Chapter 126: Chapter one hundred and Twenty Six

Kendrick

I saw that tiny reaction, the one people made before they had time to hide it. I stood up slowly. He knew the name, and judging by his face… he knew exactly why I was asking. But he recovered quickly. His shoulders dropped, and his expression shifted into something resembling sympathy.

“Detective Charles Moreau?”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

He leaned back in his chair and sighed.

“I knew him,” he answered almost naturally. “He was a good man.”

I studied his face. He looked down at the desk, his brows drawing together.

“Unfortunately, he died years ago.”

I kept my expression neutral.

“How?”

His eyes lifted to mine. “An arson. A fire broke out at his home late one night. By the time the firefighters arrived, there was nothing they could do.”

He paused. “He and his entire family were inside.” His voice softened. “They didn’t make it out.”

I said nothing because Duff looked genuinely saddened. At least, he was good at pretending.

“It was terrible,” he continued. “The entire community knew the Moreaus. Charles had served this city for years. He was respected.”

“Was the fire accidental?”

His eyes flickered. “That’s what the investigation concluded.”

My phone beeped. I took it out. It was a message from Natasha.

There’s no file on One Love Orphanage from ten years ago.

Why would they leave such top-covered secrets lying around? It was deliberately hidden. Seems like being calm wasn’t working. I had to improvise.

Go wait in the car.

I slipped my phone into my pocket. Time to cut the chase.

“You handled the investigation, didn’t you?”

I lifted my head back up, and a gun was pointed in my face.

“How do you know that? Who sent you?” Duff said, the fear he had been trying to hide showing on his face.

I didn’t flinch at the gun. I drew the chair out and sat down, crossing my leg over the other.

“You just answered it.” I smirked. “An early promotion is what you got from it.”

It was all a guess, but he kept confirming it time and time again.

“I… I don’t know what you are talking about,” he stammered. “Leave my office before I shoot you.”

I slipped my hand down to my boot carefully and unsheathed a knife I always had strapped for safety.

“You can shoot me here, but you know what?” I paused and looked at him, already fidgeting. “I can.”

I lunged the knife at him, and he flinched as the gun dropped out of his grasp.

I missed on purpose. Why kill him when I haven’t gotten the answer I need?

I got up and went over to the table. He scrambled to pick up the gun again, and I stepped on his hand. He cried out.

“Assaulting an officer will get you in jail,” he managed to let out. His face twisted in agony.

“Corruption and bribery will get you hanged.”

I put all my weight on it. He cried out louder.

A knock came at the door.

“Chief, is everything okay over there?”

I clamped my hand over his mouth before he could shout.

“Be careful,” I warned. “Or I would reopen the case in Velmora. What do you think?”

I could already see the horror in his face.

“I’m fine,” he lied.

The footsteps disappeared from the door.

“Now, give me every single detail on what happened in the orphanage.”

“I… I don’t know. I was just newly recruited…”

I pulled my leg from his hand and settled it in between his legs. His breath hitched.

“I will tell you everything I know, please…”

I readied myself and listened.

“Start talking.”

He swallowed.

“After Detective Moreau died, I took over the investigation into the orphanage and the alleged missing children.”

He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“I started receiving threats from anonymous numbers. I brushed them off. Police officers get threats all the time.”

“Then?”

“One day, we received a call about a fire at the orphanage. When we arrived, it was brutal. We barely managed to save a few of the children before putting the fire out.”

His voice shook.

“During the investigation, I discovered the orphanage was much bigger than it appeared. There was an underground bunker.”

My expression hardened.

“A bunker?”

“Yes.”

“What was inside?”

“Chains.” His voice dropped.

“The fire had destroyed almost everything, but the chains survived. That’s when I understood.”

He looked at me.

“The children weren’t missing.”

My stomach tightened.

“They were being kept there.”

My stomach churned at the horror the kid must have endured there.

He paused.

“Before I could report, I got a call from my parents crying. I panicked…” He paused. “A voice told me that I had two choices. Wrap up the case and get a promotion.”

I frowned. Why would he take his parents as leverage and offer a benefit in return? That wasn’t needed since… something was wrong.

I pressed my feet hard on his balls, and he grimaced.

“I’m saying all I know.”

“You are lying! Why were you offered the position?”

He swallowed. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face.

“He said he needed eyes in Cortha. I swear…”

I released my legs.

Eyes in Cortha? Does that mean he knows who it was?

“Give me a name or a description.”

“I have known. My parents came back completely blanked out, like a clean slate. The numbers never existed… After that, I was never contacted… neither was I ever removed from this position…” His voice cracked. “I just stayed put. I didn’t want to end up like Detective Moreau and his wife.”

“What about his daughter?”

He paused.

“You knew she wasn’t in the house, didn’t you?”

“She wasn’t?” He asked me, surprised.

That was genuine from his end. I just knew.

“There were three bodies burnt beyond recognition that day,” he described further.

At this point, more mystery doors had been opened, and I needed to solve it all.

I grabbed him by his shoulder, pulling him up to his chair with enough force to remind him I would do what I promised if he dared me.

“Give me names and addresses of the kids and workers from that orphanage. Every damn thing now!”

“I don’t have them, but I know they were all transferred to…” He typed on his computer, then brought out a pen and paper and wrote something down. “This address.”

He looked up at me.

