STAY | COMPLETED ✓

CHAPTER 8

My head was hurting and my neck was so stiff. I didn't realize that I've been staring at my laptop for over three hours till I looked at the clock hanging in the kitchen. It read 3am. That means I had three more hours to wake up for work. Standing up from the table, I slowly climbed up the stairs till I got to my bed and fell face flat out of exhaustion.

I wasn't anywhere close to finding how Amelia was connected to Armada or even Antonio but I was too tired to continue reading through the employee data of Armada. With thoughts of how I'd get it done, I dozed off.

The blaring sound of my alarm was what woke me up later that morning. Groaning, I turned towards the side table and turned it off. I was still so tired, but I had to get up. Just 30 more minutes I said to myself. After contemplating for a while, I smiled to myself, covered my duvet and went back to bed.

A voice echoing in my head woke me up the second time.
' it's 7am, wake up' the voice said with amusement.

Oh yeah, I was leaving with someone now, not a person per say, a ghost. Surprisingly, I wasn't even scared or nervous anymore. I just had to accept the fact that this was my life now.

After lazing around for 5 extra minutes, I finally stood up and got ready for the day. After taking a shower, I hurriedly dressed into a black cargo pant with a white tee shirt. With one last look in the mirror, I left the room not forgetting my medicated glasses inside my wardrobe.

I never wore my glasses but recently, my eyes started hurting plus the fact that I wasn't able to have enough sleep last night.

On getting downstairs, I saw that my laptop and notebook were neatly placed in my bag and a cup of coffee sitting on the counter.

" Ethan?" I called out. There was no one else who would help me clear my stuff except him so the least I could do was thank him. There was no answer so I decided to thank him when I see him or hear him.

As I entered into the car, I realized that I had quite a number of unread messages. The first one was from our chief, Wade. It showed that the sending time was around 6am.

Wade: Good morning Son, I believe you're still coming to work today yes?.

Me: Good morning sir, I apologize for replying so late. Yes sir, I'm on my way to work right now.
Before I could open the next message, he replied again.

Wade: There's no need coming straight to the office anymore, I just send Reese ahead to get some information from the Armada's employees working today. You should go and help him out.

Me: Noted. I'm on my way.

Turning on my ignition, I headed toward the club.

" Hey, I've been texting you, where have you been?" Reese asked as I walked into the club.

" I'm so sorry, I overslept" I said rubbing my neck slightly.

" It happens" he said chuckling as he kept on walking

" So what's the plan?, How do we get them to talk to us?" I asked as we got to the executive office.

" Good cop bad cop?" He suggested smirking back at me.

" Deal"

As we opened the door, we saw 4 ladies sitting down talking amongst each other.

" Good morning ladies" Reese greeted walking into the room.

" My friend and I here have some questions to ask you" he said signalling me to come forward.

" We don't have to talk to you if we don't want to" One replied.

" You seem hesitant, you haven't even heard the question and you're already avoiding it, that means you know what I'm about to talk about hmm" Reese shot back as he tilted his head towards the voice.

" Hang on Reese, I got it" I said whispering to him

" Hello, what's your name?" I asked the lady.

" Tasha" she replied as she stood up.

" I understand that you're trying to protect yourself and others but if you don't tell us what you know, I won't know how to help you."

" This is about the girl who died beside the building right?" She asked

" Yes, Amelia. Do you mind stepping out with us so we could talk?"

" Sure, no problem" she said as she led  us out of the room and into another room.

" So what do you know?" Reese asked as she closed the door after us.

" There was a man, Carlos Juan. He's one of the VIP members here. One day, I was in charge of selecting the girls that would entertain the VIPs, and I picked Amelia. The day was peaceful except continuous groping from Carlos. When we finally closed that day, I went looking for Amelia. She was in her room that day sitting quietly. When I asked her if she was okay, she replied with a smile and said she was just exhausted from the day. She also begged me that I should keep on picking her anytime Carlos comes to the club. Then that day she passed, I was in the executive office alone because as you can see, I have nowhere to go. So yeah, I think Carlos has something to do with her death. That's all I have to say " Tasha concluded. After thanking her, Reese and I stepped out of the building towards the cars.

" So the first thing is reporting Carlos Juan as a suspect right?" I asked as we stood besides his car.

" Yeah, then we need to find out his whereabouts in order to bring him in for questioning." He replied as he entered into his car.

" I'll see you later then" I said closing his door.

" Yeah, later" he smiled back at me from the open window.

When he drove off, I contemplated whether to look for Amelia or not so I could get some information on how she found out that Rose was her mother. Torn between my two decisions, I took a deep breath and decided to contact Ethan.

' Ethan?' I called out in my head then waited. After two minutes of no response, I called out again.

' Here. What's wrong?, I didn't expect you to look for me so soon' he replied.

As this conversation was going on, I leaned on my car to avoid myself losing focus and hurting myself by tripping or something.

' I was just wondering, what would you do if you were torn between meeting someone or not ' I asked vaguely.

' Can you be direct so I understand what you're talking about?' he replied.

' Well, you know the victim of the recent homicide I was was working on? '

' Yes, Amelia Alvero, please continue ' he said in a rush.

' Well, I'm in front of the alley I met her the first time and I was wondering if I can just go in and ask her how she found out Rose was her mother.' I continued

' I mean, you could have a conversation first then ask the questions after without trying to impose. Simply, Yes you can ask her ' he replied.

' Okay, Thank you. Also thank you for the coffee this morning ' I said smiling to myself.

' No problem at all, see you at home ' he answered finally then I couldn't feel him again.

Yeah, home. Someone was waiting for me back home.