get some rest. I will call you in the morning,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he locked eyes with me.
“Thank you,” I replied, not breaking eye contact.
He smiled and hopped back into the car.
I watched his taillights disappear down the road, then walked inside, locking the door behind me.
Just as I wanted to open the door to my room, Lena walked out of hers, her arms crossed and one of her eyebrows raised so high that it wanted to touch her eyebrow.
“Spill… right… now,” she said, tapping her feet slowly against the ground.
“I just walked in,” I retorted lazily.
I walked into my room, kicked off my shoes, and dropped my bag on the table.
Lena followed right after me.
“Joan Cole, you’ve been gone for five hours and forty-seven minutes… and before you ask… yes, I counted it, so I have to ask you… did anything romantic happen,” she said, winking and nudging my shoulder.
I sighed and sank onto the bed. There was no way I could avoid her like that. She pulled out a chair, placed it opposite me, and immediately dropped into it.
She leaned forward so much that her elbows were practically on my lap, her chin was in her hand and her eyes beamed with anticipation.
“Okay,” I started, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“It was just casual talking, and laughing. I came late because of a very terrible experience,” I added, rubbing my temple.
“Terrible? What did he do?” Lena gasped in disbelief.
“It wasn’t Dave… we were about to leave when a man ran towards us like a wild animal,” I explained.
“I had never heard something like that happen to someone in real life before.”
“Oh my God! What happened after?”
“Turned out he was being chased by God knows who… Dave was such a gentleman though,” I blushed.
“Hmm,” Lena smiled, poking my lap.
“He calmed him down and called the police commissioner to send some officers to our location,” I added.
“Wow… what a sweet soul,” she retorted, leaning back against the chair.
“So he ruined what was supposed to be a romantic moment,” she hissed.
“You are not even concerned about the man’s story,” I said, raising an eyebrow.
“They don’t chase people for no reason. I’m sure he did something to be chased for,” she replied.
“Come on. That’s insensitive.”
“Maybe,” she added, her face blank.
“What happened to the man after?” she asked.
“He’s still with the police. Dave said he would check on him tomorrow,” I replied.
“Can I sleep now?” I muttered, rubbing my hands together to plead.
“Sure. I’m going to my room too,” she replied.
With that, she stood up and left, the door clicking softly behind her.
CASSANDRA’S POV
Alex hadn’t returned from work and the house was too quiet.
I walked out of my room and went straight to his room. I turned the doorknob, and to my advantage, the door wasn’t locked.
“Perfect,” I muttered under my breath.
The room smelled like his expensive cologne and I hated how familiar his scent had become.
I looked around thinking of where to start from.
I asked myself if I should start from the nightstand or the dresser.
But nah… that would be too obvious. He wouldn’t place his study key somewhere that was visible.
After a few minutes of scanning, I dropped to my knees beside the bed and slid my hand between the bed and the box spring.
There was nothing there.
I checked under his pillows.
Still nothing.
Then I moved to the closet, searching through his jacket pockets, touching the lining to look for anything hard and small.
I saw different things except the key.
Frustration crept in and I opened his drawer with a force enough to break it down, and pushed it back in when I didn’t see what I was looking for.
I needed the merger files as soon as possible.
But without the key, I can’t get in there.
Desperate, I scanned the room again, but I was careful enough not to scatter anything.
I even checked his running shoes by the door.
“Damn it,” I hissed under my breath.
Then I walked out of the room and went back to the guest room.
Oh, no. My room.
I banged the door behind me, leaned against it, and let my head fall back with a soft thud.
I reached for my phone on the nightstand and scrolled through the contacts.
I clicked on the contact I saved with M and let my thumb pause on the screen.
“What am I going to say?” I muttered to myself, tapping my forehead slightly with a finger.
Before I could tap the call button, a message popped up on my screen.
It was from an unknown number.
I opened it and scanned through the message.
“I’m at the police station. If you don’t want me to mention your name, make sure I’m free from danger.”
My heart banged against my chest and my fingers went numb.
The phone slipped from my hand and landed on the ground with a thud.
“No… no… no,” I mumbled, running my fingers through my hair as I stared at the phone on the ground.