“You will find your answers there… please keep it a secret—”

I used my hand to hit the side of his neck. He passed out. I didn’t trust him enough to show him my back.

I grabbed the paper and made my way out of the office through the police reception and back to the car.

I slammed the door shut and took a deep breath.

Three bodies were found in the Moreaus’ home, and Diana was alive? Who was the person that was burnt then?

“I was about to come to get you…” Natasha broke me out of my thoughts.

I turned. Her light brown eyes were on me.

“Did you find something?”

“Another address,” I said. “Let’s go.”

She hummed, then pulled out an ointment from her jacket. She pushed me back to the chair, then leaned forward so close I could make out her sweat pores and see myself in her pupils.

My breath caught.

She applied it gently on my chest.

“Do you carry that randomly?”

She ignored my question.

“Do you like the boss’s woman?”

“What?” I frowned.

“Do you feel anything for Diana?” She said every word clearer, with no pausing as she continued applying it.

Where was that coming from?

“When she shot the boss, you didn’t let me kill her… you just protected her, and now you’re investigating this so diligently. I just couldn’t help but wonder…”

She blew a breeze from her mouth onto it.

“My duty is Alessia.” I moved her hand away.

“I only do what she wants of me.”

She nodded slowly. She pulled back enough to see my face.

“Do you like men, then?”

I moved her further.

“Natasha, where’s all this questioning coming from?”

“I like you a lot…” she confessed.

I went still.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn’t look away.

“I want to know if I stand a chance or not.”

Her brutal honesty left me speechless.

\~~~~~~~~

Alessia

It was four days of the doctors running tests on Thomas to determine his state. I could feel the unease in Diana. Her muscles were tense. Even though she tried so hard to hide it, she was bad at it.

Thomas was already in bed. He had insisted I read the bedtime story personally. It was fun, but he said I was too stiff. I made a mental note to work on that. I chuckled.

The door to the room opened.

“You need to learn how to say no, Alessia,” Diana chastised.

I turned, closing the final button of my fit.

My brows lifted. Her hand was folded across her chest. Little and stunning.

“I need to learn that too. I have a whole lot of things to learn, then.”

I stepped forward, pulling her to me.

“It’s just four days, and his room is already overflowing with human-sized Legos and Transformers games and all the things I can’t even name.”

“If Thomas likes it, he gets it.”

I pressed my nose to her hair while inhaling the shampoo.

“That’s the problem. He is now spoiled, and you are enabling him and his ridiculous requests. He needs discipline.” She sighed.

“That’s true,” I agreed. “You do the disciplining while I stick to my role.”

She shot me a look.

“Alessia…”

“We will talk about it tomorrow.”

She cut me off.

“Come to bed. I want to hold my wife.”

She looked up at me, her cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink. How she blushes at the slightest flirting.

I led her to the bed. Pulled off her robe. She had on a pyjamas shirt and shorts. I bent down and removed the slippers she had on. Rubbed her feet.

“You’ve been standing too much.”

She watched me quietly.

“He will be fine.”

Her face turned grim.

“You don’t know that… what if he is not fixable… what if everything goes wrong and…”

I pressed my lips to hers, shutting off the bad thoughts. By the time I pulled away, I was already looming over her. Her fingers tightened around my shirt. My eyes were already dilated. Desire poured out of me in waves. She leaned forward for me.

I rolled off her.

“N-no what ifs…” I returned to the conversation before it turned heated.

\~~~~~

Diana

I respected and appreciated her for pulling away for my sake, but I wanted to give it a try.

“Alessia—” I reached out to pull her back.

“I looked into your life in Cortha…” I started.

My hand froze in place.

My heartbeat erupted.

She shifted, adjusting to look at me.

“I couldn’t help but want to know. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine. We can just go to bed—”

“We can,” I cut her off. She was part of my life now. It’s high time she knew.

“Cortha used to be the only home I knew…” I started. “My father worked as a detective, my mom was a teacher at the kindergarten…”

Alessia didn’t interrupt. She just watched.

I looked down at my hands.

“That day, my father had these visitors… I didn’t see because he asked me to stay inside, but…”

I smiled.

“I was pretty stubborn.”

I shrugged my shoulders. Remembering when life was carefree and easy. Going back in time hurts, but I needed to do this.

“I overheard my father and some lady talking about One Love Orphanage… I knew because I always visited there with my mother…”

I wiped the tears from my face.

“I thought it was his normal detective stuff… I went back to my room… I heard my mum calling me to take out the trash… everything happened so fast… when I woke up, I…”

My chest tightened.

Breathing became hard.

Alessia reached out and held my shoulders.

“You don’t have to tell me…”

“I want to… please let me…”

She nodded.

“I was in that orphanage… it was…”

I couldn’t finish.

How could I explain something that still lived inside my body?

How could I describe the years I had spent trying to forget?

“It was horror, Alessia… he… he…”

A sob broke out of my throat.

Alessia pulled me into her.

“It’s okay… shhh…”

“It’s all in the past. I know he won’t hurt me now, but they seem to follow me like a shadow. I don’t know what to do… I thought I finally escaped, but I’m still stuck…”

I could feel her warmth trying to seep into me and comfort me. It worked. It really did. She was accepting me even though I felt dirty.

We stayed like that for a few minutes until my sobs settled down.

“The lady…” she started carefully. “Did you see her face?”

I shook my head.

“How did you make it out?”

She asked me.

I locked gazes with her.