Find me to breathe

Part 17

"Hi boss, we found Michael. We were trying to intercept him before he boarded his flight. Unfortunately, when we arrived. It looks like someone else found him first."

"Send me the clips of him at the airport. Do you have any clue who took Michael?"

"We think it's Bobby's team, but we need to do more research before confirming."

"Keep me posted. We must find the missing goods before the week is over."

Alex hung up the phone and walked toward his computer. I overheard pieces of the conversation and followed him. On his screen was a video of Michael at the ticketing counter before being intercepted by a few men. One of the men leaned in and whispered something to Michael while pressing something against Michael's back. Michael looked semi-shocked then without any sign of struggle, followed the men and exited the airport.

Suddenly, this whole mystery made sense to me. I stated, "Michael must have a twin! It makes zero sense otherwise."

Alex gave me a look as if I was stupid and quickly shot my idea down. "He doesn't have one. I must admit. The resemblance is remarkable." Re-watching the video, Alex further stated, "even his actions are the same."

"Like what?" I asked.

Alex replayed the video for my benefit and said, "you see here. When Michael takes out his phone, he always shuffles within his pocket twice. His phone is almost always in his left pocket too. Does ghost Michael have a phone with him? You can observe."

"Michael is not here" I replied.

"Feels like Michael comes and goes"

"If Bobby has Michael should we reach out to him?" I asked.

"Whoever has Michael will likely reach out to us proactively. We won't need to waste our effort. Of course, it would have been best for us to find Michael first to understand why he was trying to leave the country. There's always an advantage in finding the suspect first."

Alex's prediction was correct, and his phone started ringing.

"Hello, you want me to go to your office." Alex nodded in agreement to the other party then he frowned.

After finishing his conversation, Alex looked at me in an extremely threatening way. He slowly said, "How dare you lie to me?" I felt chills run down my spine.

Taking a step back in a hurry, I winced from the pain in my leg due to the quick movement. Ignoring my expression, Alex kept moving forward and threatened, "Michael isn't dead. Who sent you? You have one minute to explain yourself before you start regretting that you've ever met me."

My brain froze for a few seconds before it started ringing with alarm bells. Internally, I bemoaned that this was so far off from what I expected - I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to return to my normal lifestyle prior to seeing a ghost. I started rambling about everything that I knew hoping that Alex believed me.

"I really haven't been lying to you. I have met Michael in a ghost form. Think about it.. how could I have known about all of this without Michael around." I looked up with eyes and crossed my hands in a begging motion. "You've got to believe me."

Squinting his eyes, Alex said, "You better pray that the person that Bobby brought back is a fake lead, otherwise you can join this 'Michael' that you claim to see." Alex sinisterly slides his hand down my face and smiled. He then said, "Let's go bring our Michael back now."

Slightly depressed, I followed Alex out of the office and went to Bobby's shipyard warehouse.

In the car, Alex asked me. "Where's Michael? Back yet to prove your innocence? Can you call him?"

I gave him a dumbfounded look and thought, "Is this guy serious? Does he think I have a ghost sensor or ghost communication device or something? If it could be helped, I wouldn't even talk to Michael. Also, where is Michael when you need him most?" Frustrated, I took deep breaths and reminded myself that there are scarier ghosts, like the one in the hospital or the girl from the apartment.

Seeing my lack of response, Alex sneered, "I guess not."

As I was ready to leave the car, Alex stopped me and told me to wait. After a few minutes 3 cars parked behind ours. I realized that Alex brought a small army to meet Bobby.

We returned to Bobby's office and Bobby was already seated on a couch when we sat down. Skipping the pleasantries, Alex immediately asked him, "Where's Michael?"

"Don't worry about it too much. Turns out he's very loyal to you. I tortured him quite a bit and he's still radio silent on our goods."

I was shocked when Alex suddenly swung his arm out to punch Bobby.

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